Sample concepts

Real projects, as they happen

Ponte Design is a new studio, so there's no gallery of finished yards here yet, and we won't fill it with someone else's. Real client projects will appear here as they're completed, with each homeowner's permission. Until then, here's how a design comes together.

The sample planting plan

Tap any plant on the plan, or any row in the schedule, to see what it is, how much water it needs, and when it looks its best.

Sample plan — illustration, not a client project

Illustration of a sample planting plan

ScaleBar on the plan

North

CEY

Yankee Point ceanothus

Ceanothus thyrsiflorus var. griseus 'Yankee Point'

Water use: Low
Season: Blue flowers Mar–Apr; no summer water once established
Spread: About 8 ft
Height: About 2.6 ft
On plan: 6 shown

Tap any plant on the plan, or any row in the schedule.Tap any plant on the plan.

Flagstone patio, walk, porch and steppers
Decomposed granite paths
Gravel garden, 3/8 in gravel
Gravel mulch by the house, service side
Dry creek and rain garden, river cobble
Corten raised beds
Planting beds, mulched
Sedge parkway, no mow
Existing concrete: drive, walk, curb
Existing oak, dripline protected
Buried drain pipe and overflow trench

Reading the plan

The whole lot, seen from above: the back yard at the top, the house, both side yards, the front yard, the parkway and the street.
Each circle is a plant, drawn at about the size it grows to, in its leaf color; the small dots are its flowers or berries.
The code beside each plant matches a row in the plant schedule.
A dashed circle marks the existing oak’s dripline, kept and protected. The front tree is drawn see-through, so the plants under it show.
Patterns show the surfaces: flagstone, decomposed granite, the gravel garden, gravel mulch by the house, river cobble, corten, the sedge parkway, and the existing concrete.
Dashed lines are buried: the drain pipe from the rain chain to the creek, and the overflow trench. The dashed line around the house is the roof edge.

Plant schedule for the sample planting plan
Code	Water	Season	Qty
QUA	Very low	Evergreen; catkins in spring	1
CRH	Low	Blue flowers Mar–Apr; evergreen; limbed up to 6 ft	1
ARM	Low	Evergreen; rose flowers Oct–Mar, red fruit Nov–Feb	1
MAL	Moderate	Blossom Mar–Apr; fruit Aug–Oct (Gala, Golden Delicious, then Fuji); three cultivars so they cross-pollinate	3
HET	Low	White flowers Jun–Jul; red berries Nov–Jan; unclipped screen, 8–10 ft	5
FRC	Low	Evergreen; berries Aug–Oct, red turning black	6
RIS	Low	Pink flowers Jan–Mar; deciduous	3
CEY	Low	Blue flowers Mar–Apr; no summer water once established	6
ERF	Very low	White-pink flowers May–Sep; rust seed heads Oct–Dec	3
EPC	Low	Scarlet flowers Aug–Oct; hummingbirds	14
IRD	Low	Lavender-blue flowers Mar–May; evergreen clumps, part shade	7
MON	Low	Lavender flowers Jun–Aug; aromatic, a bee plant	9
PEM	Low	Blue-violet flowers Apr–Jul	22
HEM	Low	Pale pink flowers Mar–May; evergreen, takes shade	24
SIB	Low	Blue flowers Mar–May; summer dormant	53
ESC	Very low	Orange flowers Mar–Jun; plugs to start, then sown in fall; reseeds	22
MUR	Low	Tan plumes Jun–Sep	7
FEC	Low	Blue-green tufts; flower stems in May	27
CXP	Low	No-mow parkway; green most of the year, tan in drought	315
STP	Very low	Purple-tinged seed heads Apr–Jun, then summer gold	31
COF	Low	Lavender daisies Jul–Oct; silver foliage	10
DUB	Very low	Chalk-white rosette; red-orange flower stems Apr–Jul	8

From plan to picture

The same plan, built in 3D

We built the sample plan above as a 3D model straight from its data, so every plant, stone, light and path sits where the plan puts it. A finishing pass then adds the light and detail of a photograph. It’s the whole path from a plan to a picture of it.

1
The plan
Every plant, path and light, drawn to scale. This is the front yard of the sample plan.
Sample plan — illustration, not a client project
2
The 3D model
Built from the plan’s own data: the same plants at their mature size, in the same places. Nothing moved, nothing added.
3D model · sample design
3
The concept render
A finishing pass for light, texture and detail, keeping every plant where the plan puts it.
Concept render

Every image belowConcept render · sample design for illustration, not a client project · rendered from the sample plan above

Front and side yards

Concept render of the sample plan's front yard from across the street: no lawn, a blue-flowering ceanothus tree, low native plants, and a sedge strip at the curb, in front of a single-story ranch house. — Concept render
Front yard · from across the street

Concept render of a curved flagstone walk from the driveway to the front porch, between low native plants and a gravel strip along the house. — Concept render
Front yard · the flagstone walk to the porch

Concept render of flagstone steppers leading from the sidewalk to a recessed front porch, with iris, poppies and a boulder. — Concept render
Front yard · steppers up from the sidewalk

Concept render of the sample plan's front yard at dusk, with low path lights, porch and garage lights, and an uplit ceanothus tree. — Concept render
Front yard · at dusk, lights on

Concept render of a narrow side yard with a decomposed granite path to a wood gate, gravel along the house, and iris. — Concept render
Side yard · the path to the side gate

Back yard

Concept render looking from a flagstone patio across a gravel garden of penstemon, poppies and grasses to a cedar bench. — Concept render
Back yard · from the patio

Concept render from behind a cedar bench, looking across the gravel garden to the patio and the house. — Concept render
Back yard · from the bench

Concept render of the sample plan's back yard from above at blue hour, with low path lights and an uplit coast live oak. — Concept render
Back yard · at blue hour

Concept render of a small decomposed granite seating nook under a coast live oak, with fescue, alum root and poppies. — Concept render
Back yard · the nook under the oak

Concept render of a copper rain chain in the rain, pouring into a round stone basin beside the house. — Concept render
Back yard · the rain chain in a storm

Concept render of a cobble dry creek carrying rainwater past a cedar bench toward a rain garden, with a toyon in berry. — Concept render
Back yard · the dry creek running in winter rain

Sample concept renders

More sample concept renders

Six more styles: front yards, back yards, and one close-up. Each is a sample design, labeled as one, so you can see the kind of picture you’ll get of your own space.

Every image belowConcept render · sample design for illustration, not a client project