Plus: Lush greens and hardscape

The back of the house gets a lot less sun than the front, so Maxi planted it with ferns, Mexican weeping bamboo, and dwarf boxwood. "I love that I can have palm trees in the front yard, and an orange in the back," she says. Flagstones are interrupted by squares of synthetic turf (heavenlygreens.com). Maxi replaced the driveway with recycled rubber surfacing (playgroundsunlimited.com); it's slightly bouncy but still firm enough to dribble a basketball on.