Outdoor Cooking and Entertaining Spaces You'll Love
"The goal is to create a cozy space where people want to congregate year-round. Our clients are choosing high-end appliances, granite counter tops and all the comforts of the indoors for use in their backyards. We plan the area to the inch to make best use of the space, allowing for places for people to eat, entertain, relax and cook," says Mark Berrol, owner of MHB Landscape Construction (297-5169).

And cook they do - with accessories that rival the most gourmet kitchens. "Anything is possible. You can have a basic barbecue, or you can have an outdoor kitchen so complete that it would render the one you have inside your home nearly pointless. Icemakers, rotisseries, sinks, wine coolers, warming drawers, gas/charcoal barbecues, side burners, refrigerators, dishwashers - they can all be installed. In fact, we just installed a full kegerator with a beer tap on a client's outdoor countertop." says Berrol.

How long will it take to go from groundbreaking to a celebratory toast? "You can have a barbecue area in your home before Thanksgiving," says the landscape and construction expert.

Smart Ways to get the most from your Backyard
Maximize Potential by Defining Spaces
Maximize your yard's potential by defining outdoor spaces for different uses. Outdoor kitchens and fire pits add ambiance and extend the usability of outdoor dining spaces while helping your yard transition into cooler weather.

Choose the Right Materials
Choose materials that can withstand the elements and will be conducive to your lifestyle and overall design. Most contractors' preferences are for natural stone, like travertine and granite. These products boast both natural beauty and overall practicality.

Travertine has the natural ability to block heat, staying cool underfoot, and its tumbled surface prevents slips by absorbing excess water. Travertine pavers come in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes.

Granite's natural beauty and durability make it desirable for indoor and outdoor uses. Each piece of granite is unique. Veins of color and complexity of pattern designed by nature make this a perfect outdoor material for table tops, fire pits and counters.

Choose Versatile Decor
Be versatile! Instead of a large table, seek out multipurpose decor. Small stools, ottomans and end tables provide extra surfaces for guests to set plates and drinks or additional seating and can be easily rearranged as needed. Think outside the box and incorporate unique artifacts into you design. Start viewing your backyard as an extension of your indoor living space and transform your summer oasis into a year-round retreat.
Surfaces USA 775-9404

Have a Seat
The cabana furniture on this page, manufactured by Tropitone, was purchased from Oasis Garden & Patio (255-9909). "The homeowners chose a set that was both comfortable and functional," says Chris Boswell, owner of Oasis. "Instead of choosing a traditional dining set, they picked a chat-height table and club chairs. This grouping allows you to put food and drinks on the table to enjoy, yet the table is low enough so the focus is on your company, not what is on the table. The chairs are not simply dining chairs; they are wide, comfy club chairs which also suggest that you are offering your guests a place to sit back and relax after dining."

Essential Elements to Beautiful Backyard
Living Year-round
Now is the perfect time to start your beautiful custom stone patio and built-in-barbecue project. With these elements you can be entertaining family and friends - and staying warm and cozy - throughout the holiday season.

Outdoor Heating
For true outdoor enjoyment every month of the year, you'll want outdoor heating. The options are vast and there really is one for every budget. Talk to your contractor about which outdoor heating elements are best for your family.


Creative Outdoor Lighting
Days are getting shorter - but that doesn't mean you should have to go inside when the sun goes down. Outdoor ambience lighting, safety lighting and even task lighting (Especially if you're cooking outside!) should be installed.

Potted Seasonal Plants
Spring and summer aren't the only seasons you can enjoy flowers and greenery. Soften the lines of your patio and barbecue with beautiful pots filled with seasonal plants.
NV Landscape, Inc. offers free consultations. 286-8888

Free Landscape Class!
Saturday | October 12
Castaic Lake Water Agency Hosts Free Landscaping Class: "A Shady Deal - Trees for the SCV Landscape"

Learn from horticulture experts who have intimate knowledge of Santa Clarita's weather, soil content and SCV-friendly plants from 9am to 12pm. CLWA is located above Central Park. 513-1230

Courtesy of Shutterstock

Fall Garden Tips
Plant trees, shrubs and evergreens now. Fall is an excellent time to finish any landscape projects that were put off because of the heat.

Control Creeping Charlie, dandelions and other broadleaf weeds in your lawn with Bonide Weed Beater. Spraying in the fall will give you much better results than waiting until next spring.

Feed your lawn with Green Thumb Turf Food. This organic-based, slow-release fertilizer will perk up your tired lawn.


Resist the urge to trim azaleas, rhododendrons, lilacs, forsythias and other early-spring blooming shrubs. They have already set their flower buds for next year's bloom.

Bring in houseplants before they start getting used to the cold weather.

Fall is a good time to improve the soil in your vegetable garden. Use Bumper Crop to increase the organic matter for luscious rich soil.

Winter pansies, flowering kale, cabbage and fall mums may be planted now to give a little color to the garden when summer flowers have faded away.
Green Thumb International 259-1072

The Exterior Paint Palette that goes Best
with Good Design
These colors are a great basis to start piecing together an exterior palette. That's why it's called "Architecture," because everything has to start with a good design first. Thanks to the accent colors, there are many directions one could take this palette. Overwhelmed by the options? Many painting contractors offer color consultations to help take the confusion - and sometimes frustration - out of choosing colors for your exterior.
A. Allbright Painting, Inc. 294-1159