Landscape Design in Atherton, CA

Artistic Garden Designs is a landscape design company serving Atherton, CA and the surrounding Peninsula. We create custom landscape designs for Atherton properties that feel intentional, elegant, and fully connected to the architecture of the home. Each project is approached as a complete environment, with careful attention to layout, circulation, materials, planting, outdoor living, privacy, lighting, and long-term use.

A well-designed Atherton landscape should feel like a natural extension of the home rather than an addition to it. We design outdoor spaces that support everyday living — whether for quiet enjoyment, outdoor dining, entertaining, or connecting different areas of the grounds in a way that feels cohesive and refined.

Our landscape design services for Atherton are part of our broader design-build approach and may include:

Landscape Design and Outdoor Living Services

01

Full-property landscape design and spatial planning
02

Deck design for slped and natural sites
03

Driveway and entry garden design
04

Pergola and outdoor structure design
05

Pool and outdoor living area design
06

Outdoor lighting design
07

Privacy planting and screening
08

Planting design suited to site conditions
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Hardscape, material selection, and drainage planning
10

Design-build coordination and installation planning

Designing for Proportion, Flow, and Daily Use

Landscape design for Atherton properties is not only about what each space looks like individually. We consider how the full property flows — how the landscape connects to the architecture, how people move from the entry garden through the grounds to the outdoor living areas, and how the overall layout supports everyday use.

The goal is to create a landscape that feels comfortable, functional, and visually connected to the home rather than assembled from separate decisions. This integrated approach also supports long-term, low-maintenance outdoor spaces that are practical to enjoy over time.

Materials, Durability, and Climate-Responsive Design

Material selection plays a major role in how a deck performs and feels. As part of our climate-responsive landscape design approach, we consider durability, fire-wise conditions, maintenance needs, and how materials will age in the Bay Area environment.

Depending on the project, we may explore:

Natural stone and decomposed granite for paths and entries

Durable, refined materials that age gracefully and feel appropriate to the scale of Atherton properties.

Composite and hardwood decking for hillside structures

Durable deck materials suited to elevated, exposed conditions, with attention to long-term performance and low maintenance.

Fire-wise and low-water planting selection

Plants chosen to reduce fire risk and water use while maintaining the natural character of the Woodside landscape.

Retaining and grade-change solutions

Wall materials and grading approaches that manage slope and drainage while looking at home in the landscape.

Site-appropriate lighting systems

Low-voltage lighting that defines paths, steps, driveways, and trees without creating glare or a commercial feel in a natural setting.

Drainage-integrated hardscape planning

Paving, grading, and drainage details designed together so water is managed thoughtfully across the full property.

Trusted by the Brands We Build With

Privacy is one of the most important considerations for many Atherton properties. Large lots often border neighboring homes, streets, or pool areas that benefit from thoughtful screening. We design planting that provides effective privacy while keeping the garden feeling open, layered, and natural.

Privacy Planting and Screening for Atherton Properties

Trees, evergreen shrubs, and lower planting combined for a softer, more elegant screen than a single hedge line.

Layered Planting

Year-round screening that maintains structure and volume through every season.

Evergreen Shrubs

Sculptural grasses and lower planting that add movement and soften the base of taller screening.

Grasses & Texture

Strategic planting around pool areas that creates privacy while maintaining an open, elegant feeling.

Pool Area Screening

Planting along driveways and property edges that provides privacy from the street without feeling heavy.

Driveway & Street Screening

Integrated with the Full Landscape Design

Individual features — decks, pergolas, pools, driveway gardens, planting areas — are rarely designed in isolation on an Atherton property. They are part of a larger environment that should feel cohesive and intentional from every vantage point.

As a design-build company serving the Peninsula, we design the full landscape as a connected system so every outdoor space supports the others. This integrated approach produces both visual clarity and long-term usability.

Planting and lighting are essential to making any outdoor space feel finished and connected to the whole. They are designed alongside the structures and hardscape, not added afterward.
Planting can: soften edges and transitions, improve privacy, frame views, and integrate structures into the garden. Lighting can: improve safety on stairs and paths, support evening use, create atmosphere and depth, and highlight planting and architectural elements.
We design these elements together so every part of the landscape works beautifully both day and night.
As a design-build company, Artistic Garden Designs connects the landscape concept with the full plan — material selection, planting, lighting, phasing, and installation planning.
We coordinate with contractors, engineers, and specialists as needed to ensure the design translates clearly into construction. For larger Atherton properties where the work spans multiple phases, we organize the design so the most important improvements can happen first while future phases still fit the overall plan. This creates a smoother, more efficient path from concept to completion.
Atherton properties vary in lot size, architecture, privacy conditions, and outdoor living needs. We design landscapes that respond to these conditions while supporting refined, low-maintenance outdoor environments suited to the Peninsula climate.
Whether the project involves a new landscape plan for the full property, a focused renovation of the entry garden and driveway, a new deck and pool area, or an update to privacy planting and outdoor lighting, we help create a result that feels intentional, practical, and aligned with the home.

Let’s Work Together

If you are planning a landscape project in Atherton, contact Artistic Garden Designs to discuss a custom design-build approach for your home.

Serving Woodside and Peninsula Homeowners

Artistic Garden Designs provides landscape design for Woodside, CA and surrounding Peninsula communities, bringing the same attention to terrain, planting, and architectural character to every property we work on.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Artistic Garden Designs provides landscape design in Atherton, CA, including planting design, outdoor living spaces, deck design, pergola design, pool area design, driveway design, lighting concepts, and installation coordination.
Yes. We are a design-build company and can help guide the project from design into installation planning and coordination.
Yes. We design patios, decks, pergolas, pool areas, outdoor dining spaces, fire feature areas, and garden rooms that connect with the home and the overall landscape.
Yes. We design lighting and planting as part of the full landscape concept to ensure the space feels complete, functional, and refined both day and night.

Yes. Privacy planting is often an important part of Atherton projects. We design layered screening with trees, hedges, shrubs, and planting combinations that create privacy while keeping the landscape elegant.
Yes. We design driveway approaches, entry gardens, front yard planting, walkway connections, lighting concepts, and arrival sequences that improve the first impression of the property.
Yes. We design climate-appropriate landscapes using plants suited to Bay Area conditions, with attention to water use, soil, sun exposure, mature size, and long-term maintenance.
Yes. As a design-build company, we help connect the design with installation planning and coordination with the appropriate contractors and specialists.