Featured Slideshow

Outdoor furniture should look as good with the cushions on as off. This cement sofa is as comfortable as it is beautiful.

This custom made table picks up elements of both the garden with its curves and the city with its metal inset. The bamboo wall mimics the cityscape in the lightweight cement containers that blend with the cement tiled roof.

Rebecca standing in the middle of on a Living Green Roof she created in Brooklyn. It is a place where you can roam through tall trees, creeping ground covers and modern streams...and rest on a modern metal and wood bench to enjoy the city views.

Green "carpets," sleek streams and forest rows make the new urban jungle. These modern meadows, lakes and forests are necessary for the urban soul.

The organic web of the root table base reflects the iron web of the Williamsburg Bridge. And the lime green wire chairs allow every inch of the garden to be seen through them.

Small spaces require big ideas. This green wall of succulents, grasses and ajuga on this penthouse with grass and solar paneled roof sits in front of a rooftop floor with a succulent carpet that takes the green roof concept to new heights. The inspiration for the green wall design was Mondrian.

"Fresh to the table" couldn't be more direct than this table design. The top is a grid of my "Flower Power" ceramic tiles and live greens. The dinner party place cards could read "JOE," "MESCLUN," "MARIE," "SUCCULENTS," "MIKE..."

By planting sections of the cement sofa---and using a glass coffee table so the sun can grow the green carpet---allows this homeowner to be IN a garden, not surrounded by one. The oversized leaf fabric gives a playful urban "floral" look, and the pig fencing that holds logs doubles as stools and storage.

Furniture that really grows on you. Bagels with chives will never taste so fresh!

The tall grass wall softens the lines of the modern cement sofa, and the ceramic tulip tiles pick up the color of the black eyed susans in the background. When designing a large open rooftop, repetition of large plants like bamboo, birch and Miscanthus grass can create intimate separation without blocking the views.

The roof vents dictate the layout of this rooftop garden design.  The wild combination of salix, birch, salvia and sweet potato vine surround and mimic the vents in custom made tall metal containers.

The challenge of exterior design is that in this "loft" on the 21st floor, everything must live year 'round outdoors in the harshest weather conditions and still look great.  The bed is planted, the zinc and wood planters match the custom dining table, the banquette hides the irrigation and stores the glassware, and the pillows whisk water away quickly.

One advantage of designing exteriors is that the neighbors can see your work. Two weeks after Rebecca designed the garden on the right, the neighbors on the left hired her to make an outdoor bedroom with the greatest of views.

The sleek babbling brook compliments the rustic simplicity of the oversized tree bench.  The ground cover is held in place with "green grids" designed to fit easily into the 2'x2' raised pedestal paver system found on the roofs of many urban skyscrapers.

A narrow terrace need not limit comfortable seating.  The tight color palette helps the tight space feel larger.

The street, 15 stories below, informs the design of the terrace above.

Not all urban rooftops are new and modern.  This 100 year old carriage house holds a second roof that narrows the garden path where drought-tolerant black eyed susans flourish in very narrow custom containers.

Texture and line play a crucial role in exterior design, not just in the planting, but in the furniture and containers as well.

An old French bistro table, a modern Italian wire chair, a new zinc planter and a slate tiled floor---all in neutrals---allow the pink of the echinacea and sedums to really pop.