Long and skinny, this paved side yard in Portland looked like a bowling alley. That was, however, before someone took a jackhammer to it. With the concrete gone, landscape designer Darcy Daniels (bloomtown.net) used foliage to give the space a warm, lush feel. Rich goldenrod walls now set the mood, and drifts of gold-tinted perennials—Japanese forest grass, autumn fern, and ‘Bowles Golden’ sedge—reinforce it. Blue Hosta ‘Halcyon’ adds contrasting color, and Japanese maple and variegated fatshedera give a sense of volume. Now the soothing garden is a pleasure to walk through.