Your Favorite Place to Be Could Be Right Outside

Imagine a Friday evening behind a Boston brownstone. The workday is over, the grill is going, and someone is carrying a bowl of salad through the back door. Friends settle around a patio table while the conversation drifts from weekend plans to who wants another helping.

Along the fence, flowers rise from a cedar bed. A few steps away, fresh herbs are ready for picking. As the evening settles in, soft garden lighting makes everyone comfortable enough to stay a little longer.

A space that once went mostly unused has become the place everyone gathers.

That is the kind of everyday enjoyment we design for at American Elm Landscape: a backyard that gives you more reasons to step outside, spend time together, and enjoy being home.

Build a Patio Around the Way You Live

When we think about a backyard makeover, we start with a simple question: what would you love to do out here?

Perhaps it is Sunday breakfast with your family. Maybe it is a table for friends, a comfortable reading chair, or a place to enjoy dinner after work. Those answers help shape the size, layout, and character of your patio.

The enjoyment homeowners get from these improvements shows up in research. In the 2023 Remodeling Impact Report: Outdoor Features, from the National Association of REALTORS® and National Association of Landscape Professionals, new patios received a Joy Score of 9.9 out of 10. Among surveyed homeowners who completed a new patio, 85% reported greater enjoyment at home (source: 2023 Remodeling Impact Report, p. 17). We've dug into what that means for your home's value too.

At American Elm, we build with Unilock pavers — we're an authorized contractor — classic red brick, and natural bluestone. A herringbone brick patio can bring a familiar Boston character to a courtyard. Pavers offer opportunities to play with color, pattern, and borders. Bluestone creates a beautiful setting for furniture, flowers, and evening gatherings.

The material should feel right for your home — and the layout should feel right when you pull up a chair.

Make Room for Dinner and Good Company

An outdoor table can give an ordinary weeknight a different rhythm. Dinner lasts a little longer. Guests have a place to gather while food is being prepared. There is room to put down a serving platter without balancing it on your lap.

In the 2026 U.S. Houzz Outdoor Trends Study, 55% of surveyed renovating homeowners included dining areas, and 48% included outdoor cooking areas (source: Houzz, 2026 Outdoor Trends).

For your yard, we can plan around the table you want, the grill you use, and how people will move between the house and patio. In a compact courtyard, leaving comfortable space behind chairs can matter more than adding another feature.

A thoughtful layout makes hosting feel easy.

Create a Quiet Corner That Belongs to You

Some of the best backyard moments happen when nobody is visiting.

Picture carrying your coffee outside before the day gets busy. Or opening a book on a Saturday afternoon, with a flowering garden beside you and a comfortable place to put your feet up.

Houzz’s 2026 study found that 83% of surveyed renovating homeowners included lounge or seating areas, while 53% included quiet retreats or reading areas (source: Houzz, 2026 Outdoor Trends).

A pair of chairs tucked into a planted corner can become a favorite destination. Privacy shrubs, a small ornamental tree, and a path connecting that corner to the patio help give it a sense of its own.

For a narrow Cambridge yard or a small Somerville backyard, we look for opportunities to create these inviting places without making the space feel crowded — our guide to small backyard patios shows how much a tight lot can hold.

Bring the Pleasure of Gardening Closer

There is something satisfying about stepping outside to pick basil for dinner or noticing the first flowers opening beside your patio.

49% of renovating homeowners in the 2026 Houzz study included a dedicated gardening area in their plans (source: Houzz, 2026 Outdoor Trends).

We build raised cedar beds for vegetables, herbs, and colorful perennials. Depending on your space, a bed might frame the patio, follow a fence, or give an unused corner a purpose.

We also bring shrubs and ornamental trees into the design, choosing their placement and mature size carefully. The goal is a garden you can enjoy from your chair, your kitchen window, and the path you walk every day.

Give Your Small Backyard a Bigger Role in Your Life

A successful backyard makeover feels personal. It reflects the meals you share, the people you invite over, and the ways you like to unwind.

American Elm Landscape designs and builds outdoor spaces for homeowners in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, and surrounding communities. Our work brings patios, walkways, planting, and outdoor living features together around the way you want to use your property.

Think back to that Friday evening: dinner is finished, the plates are still on the table, and nobody is ready to go inside.

The opening scene is illustrative. Statistics describe survey respondents, not American Elm customer results. Houzz surveyed 1,191 U.S. users planning, undertaking, or recently completing outdoor renovations; its findings do not represent all homeowners.