Home Stratosphere readers have been voting on yards: a heart or a thumbs-down under every photo in our front yard, backyard and patio articles. We’ve pulled it into one report: 9,345 votes from 1,810 readers on 695 photos, the reasons readers gave and 1,105 poll answers.
Pavers and natural stone won
Pavers (76%) and natural stone (74%) drew the most hearts; concrete (61%) and gravel (59%) trailed. Horizontal slat fences and stone walls led the fences, and covered outdoor rooms like pergolas beat open patios (71% vs 65%).
Lush beats minimal
Lush planting drew 69% hearts and minimal planting 61%. The least-loved photos included luxury nighttime curb appeal with uplighted… (4%) and japanese zen garden with natural boulders,… (10%). When readers gave a reason for a thumbs-down, the planting and the materials came right after “Not my style”, and “Too much upkeep” was close behind.
Dated yards lose
Yards that read as 1990s or earlier drew 51%; timeless designs 78%.
The full report
The Yard & Patio Report pools the photos by paving, planting, fence, outdoor room, era and style, ranks the most- and least-loved yards, and adds why readers voted the way they did and 4 outdoor polls. It includes the full dataset.
Get the full report at StatwrenHow we did this
- Readers tapped a heart or a thumbs-down under each photo in 21 of our yard and patio articles between Feb 20, 2026 and Nov 5, 2026. One vote per reader per photo.
- Votes are anonymous: no names, emails or accounts. Readers were reacting to photos, not their own yards.
- Percentages are the share of hearts. Traits such as paving material and planting density were read from each photo; article groupings are ours.
- More on how we collect reader data: How our reader data works.