Making your Patio Charming and Beautiful

After a long cold winter and as days grow warmer and longer, more and more time will be spent out on your patio. A comfortable patio environment will make sitting outdoors even more enjoyable. Whether you are on a budget or shopping higher end there are endless possibilities.

Here are a few ideas on ways to set up your patio to make it charming and beautiful.

For the small patio or balcony: The first thing is the furniture. You need to choose patio furniture that fits the size of the patio area. Café tables or a bistro set are great idea for a small area. A bar table and patio bar chairs are another great idea for saving space and having a comfortable patio. You need to also add a few potted plants and other favorite outdoor design elements like wind chimes and birdhouses for a perfectly quaint patio.

For larger patio setting: There are many great options. Here we are going to break it down to a covered patio or one without a cover.

In a covered patio a few chairs of differing styles, including comfortable chairs like a chair and ottoman as well as a chaise lounge chair or two for lying down and relaxing. Another great idea is a hammock. They can be hung from the corner of the patio and covered with blankets and pillows to make it a truly comfortable outdoor seating. Here you could have some hanging plants around the perimeter as well as some larger pots of plants or even small trees to give the space a sense of walls and its own space.

For an outdoor patio without cover there are many great choices for patio umbrellas that will coordinate with your outdoor patio furniture and theme. Chaise lounge chairs on an uncovered patio are great too for soaking up some sun. An outdoor grill can be incorporated into the outdoor patio and will provide hours of entertaining. Here as well you need some color to add interest and life. This could be done with flowers planted in a surrounding flower bed as well as the potted and hanging flowers as before. Enjoying the outdoors is so much more pleasant when surrounded by beautiful flower beds.

When choosing your patio furniture there are many types to choose from. Some of the decisions will depend on personal preference and how the furniture will be used. For patio furniture that will cost the least, resin or aluminum patio furniture is a great idea. This furniture however breaks down over time and does not stand up well. For less durable but still elegant options, wicker patio furniture is a great option. It looks great but can be fairly expensive. If you take care of it and bring it in during the winter and cover it when it is not being used it can give you years of use. Wood patio furniture is my favorite and here the two top choices for durability and longevity are cedar and teak. Cedar has natural resins that make it great for standing up to the weather and last a long time and is very cost effective. Teak is the premium wood for outdoor furniture. Because of its natural resins it stands up the longest and stays looking great for years. It too is a little more expensive but because it lasts so long it may cost the least in the long run. When you add cushions to your patio furniture it gives you added comfort which is important if you are using your furniture frequently. Cushions can also add color and style to your patio.

Whenever you purchase anything and patio furniture is no different, choose what you want. Spending your money on something that you quickly will be dissatisfied with will only cost you more in the long run. Make sure it fits your personality and style. With a little design savvy and a few personal touches, your patio will be an area you never want to leave.

Charming Patios “by the yard”

A Simple Solution for Bringing your Landscaping Ideas to Life

There’s nothing better than relaxing outdoors on a warm summer night enjoying your backyard. It is often when I’m doing this that I get ideas of what I would like to do with my yard. Having ideas is great but when it come to doing the work well that can be a lot of effort. Especially if you try re-landscaping your entire backyard during the course of one growing season which can be back breaking, very expensive and requires major planning.

Want a simple solution for bringing your landscaping ideas to life?

Try breaking up your backyard into “rooms” and remodel one room each year. If you’re on a budget this can be especially helpful and you’re results will be much better. Because you will more easily be able to spend the time and money you need to on each project.

This will be much easier than trying to revamp the entire backyard all at once. Although you still should have an overall plan even though you’re landscaping only one section of the yard at a time.

Start by using some graph paper and sketch out the permanent structures on your property including the house, out buildings, deck and trees. Make copies of your sketch and experiment with different designs. Incorporate ideas you like from magazines or gardens you’ve visited. This is also a good time to consider which existing plants and shrubs won’t be a part of the new landscape.

If you like hosting BBQ’s with friends you’ll probably want to keep the center of your yard open with flower beds along the borders. For a more intimate space, you could create island flower beds with walkways in between. Make sure you leave cutouts for a place to relax on some comfortable lawn furniture, and add an accent along the borders with some solar lighting.

Here are some more ideas you may like:

Screening with Plants:
If your yard doesn’t have a fence, you might want to consider planting a row of cedars, juniper, yews, or a combination of these bushes to create privacy. They can also provide a backdrop for future flower beds. You could also use a strategically placed evergreen screen to provide a windbreak from winds or drifting snow in the winter.

Planning a Border Flower Bed:
The hardest part of designing a border is choosing flowers that complement each other both in color and height. The list of perennials is huge and it’s hard to know where to start. If you have the room a six foot wide bed in a mainly sunny situation makes a great border garden.

Use 3 or 5 plants for each kind of flower and allow 16”–18” between each plant. Planting an odd number of plants is more visually appealing than an even number. Allow 20”–22” between the different plant groups. Plant flowers that bloom at different times of the year, with the first flowers appearing in April and the last in October. This will keep your border in bloom all summer. Don’t forget to plant them with the tallest ones at the back of the border and allow sufficient space at the rear of the bed for access. This will also prevent choking off necessary air and light from the plants in back.

