Outdoor Eating

Food tastes great al fresco and however small our garden plats we invariably try to squeeze in the smallest garden furniture sets. When considering your dining area take these points into account:

Make sure there is good access from the house. Carrying plates of food and glasses can become precarious if you’re negotiating large shrubs or ponds along the way.

Think realistically about how many people you want to seat at once. Theres no sense in filling the whole patio with a table for ten when ninety per cent of the time it’ll just be you and your partner eating outdoors.

Allow for shade. Eating outside can become very uncomfortable if the sun is beating down on you throughout the whole meal. Shade can be provided by large garden parasols, patio awnings, curtains or even a plant covered pergola.

Think about the evening sun. Few of us are able to enjoy our gardens all day long, so catching the last evening rays over dinner and a glass of wine can feel like paradise.

Choose appropriate furniture. Designer models are fine if you have somewhere to store them, if not opt for year round wooden or aluminium homebase garden furniture.

Don’t surround your eating area with too much fragrant planting. If it smells attractive to you, it will inevitably hold the same attraction for insects and bees, who may be friends to flowers but are not our ideal dinner date.