We are lucky in Los Angeles, we get amazing weather year round, and the summers are even more beautiful! Is your backyard looking a little sad? Get these quick tips to help give your yard a overhaul before summer. A DIY Pergola is the perfect way to create a covered space for entertaining. There are many designs, which include open top as well as a completely covered. Add a hanging light fixture and some curtains and you have a dreamy backyard design.

Not much of a Green Thumb? Try adding no-maintenance rocks and gravel to your backyard retreat. Stepping it up a notch with different levels makes this rocky backyard not so boring. Gravel is also versatile, says Los Angeles landscape architect Mia Lehrer. It looks totally natural outside homes in the Italian, French, or English style, yet equally at ease around sprawling ranch houses and contemporary structures.

DIY Raised planter beds give your yard depth and give you the chance to grow healthy for your family. Check this great blog for easy to follow instructions. Tip for great raised planter beds: Build each wall separately, then fasten them together and put the bed into position. Raised-bed builders often sink posts into the ground for stability, either at the inside corners of the bed or halfway along the side walls. These help hold the bed in place, but can also reduce the outward pressure that a full bed exerts on the frame, which can dislodge the lumber after a single season. A cap railing that runs around the top of the bed ties everything together. Plus, it provides a handy place to set down gardening tools while working, or, when you're done, a seat to admire the fruits of your labor. Bed covers ward off insects and keep plants warm in cool weather.

Hardscape can really change the look and feel of your Los Angeles yard. Adding stairs, a steel stair case, and earth elements such as water and fire - create a backyard meant for a king or queen.

For a custom backyard design contact us today to get one specially designed.