Patio Use And Design
A patio or paved area next to your house can be a joy for ever, if you get it right. The site will usually dictate the materials to be used and plants that will grow best. Away from the house, paved or terraced areas give much more freedom in the choice of plants and construction materials.
Think carefully how you want to use the area. If you want a barbecue, then more of your patio will need to provide a level, uncluttered space for tables and chairs. If it is to be used by children, then safe surfaces and a few vulnerable pots will be required. If plants are to be the main interest, then the aspect of the site will dictate what will grow best. You must consider your planting plans at the design stage. The range of choices is enormous. Crevice planting? Borders? Raised beds? Pots and containers? Water feature? Climbers?
Be careful to choose materials which blend or contrast effectively with surroundings and which are practical. Do not use gravel where children run, or where it will be walked into the house, and beware of smooth surfaces in shaded areas, they can be very slippery in winter. Be sure to use adequate foundations and that the area drains properly.
How you plant your paved area will depend a lot on how much time you have available to look after it. It is no use developing a mass planting scheme in pots and containers for summer colour on a hot patio if you are not going to be there to water it twice a day in high summer, although there are automatic watering systems which would help. Planting in containers has the enormous advantage of flexibility. You can have different schemes throughout the year and can grow plants that would not grow in your garden soil.
Beds offer easier growing conditions larger root runs and less demanding watering but are less flexible. Raised beds offer the added dimension of height and can be filled with soil of your choice. Many plants like to grow in gaps between paving. This environment gives a cool root run which does not dry out quickly and, if the gaps are filled with gravel, this ensures a dry area round the neck of the plant, which is much appreciated by many alpines. Areas which are heavily walked on require tougher, shorter plants.
Relax In Your Garden
If you like to relax in your garden at the end of the day, why not treat yourself to a gazebo? Think of it as an open-air ‘room’ for enjoying yourself in. It’s not as posh as a summerhouse, and it’s not as basic as a shed. You don’t keep your gardening gear in it, though you’ll probably want to put garden furniture in it for the summer. It’s the perfect place to sit and unwind with a bottle of wine and a bowl of olives when you get home from work on a warm summer’s evening. It’ll give you years of pleasure, and I bet if you get one, you’ll reckon it is your best gardening buy of the year.
What is best about gazebo’s is the lovely ‘home from home’ feeling you get-a bit like camping in the garden. You can make it as comfy as you like. Have a seat with lots of cushions, and a pine cupboard to keep a few essentials in. I’d certainly want to eat out in my gazebo, so a barbecue nearby is essential. Rustle up a few lamb kebabs after work and sit up talking and drinking half the night. Grow a few evergreen herbs like rosemary, French lavender and thyme somewhere handy and chuck the woody herb twigs that are too tough for cooking onto the coal when they start dying down. The scent of the warm herbs is an ideal finish to the night.
When you want to stay out after dark on a nice evening, hang a few garden lanterns with nightlights in them inside or around the gazebo. They add lots of atmosphere, which is great if you have friends round, and even better for a quiet romantic evening for two. You can also get giant candles, which look nice and colourful-just stick them into a border or into big containers of plants as contemporary decorations when they are not being used. But what you must have around a gazebo are some plants, a few pale-coloured flowers in the garden and around the gazebo will show up well at nights.
