By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine

It's one thing to create a patio on bare earth, and another to build it over an existing concrete slab. Faced with the second prospect (which would also work on a rooftop), designers Rebecca Sams and Buell Steelman (Mosaic Gardens in Eugene, OR), decided to leave the concrete in place and install a new patio over it. Owners Ted and Nancy Dobson, also of Eugene, are delighted.

To kill the concrete look, Sams and Steelman covered it with river rock, floated a deck over it, and brought in big, plant-filled containers that tie the patio space in with the plants on the slope above it.

The patio extends down a sideyard (above) which, in its original, concrete iteration, had all the charm of a bowling alley. To give it a little mystery and a lot of character, they put in offset bamboo wing walls, more containerized plants, and a sinuous path of stepping stones that leads you through it.

At the sideyard's end, a big torii gate (below) marks the transition to one street-facing part of the garden. (Since this is a corner lot, the garden faces the street on two sides.)

I love the planting patterns here. Fine-textured plants contrast with big-leafed plants, and reds mix it up with greens and golds. There's even a water feature that adds sound and splash to this previously arid retreat.