The heat of the Sacramento Valley summers is what defines this inland area from the cooler coast. There is no doubt this is swimming pool country. But when the afternoon breezes blow up from the delta, the heat is driven east for enchanted evenings outdoors. It's the time to escape air conditioning and reconnect with the climate that makes this a first class agricultural region.

Summers are for swimming in Sacramento Valley homes, making this among the most coveted of all backyard amenities. But pools exist within a landscape, so you'll need more than just a pool contractor to create useful spaces. This is the region of water features that give you the refreshing sight of water when the mercury climbs above the century mark and its sound drives away the city din. Investing in a pool and the full compliment of built outdoor living spaces means your family can live outdoors comfortably all summer long.

Whether you're in a vintage urban home in historic downtown Sacramento or larger homesites to the south in Rancho Cordova or Elk Grove, the creation of well designed spaces requires a top notch professional. With these expansive suburban yards you need contractors who know what materials are locally available, and how to use perfectly adapted plants to implement a stylish extension of your home.

For those in the Sierra Nevada foothills around Roseville, the homesites can verge on an acre or more. Here the enormous size of the yards as well as the nuances of building in oak woodland habitat require special skills to make sure these great native trees survive through construction of your landscape. Look for companies familiar with larger scale work so their projects will be affordably maintainable over the long term.

In all these locations, winter Tule fog changes everything. Blanketing the valley for weeks on end makes the cost of building an outdoor fireplace worth every cent. It's vital to making an outdoor kitchen useful in this off-season, and the need for rain proof covering is equally necessary to keep outdoor spaces dry during the long wet winter.

Expand your opportunities for cooking, dining and playing outdoors by upgrading your property to a multi use environment. Let the indoors flow out into the landscape integrating the entire site on every level. Add a food garden, an orchard, sport lawns or play spaces. Most of all, remember that you'll want to be outside when the Delta breezes kick in, so make sure you're comfortable there as your beautifully lighted landscape comes to life at dusk.