This Gorgeous Yard Proves a Flower-Filled Meadow Is Possible, Even in a Small Space

Caitlin Atkinson

If Ann Le and Steven Huynh’s garden inspires daydreaming, that’s by design. A few years ago, the couple hired Terremoto, a California-based landscape design firm known for its “wildness and creativity,” as Ann puts it, to replace their patchy lawn with a garden that would fuel their young daughters’ imaginations. Lead designer Sarah Samynathan’s vision—“to contrast the clean architecture of the midcentury modern house with a soft, playful meadow”—delivered just the kind of landscape the couple had in mind.

The meadow design has a secondary beneficiary: pollinators. For both the front and back yards, Samynathan selected a mix of California natives and non-natives that would increase biodiversity in the space. She plotted the plants on a calendar according to bloom times, then positioned them in the landscape to make sure there was always something in flower. While Ann and Steven’s initial motivation for the landscape design was their children, Ann says the couple find themselves equally enraptured by the blooms, bees, and butterflies that now fill their yard.

The designer incorporated an amalgam of textures, colors, and fragrances in the plantings. The lavender flowers of coyote mint, a California native, spill onto the pathway. Pink ‘Red Rocks’ beardtongue and fragrant blue sage (Salvia clevelandii) add softness to the garden, while islands of white pompons of ‘Alba’ sea thrift dot the pathways; the couple love how the plants seed themselves, with new growth popping up in unexpected places.

A series of pathways lined with reclaimed granite pavers and permeable black basalt gravel connects the various spaces and encourages meandering. The girls often walk through the flowers, clipping stems for bouquets