A patio can be a wonderful place to relax during the warm days of spring, summer and autumn… or all year if you live in a warmer climate.
At times when the lawn may be too wet or even muddy, a solid floor of a patio means you can sit outside even after heavy rain and make the most of the fresh air, and the visual pleasure of your garden. You can even turn your patio into a patio garden to make it even more interesting.
You can turn even the plainest of patios into a patio garden with a good use of containers or outdoor planters.
If you are starting from nothing, and designing and building (or have designed or built) a completely new patio, then it can be worth giving the garden aspect of your patio a little forethought.
The reason for the pre-planning is so that you have an opportunity to create something very special with very little extra expense beyond the foundation work and the patio floor. Here are just a few thoughts to build in at the design stage, so your patio garden can be more than just a flat area of paving slabs.
Colour Scheme for the Patio
When you’re planning a new patio it is best to consider a color scheme beyond just the color of the paving slabs. If you want a patio garden, then you will definitely need containers to grow plants in.
Try to find containers or planters that will blend well with the color of the slabs. For example, a light brown paving slab may look very nice, but are not so easy to blend in naturally with your surroundings, or to find complementary planters for.
Natural grey stone, however, can be much easier to find suitable planters for, and will have a more natural appearance in the garden.
Now that’s not to say tht paving slabs other than grey can’t be used, but just bear in mind that the rest of the decor you will need to fit in to make your patio garden attractive.
Consider Height
As with many aspects of garden design, height is always important when planning a patio garden. This can be achieved in a number of ways, which can possibly all be used at the same time.
Here are some examples:
- Consider having a wall around your patio, on which you can put a few containers. Or, on your patio or terrace, columns and balusters can be very attractive, and can add a distinctive style.
- Consider having a covered or partly covered patio. That gives you the opportunity to not only provide shade and cover, but allow for trellis on one side. That way you can grow climbing plants on the patio which will add an all important height to the patio garden.
- Choose some tall containers that can immediately contrast with your smaller containers.
- Choose some tall growing plants and container suitable shrubs, to contrast with your low growing and trailing plants.
Consider Your View and Adjacent Garden
It is best not to design your patio in isolation, but to consider it in conjunction with a view you would most like to see.
This means that the positioning is especially important, as are your garden design considerations in the surrounding garden.
For example, if you want sweet smelling plants to fill your senses on a warm evening, you can plant them next to the patio. Or, if you want a private area in which to sit, a few taller shrubs outside your patio in that area can provide you with just that.
By using a combination of these features, you can develop a patio garden that will be a pleasing and impressive feature of your garden overall, and also be a great place for you to relax on those balmy sunny days.
Try to visualize this in full before starting work on your construction, and your garden patio can end up as your dream garden patio.
More about planning a flower garden.
