This 500-square-meter yard has room for everything: a swimming pool, a summer kitchen, a functional garden, and stunning planting areas

“In my third garden, I’m going to put into practice everything I’ve learned from my earlier ones,” decided Anna-Mari Granroth when she acquired a plot in a newly zoned residential area near the city of Järvenpää.

Six years later, on a hot summer day, she sits with her partner Kusti Ristiluoma on the terrace of their white wooden house. The house is surrounded by a garden that feels like an extra room, with every corner from the entryway to the far back used efficiently.

On the shady north side, there’s a perfect spot for morning coffee, while the terrace catching the evening sun features a swimming pool. The summer kitchen and kitchen garden are conveniently near the back door. From the house windows, you can see the yard with its green lawn edged by gently winding beds.

“Our wonderful neighbors have allowed me to plant right up to the property lines, as long as I stay on my side,” Anna-Mari says with a laugh.

The pool, which is one and a half meters deep, blends seamlessly into the yard view.

Lush plant groupings are among Anna-Mari’s top priorities. Even in this young garden, there are already green walls.

Stone borders add structure to the yard and also form raised beds for hostas ‘Minuteman’ and ‘Blue Angel,’ coral bells ‘Electric Plum,’ maiden pinks, blue fescue, and Japanese sedge.

The yard was designed and built by Anna-Mari herself. She only needed a carpenter for the most demanding woodwork, and an excavator operator to dig the pool foundation and the deepest planting areas. Her father helped when needed, but Anna-Mari did most of the shoveling herself.

Work on the yard started just three years ago, yet it already looks finished. The edges are lined with plantings, where arborvitae and small conifers form green walls. Among the perennials and other ornamentals, there’s room for compact but large-fruited trees: columnar apples, cherries, peaches, plums, and even a pear.

“The sweet cherries ‘Sunburst’ and ‘Stella’ are some of my favorites, and the peach ‘Saturn’ is already bearing fruit.”

In the raised beds edged with retaining blocks, perennials and small shrubs grow side by side. In just a couple of square meters, you can spot about ten varieties: hostas, coral bells, stonecrops, bellflowers, pinks, and junipers.

Anna-Mari arranges leaf colors and shapes to create striking contrasts. Green foliage brings calm, while plants with colorful leaves catch the eye. The soil is fully covered by plants.

“My ideal is layered greenery cascading toward the viewer. Well-defined edges give shape to the plantings, preventing a chaotic jumble. I also remove most yellow-flowered plants—except stonecrop, because pollinators love it.”

Beach rye and desert fan palms (Washingtonia filifera) in pots add a lush feel to the terrace. Beach rye overwinters outside in its pot, while the palms overwinter on a glass-enclosed terrace, where temperatures never drop below +7 °C.

One of Anna-Mari’s guiding principles is to fill every planting area with plants. This keeps upkeep simple, and there’s no need for artificial mulches.

Small deciduous trees add layers. At the front is the Japanese weeping cherry ‘Kiku-shidare-zakura,’ behind it the red-leafed Japanese cherry ‘Royal Burgundy,’ and at the back a Japanese magnolia.

Anna-Mari figured you can’t have too many terraces, so a summer kitchen was built at the southern end of the house. Under the pergola, basil, thyme, rosemary, and parsley fill the air with their fragrance. When Kusti cooks, the herbs need to be within reach.

Grapevines climbing the pergola add a Mediterranean vibe. Anna-Mari chose sweet and aromatic grapes like ‘Somerset Seedless,’ ‘Rondo,’ and ‘Summer Sweet.’ Gradually, their vines extend to the terrace roof to provide shade.

Grapevines cover the pergola’s framework. ‘Somerset Seedless’ is a delicious variety for both greenhouse and open-air cultivation.

Herbs must be within easy reach when Kusti Ristiluoma cooks. The olive tree and herbs overwinter on the glass-enclosed terrace, which stays warm all year.

Plant groupings also become eye-catching thanks to the harmony of leaf shapes and colors. The bicolored blooms of the maiden pink ‘Arctic Fire’ stand out cheerily next to the junipers.

Beside the summer kitchen is the vegetable garden, where crops grow in raised beds and containers. Cucumbers, squash, corn, and peas peek out, along with carrots, Swiss chard, striped beets, and more peas for cooking.

“Grandma Annikki taught me hands-on how to grow edibles. I used to have a traditional vegetable patch, but gardening in boxes is more ergonomic. It’s also more fun because you can walk among the plants and observe them up close.”

A greenhouse tops off the vegetable garden, and here tomatoes stretch upward—varieties like ‘Honeycomb,’ ‘Black Cherry,’ ‘Gardener’s Delight,’ and ‘Moneymaker.’ Anna-Mari plants just a couple of each so the harvest is staggered. She can’t bear to discard the pruned side shoots, so she pots them to grow more.

“By late summer, the greenhouse is packed, and suddenly they’re all producing at once. Then we wonder what to do with all those tomatoes.”

Tomatoes can grow taller than two meters here, because the greenhouse stands on a raised foundation. You step down from the terrace into the greenhouse.

Anna-Mari Granroth started growing edibles when she was young. Grandma Annikki’s advice has been invaluable.

Some of the raised beds are very tall, which spares your back when tending the plants. They also grow better in deeper soil than in a shallow layer.

Anna-Mari explains that she plans her garden much like an artist creating a painting. Instead of a brush, she uses plants to shape the view. She doesn’t draw on paper but envisions everything on site.

Excellent soil is the secret to this garden’s success. The ornamental plants have at least half a meter of soil, sometimes more. Anna-Mari recycles all plant waste back into the soil via compost or chops it in place in the fall. She also makes bokashi and uses the fermented organic waste in the garden.

“I’ve realized how vital it is to care for the soil and its micro-organisms—not just the plants. Nutrient-rich soil and abundant micro-life yield the best crops and flowers. Whatever you take from the earth, you return to it.”

When blooms fade, Anna-Mari trims them so the yard stays neat. Pictured here is the garden iris ‘Black Knight’.

Anna-Mari’s tips for an urban yard

1. Separate the lawn

Divide plantings from the lawn and use gentle, curving lines for the beds. This gives the yard a natural look and makes mowing easier.

2. Add greenery with pots

Use container-grown plants to add lushness to patios. They’re easy to move as needed and look impressive from early spring onward.

Calamondin orange and houseleeks do well in a sheltered spot outdoors over the summer.

3. Grow in boxes

Make care easier by growing vegetables in tall boxes. It’s kinder to your back, and the thicker soil layer retains moisture and nutrients better.

4. Cover the soil with plants

Blanket the soil with greenery. When groundcover perennials grow together, they hide the soil surface, so there’s no need for bark mulch.

Although the yard is sunny, plants that prefer partial shade—like hostas—also thrive in the thick soil layer.