The glassy pavilion containing kitchen, dining, and living areas is elevated three feet off the ground on posts so it appears to hover among the dunes.

Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens, a 74-acre park in the middle of the city, is a place to go and get lost in (and, as signs in the park say, "smell the roses, hug the trees, talk to the birds, and picnic on the lawns"). It stretches from the harbor to Hyde Park and features countless gardens within the Gardens, such as Succulent Garden, shown here. Australian landscape designer Jamie Durie created this sculptural planter, the centerpiece of the Succulent Garden, using recycled material from 5,500 baked bean cans.

The Royal Botanic Gardens creates a bubble of nature in the middle of the bustling city yet here and there you're met with astounding views of the Sydney skyline. Reaching up toward the clouds are the Chifley Tower (center) and the Deutsche Bank Place (to its left with the white frame and two spires), among others.

The architects designed the large dining table, which is framed by the open kitchen, the wood-burning stove, and the garden beyond.

Their daughters, Annapurna, left, and Siddartha, play with their dog, Anouck, beneath the kangaroo paws in the entry garden courtyard.

Quintessa Winery has a commitment to creating modern architecture that complements rather than competes with the landscape.

Russell-Clarke tends a small garden.

Stepstone's narrow concrete pavers add a graphic touch to the garden.

A garden pavilion in Germany.

Purple thistles, California poppies, clover, and dandelions have all taken root in the roughly 10-inch-deep, lightweight humus and grape-husk soil in this 580-square-foot green roof. Designer Peter Liang says that he "wanted to plant a green roof for its thermal mass, but I wanted it to be as natural as possible."

"In this project, we got so much benefit out of this 'secret garden' for the master suite along with all of these environmental benefits that the residents were excited to embrace. It's one of the pieces we are happiest about," says architect Jonathan Feldman.

The Birch Pavilion sits atop a 14-by-26-foot platform composed of hemlock and pressure-treated timbers. Photo courtesy of Moskow Linn Architects.

Burnette sought to maintain the property’s natural vegetation and rocky ground surface.

Just up a ladder is the green roof, which is planted with maintenance-free sedums and tall grasses near the patio that Monkman tends carefully.

The hardscaping helps keep water use to a minimum. The Lais used gravel—accented by drought-tolerant bamboo—to create their side yard.

The couple asked for a “no maintenance, not low maintenance” backyard. However, Shino tends to “Carlsbad's largest public bathroom for cats” (otherwise known as their Japanese-style rock garden) about once a month. Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!

"Pulling the buildings apart allows what is not a big house to feel really big," says architect Jonathan Feldman of the sustainable retirement home he built for a couple in California. "Because of the ways it opens up, it feels much more expansive than it really is."

But onto the real question: The pavilion is a definite delight to the eyes, but does it make the wine more tasty? “Absolutely!” Warner and McCabe assert. “Each pavilion is elegantly unobtrusive and offers a rustic yet refined experience evocative of picnicking with a bottle of wine under an oak tree. In this way, the pavilions serve to bring the visitor a greater depth of understanding and appreciation for the place where Quintessa is made and the process that creates its uniquely sophisticated character.”

Carefully selected materials make the building appear as if it grew from the land. Environmentally sensitive finishes echo the existing winery, which the firm designed in 2002.

“I believe that whenever you’re hiring an artist, and Funn is an artist, he’s going to do his best work if he’s trusted,” says Kartheiser.

Villa Bio is situated a little over an hour outside of Barcelona in Llers, a green, hilly, sun-bathed sprawl near Figueres (hometown of everyone’s favorite mustachioed surrealist, Salvador Dali). The hydroponic rooftop garden grows out of volcanic stones. The home is conceived as a giant C-shaped spiral.

The Opera House sits on Bennelong Point on the edge of the Royal Botanic Gardens. Looking back from the steps rising up to the iconic performance center are views of the park, the downtown skyline, and Circular Quay, the city's busy ferry port.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, food scraps and yard waste make up 20 percent of what we throw away. Composting organic materials keeps them out of the landfill, which cuts down on greenhouse gases, and enriches the soil. To compost at home, make a pile in your backyard, or introduce an indoor bin for throwaways like apple peels and eggshells.

The Rio Grande Botanic Garden Conservatory.

The bedroom pavilion is mostly hidden, thanks to a massive native California oak—part of a grove. “That’s the good thing about oaks—they keep their leaves in the winter, so you don’t have one view in the summer and another in the winter,” Suzanne says.

The cantilevered main floor creates space for bracken fern and other indigenous vegetation to flourish.

“This house is actually quite demanding; you have to be committed.”—Resident Nathalie Vandemoortele

A common space features Hee Welling’s About a Chair 12 for Hay and a Stick round table by Valsecchi 1918.

Hutchins and Montague worked with Samuel H. Williamson Associates Landscape Architecture on the garden, which is planted with sword ferns, vine maple, and wild ginger. “When we look at it from the bedroom, it’s our private little forest,” Montague says.

A simple landmark in the midst of Rice University's carefully landscaped campus (another destination Robertson recommends), the Brochstein Pavilion was designed by architect Thomas Phifer and completed in 2007.

Rollerhaüs's proposal for the Seattle Center Memorial Pavilion & Gardens includes a wetlands, observation deck, open air performance space, and rooftop community gardens.

A second green roof is planted with sedum and plays host to one of the family’s favorite spots: a hammock. Bentheim suggested adding a trellis overhead to soften and balance the appearance of the facade.

“Our drive to have a landscaped garden was for the kids to be able to have a space where they could adventure around the place,” says Natalie. “And part of what we enjoy is being able to sit and admire something that’s so beautiful.” They chose hardy Australian native plants to make the garden easy to maintain with minimal water.

The kitchen, the property's only modern addition, has been created from a garden courtyard. The space has been enclosed by a glazed roof and wall with sliding door, yet it retains its open feel.

A gravel path leads to a guesthouse, where Trainor supplemented an existing garden of yuccas and palm trees with succulent aeoniums and flowering euphorbias.