To lawn or not to lawn? With kids, it’s a tough question. Lawns are ideal as a soft place for children to play, but they can also be visually uninteresting and a pain to mow. We love this solution from SF-based landscape architects.
Todd Lansing and Scott Mulholland of Creo Landscape Architecture (members of the Remodelista + Gardenista Architect/Designer Directory) redesigned a backyard garden for homeowners near the Presidio in San Francisco. Their task was to produce an interesting and low-maintenance play area for the owners’ two young children while maintaining an inviting adult area to lounge and entertain.
To start, Creo rethought what a lawn should be and created miniature rolling hills throughout no-mow grass, making a lawn unique for both kids and adults while minimizing maintenance. They contained the lawn and ensured additional usable areas for current and future planting as the owners desire. Creo gave their clients entertaining flexibility with built-in wooden benches and an L-shaped adult space stretching from a brick barbecue patio behind the house to a more secluded seating area in the back. They planted olive trees along the modern wooden fence to fulfill their clients’ request for privacy while keeping an overall feeling of airiness. For more, visit Creo Landscape Architecture.
Photography by Kayo Shibano.
![](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/fields/San Francisco Backyard by Creo with Rolling Lawn and Wood Benches.jpg)
Above: Sturdy sculptures embedded in the grassy “hills” double as kids’ toys.
![](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/fields/San Francisco Modern Backyard Playground for Kids.jpg)
Above: Built-in redwood benches lining the lawn serve as extra seating and as storage for the boys’ outdoor playthings.
![](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/fields/San Francisco Backyard Great for Kids.jpg)
Above: Entertaining space for the adults abuts the lawn on a patio of decomposed granite.
![](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/fields/San Francisco Garden with Outdoor Dining and Wood Bench.jpg)
Above: Between the dining space and lounge chairs, white pots filled with lavender provide a finishing touch.
![](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/fields/San Francisco Backyard Lawn for Kids and Dining.jpg)
Above: Adjoining the house and garden is a barbecue patio made from brick used in a previous iteration of the backyard.
![](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/fields/San Francisco Garden with Red Outdoor Lounge Chairs.jpg)
Above: Creo uses singular bursts of color throughout the garden that are not repeated elsewhere.
![](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/fields/San Francisco Garden with Wood Fence and Uplit Trees at Night.jpg)
Above: Young olive trees look statuesque against the modern fence, uplit at night.
![](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/fields/San Francisco Garden with Wood Fence and Climbing Trees.jpg)
Above: Shrubby yew will grow into a solid green backdrop against the garden’s back wall.
Looking for more inspiration for kids outdoors? See our 14 posts on Children’s Outdoors on Gardenista.
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