Contemporary
Clean lines, strong architecture, outdoor living and carefully edited materials.
Landscape Design Inspired by Art
Art · Nature · Architecture · Craftsmanship
Custom residential landscape design for Sacramento, Placer County and surrounding Northern California communities—from contemporary outdoor living spaces to naturalistic gardens, stonework, water features and one-of-a-kind artistic details.
Schedule a Design ConsultationEvery property has its own personality. My role is to listen, observe and discover the landscape that belongs there.
My approach to landscape design begins with the architecture of the home, the character of the site and, most importantly, the people who will live there. Art, horticulture, construction knowledge and influences drawn from different cultures, regions, climates and landscapes all become part of the creative process.
The result might be clean and contemporary, richly naturalistic, Mediterranean-inspired, traditional, rustic, or something that does not fit neatly into a category at all. The goal is not to impose my style on a property. It is to create a landscape that feels authentic to the home, the setting and the people who experience it.
Hover over a collection to explore more of the work.
Clean lines, strong architecture, outdoor living and carefully edited materials.
Stone, planting, water and topography composed to feel at home in the setting.
Custom details that turn functional landscape elements into memorable focal points.
Materials, movement, scale, planting and architecture are composed together so the finished landscape feels natural, timeless and uniquely connected to its setting.
Hover over each material to see it used in different landscape settings.
Landscape Designer · Artist · Craftsman
For more than 35 years, I have approached residential landscape design as both a creative and practical discipline—combining art, horticulture, construction knowledge, materials and collaboration to create places that feel personal and enduring.
Read My StoryLong before it became a business identity, the Rising Sun Designs logo began as a piece of art I created myself.
Art has shaped the person and designer I am today. It taught me to look more closely—to notice proportion, texture, contrast, balance, movement and the relationship between things that might otherwise seem unrelated. That way of seeing eventually became inseparable from the way I design landscapes.
I do not see a landscape as a collection of plants, stone and structures. I see a living composition—one that changes with light, seasons, age and the people who experience it. The hand-drawn mountain and rising sun are a personal expression of that connection between art, nature and place.
A thoughtful landscape plan creates clarity before construction begins. This outdoor kitchen project shows how a clear design vision can guide materials, structure, scale and detailing from the early stages through the finished outdoor living space.
Before / During / After
Rising Sun Designs works with homeowners in Sacramento, Roseville, Rocklin, Granite Bay, Loomis, Lincoln, Folsom, El Dorado Hills and surrounding communities. As an independent landscape design studio, the focus is the quality and integrity of the design itself. Detailed plans can be used to obtain installation proposals and to help your chosen landscape contractor carry the vision through construction.
Learn about the design process →Tell me about your property, what you hope to change, and the kind of experience you want the landscape to create.