A watercolor studio for your yard

Plant it this year.
See it in twenty.

Upload one photo of your yard. Painted Acre turns it into a watercolor you can plant, then drag the years forward and watch every tree grow up in place.

Start designing See a 20-year plan
Start on a sample yard · no account needed
The same yard painted twenty years on
A real photo of the yard today
Today — the photo
Year 20 — painted
Drag the divider. Pick a yard below. Real product output, no mockups.

One photo. Three steps.

These are screenshots of the studio itself.
Drawing the outline of a pond on the painted yard
1 · Snap it, then draw on it

One photo from your phone becomes a watercolor canvas. Click around the edge of a pond, a patio or a bed and it is built into the painting.

Placing trees and plants on the painted yard in the studio
2 · Plant, year by year

Drop trees, shrubs and flowers from a hand-painted catalog, and give each one the year you will actually plant it.

The same design at year 12, grown in place
3 · Watch it grow

Drag the year and the whole plan grows in place. Same trees, same spots, twenty years older.

The year slider

A plan for every year, not just the last one

Gardens are built backwards from how they end. Slow giants go in first, screens and shrubs fill in, paths land last. The slider shows you what each year honestly looks like, so year two doesn't make you give up.

Yr 1–3Structure. Canopy trees and evergreens, small now, the point later.
Yr 4–9Layers. Understory and screens keep you encouraged while giants work.
Yr 10+Finish. Paths, beds and features land in a yard that's ready for them.
The plan through the years
Year 1 · Structure goes in
Year 1 20
Off the deck · Swimming pond, flagstone, willow · the yard picked above
Try it yourself

Everything the studio can build.

All 16 design pages

Twelve real yards, each painted by the studio. Hover any one to see the photo it started from. Click it for the full design page and the twenty-year story.

A swimming pond, painted at year twenty The same yard before, a real photo Year 20 Today A swimming pond Natural, koi, formal or swim A pool and a pergola, painted at year twenty The same yard before, a real photo Year 20 Today A pool and a pergola Steps, ledge, slide, diving board A privacy screen, painted at year twenty The same yard before, a real photo Year 20 Today A privacy screen Evergreens that close in five years A patio and a shade tree, painted at year twenty The same yard before, a real photo Year 20 Today A patio and a shade tree Pavers, flagstone, brick or deck A retaining wall, painted at year twenty The same yard before, a real photo Year 20 Today A retaining wall Drag one across the hill Raised beds and a fence, painted at year twenty The same yard before, a real photo Year 20 Today Raised beds and a fence Timber beds, pickets, a gate A rain garden, painted at year twenty The same yard before, a real photo Year 20 Today A rain garden A basin where the water already runs A fire pit, painted at year twenty The same yard before, a real photo Year 20 Today A fire pit Gravel pad, boulders, a bench A chicken coop, painted at year twenty The same yard before, a real photo Year 20 Today A chicken coop Real coop models, run and all Stones and gravel, painted at year twenty The same yard before, a real photo Year 20 Today Stones and gravel Boulders, lanterns, raked gravel A mulch bed, painted at year twenty The same yard before, a real photo Year 20 Today A mulch bed Flowing beds, berms, a loop path A bed under your tree, painted at year twenty The same yard before, a real photo Year 20 Today A bed under your tree Plants stand behind what is already there
In the drawer Trees & shrubsFlowers & grassesGround coverBedsPathsPatios & decksWalls & fencesPonds, pools & waterBuildingsAccentsTerrain Native to your areaSafe for petsBloom calendarTwenty-year report
The 20-year report

A printable plan for every year

When the design is done, Painted Acre writes it up: what to plant each year, where it goes, and the to-do list that keeps it alive. Print it, or hand it to your landscaper.

Plant list per year, with nursery sizes
A to-do list for every season
Shopping list, ready for the nursery
See a sample report
Year 2
Hardscape — dig once, dig right
Pour the paver patio once the lawn has settled
Japanese maple at the patio corner, 5–6 ft
Mulch bed along the back fence, 4 ft deep
New-build backyard · Zone 6a
Year 1
Structure — the slow giants
Red Maple8–10 ft · shades the patio by year 10
Green Giant Arborvitae × 65–6 ft · the back-fence screen
Maiden Grass × 51 gal · full size in two summers
To do this year
Plant in early spring, water weekly through summer
Mulch each tree in a 3-ft ring, off the trunk
Stake the maple for one season only

One payment. The yard is yours.

Have a look first
The sample yards

Open the studio on a pre-painted sample yard and see exactly how it works — plant it, grow the years, scrub the twenty-year slider.

Open the studio
$49, once
Your own yard

We paint your photo into a watercolor before you pay anything. This grows it through the years, builds the paths and the pond into the picture, and keeps it — with five repaints as the design changes. No subscription, no expiry.

See pricing