Stone garden pathway lit with landscape lighting, winding through ornamental grasses toward a wooden deck patio

East Meets West

The homeowners are passionate travelers with a particular love for Japan, and they wanted their backyard to capture the feeling of their favorite destination: a place to escape the everyday without leaving home. Rather than a typical outdoor entertaining space, the goal was a landscape built for relaxation and contemplation: the entire property conceived as a walking experience, with a meandering path leading guests through the garden and creating natural moments to pause, observe, and simply be.

The design also needed to feel personal. Artifacts collected during the homeowners' travels were woven into the landscape, so meaningful objects and memories became part of the garden itself, not just borrowed inspiration, but something genuinely theirs.

Location

Hockessin,
Delaware

Design/Install

GreenRoots
Design Firm

Photography

Mark Rutt
Creative

Aerial drone view of a backyard wooden deck with lounge seating, curved stone pathway, fire pit, and wooded surroundings
Close-up detail of a fern and ornamental grass growing between granite pavers and a wood deck edge

The Project Brief

  • A meandering garden path designed as a walking experience, not just a route
  • Personal travel artifacts incorporated directly into the landscape
  • A water feature for ambient sound and movement
  • Layered plantings, natural stone, gravel, and positioned boulders for texture and visual interest
  • Landscape lighting along the paths and key garden elements
  • Underlighting beneath the deck for an understated architectural detail after dark
Flagstone garden path with ornamental grasses and boulders leading to a wooden deck patio

The Experience

A water feature introduces the sound and movement of water throughout the garden, while layered plantings, natural stone, gravel, and carefully positioned boulders create texture and visual interest at every turn of the path.

At night, the garden holds onto its sense of tranquility. Subtle landscape lighting illuminates the paths and key garden elements, while underlighting beneath the deck adds a quiet architectural detail and extends the experience into the evening.

The finished garden is more than a beautiful backyard: it's a personal retreat inspired by a place the homeowners love, blending Japanese-inspired design principles with their own memories, travels, and connection to nature.

Flagstone side path along the house leading through a planted hillside with boulders, ferns, and a dry creek bed of river rock
Bamboo shishi-odoshi water spout flowing into a carved stone basin, surrounded by ornamental grasses and flowering plants

It's not just a backyard — it's a personal retreat inspired by a place they love.

A couple relaxing in outdoor lounge chairs on a wood deck patio, surrounded by planted garden beds and ornamental grasses