Island Beds:
An island bed, as the name implies, is planted in the middle of the yard surrounded by a sea of grass. It can vary in shape and size according to your imagination and available space. Scale the plants from tallest in the center to shortest at the edges.

Water Feature:
Imagine the reflective beauty of a pond or the gentle splashing of a man made waterfall. A pond really adds a lot to a yard and it may be where you want to start but it can cost a fair amount with the liner and pump and stone etc. Make it part of the plan but I would leave it to step two at lest.

Do Your Yard a Favor:
Before you buy any plants, visit your local garden center for advice on drainage and soil preparation. Also, bring a copy of your plan.

Don’t forget by breaking up your backyard into “rooms” and remodeling one room each year you will save yourself some time and energy to enjoy your yard and have something to look forward to next summer.

Bringing Landscaping Ideas to Life “by the yard”

Choosing the Best Plants for Your Yard

Did you feel excited when you first saw the space in your backyard and thought of what you could do with it? Maybe you ran right out and bought some plants and started planting them. Or did you first consider the kind of soil you have in your garden, or perhaps, think about the kind of plants that would do well in your yard? If you didn’t, maybe now your garden is a mess and you need to rethink what you should do. Maybe you haven’t made that mistake yet and are wanting to avoid making it. Here are some things to think about.

This spring before you buy any plants you should think about where you want to place the plants in the garden.
– shade loving plants for those sheltered areas
– sun lovers for the warm spots
– drought resistant plants for the parched areas which may be either sunny or shaded
– swamp plants for the poorly drained parts.

What to plant? These pointers should help you:

- Start small: You can always increase the size of your garden if you choose to. But do it gradually. This is particularly important if you're on a budget, of course.

- Test your soil: First, you need to determine the pH level of your soil and what kind of nutrients you need to add. You can alter the garden soil's pH, however, it is a lot easier to maintain a garden without having to alter it's soil's pH level. Working with what you have is easiest but it means choosing plants that will survive with the kind of soil your garden has. After you know what condition your soil is in, amend your soil and then add fertilizer before you plant anything.

- Color of the plants: Having the right color scheme is one way to determine what you want to plant and a way of maintaining a harmonious look throughout your garden. Start by imagining the color of the flowers when they are in bloom. Another thing is to look for plants that have different colors for their leaves to add interest. Foliage color is not only confined to green you know. Try experimenting with colors. You can even plant flowers whose bloom colors would not look good together in the same bed, if they have different blooming seasons.

- Plant in groups: Some people think a good green thumb rule is to buy at least one of a number of varieties of plants. This method of plant selection tends to make the garden seem spotty however, whereas plants placed in groups makes your garden fuller and more organized.

- Positioning the Plants: Once you’ve decided your selections it is time to choose how you are going to position them in your garden. Before planting anything, try arranging them while they are still in their pots according to how you plan to plant them in your garden. Grouping them in sets of threes or fives usually looks better than planting in groups of even numbers. Lastly be sure that you have an interesting combination of colors and textures of plants.

Choosing the Best Plants “by the yard”

Wipe Out Those Winter Garden Woes

Do you look at your garden at this time of the year and wish it were more alive? Spring has begun and life has started but is still not in full bloom. Well, there are ways to make your yard look more attractive and inviting at any time of year!

1. A non-gardening way to pretty up a front yard is to invest a few dollars in some inexpensive path lighting. The push-in mushroom lamps look quite effective when turned on, and will give your front yard some definition. Solar lights don’t even need hydro and give you that accent that you’re looking for.

2. Another thing you want to get rid of is the effect of winter, those dirty and sometimes murky green garden paths. Hose down your paths and wash your deck (don’t power wash the deck as this can do more harm than good) and get rid of that dirt and mold. Also check for mold at the base of your fences and house. This will brighten things up and make them look fresh and clean.

3. If you didn’t do it last fall (and I don’t as it can leave interest for the winter) then clean up the flower beds of the dead wood and leaves of last year’s garden. This always freshens up the yard and makes it look new.

4. If you live in a mild winter area, then you may need to keep cutting the lawn, but lift the mower slightly so that the grass is not cut so short in the winter.

5. You may want to put your potted plants in their ceramic containers on show. If this is the case, keep an eye on the weather forecasts and pop some bubble wrap over them if the weather is going to freeze.

6. Hopefully, you have already invested in a supply of evergreens, if not, now is the time for you to examine your yard and decide where you should plant some. Did you know there are bronze, yellow, silver and variegated evergreens to choose from? And remember to always include some blue spruce. Many of us also forget the brightness of berry evergreens like holly and rowan trees. (Sometimes referred to as mountain ash or Pyrus Americana)

7. Bedding plants such as pansies and forget-me-nots are quite hardy and can add a lot of color at this time of year.

8. There is also a modern day fad for decorative cabbages in cream and purple. These are a hardy decoration in the yard and can sometimes still look quite good from last fall.

9. If you feel you can't wait for your garden to wake up and come fully alive, then be sure to add some of the early bulbs into your planting plans. Most should have been planted last fall but there are some bulbs that can be planted in the early spring. If you can’t find them, there will be bulbs already growing at the nursery in pots that you can pop right in the ground for that fresh spring show. Bulbs like snow drops, daffodils, crocuses and tulips all come out in bloom very early and can be your reminder that summer is just around the corner!

Wiping out winter “by the yard”