Tag Archives: Enjoy

Create A Garden And Patio Design To Enjoy Year-Round

Retreat to a garden and patio design that’s beautiful year-round, and takes minimum fuss. What makes this possible? Carefree plants with continuous blooms, and a well-planned garden structure.

You don’t need to be a lawn and garden expert or landscape designer to do this. Here are a few tips for creating a super yet simple garden and patio design that will be a knockout!

The first step is to take a birds-eye view of your garden and patio area. Make a rough sketch of your space, and play around with a few designs until you like what you see. As you’re doing this, get some great ideas from existing garden and patio decorations. Pay a visit to other people’s gardens, or public gardens. Look through home landscaping and gardening magazines, find what you like, and develop plans of your own.

Decide what style or theme is right for you… formal, casual, rustic, Southwestern, Japanese… there are enormous possibilities. Then stay with that style and theme so the overall effect does not become confusing. For instance, you wouldn’t want to combine bronze garden sculptures of saints or cherubs with rustic wooden wagon wheels.

Imagine what your patio area will most often be used for. You may plan to entertain lots of outdoor dinner guests. If so, be sure your patio space has plenty of room for the largest number of people right from the beginning. Your patio may be more of a private, reflective retreat for enjoying the sun, reading a book, or gazing up at the stars. Determine the use of shade, open sun, or even covering it with a roof.

Now take your favorite ideas and put them into your rough plans – and soon you’ll have a design that is ready for action.

The next step is to create your garden and patio design to scale – you can use landscaping software for this, or do it by hand. Choose the flowers you intend to plant, noting how many you will need for each month of your growing season, and select the landscaping structures that will give your design its form.

Some say the secret to a beautiful garden and patio design is having a good amount of hard structure. This is what landscape designers refer to as “good bones” – walls, fences, garden bridges, gates, garden arbors, landscape statues, garden fountains … even a strong line of evergreen plants.

Garden structures such as these create forms and lines, giving your garden and patio design definition and dimension. Plus, in the winter when most plants are empty and bare, your garden will preserve its shape and sense of completeness. It’s amazing how just one or two structures can produce this satisfying effect.

Most garden and landscaping structures are built to withstand the elements. Treated pine, cedar and teak garden furniture, trellises, arbors, and decorative fencing are great choices. Stone, copper, and bronze garden statuary will never let you down. Garden fountains bring incredible beauty and atmosphere to any garden and patio design – in fact, entire gardens have been built around them.

Next, choose annual spring flowers and perennial plants that will give you blooms from one season to the next. For instance, select carefree roses that need no pruning or spraying, and bloom continuously from spring through fall. Fill planters with beautiful blooming flowers such as Oriental lilies or verbena for different colors all summer long. Establish flower beds in corners or along walk ways. Always consider your local climate and plant according to the sun and shade needs of your plants.

As you plan your garden and patio design, create paths or walk ways that lead from one area to the next. Rambling garden paths are relaxing and charming… and if laid out thoughtfully, will be a big help to you as the gardener. Paths can be of stone, brick, flagstone, gravel, or mown turf, although grass paths require more upkeep. Garden sculptures or sitting benches thoughtfully placed along the way provide wonderful expression.

If you want garden and patio designs that are pre-drawn, there are ready-made plans available in books and magazines. This is another fine way to get off to a solid start. Use pre-made garden plans from start to finish, or incorporate parts of them right into you own creative plans.

Copyright 2006 Robert Mosse


Robert Mosse is a gardening and lawn care specialist and author of the “Easy” Lawn and Gardening Book Series. Visit Robert at Lawn And Gardening Tips for great gardening info… and get the free Guide for 101 Gardening Tips.

Garden Benches – Sit Relax And Enjoy Your Patio And Garden Decor

After you have finished you outdoor garden, it is time to admire your hard work and effort. Why would you want to do that from afar? To truly admire all of your work, you can only do it from a close up view of your work. Many consumers have no idea the wide array of garden benches that are currently available.

For instance, the park style garden bench is among the only options consumers think of when they think of a garden bench. Although, this style is beautiful and comfortable it is not the only option out there today. The park style garden bench serves its purpose, but, can you feel confident with buying the first bench you see. Be sure to explore all of the options prior to the purchase of a new garden bench.

Among the more expensive of garden benches is the stone garden bench. This particular style adds a wonderful look to your yard as well as giving you the ideal spot to place your bottom for admiration purposes. Although, if you plan on being in your garden for a longer span of time, this may not be the bench that will best meet your criteria for comfort. Stone garden benches will last for years in the elements of nature, so this is a great purchase for a garden area.

Another of the nicer options available in garden benches is the wrought iron with or without wooden slats for the seating area. The wrought iron can add a one of a kind style to your garden, and be a great addition, as not to take away from the gardens overall look, usually the wrought iron garden bench greatly compliments any garden. With or without armrests will be among the hardest part of your deciding when it comes to the purchase of the wrought iron garden bench. This will have to depend solely on your personal preference of garden bench.

Teak garden benches are another one of the top rated garden benches that are available today. They tend to be a little higher in price, due to the fact that they can usually outlive all other patio and garden furniture. Teak garden benches are designed to beat Mother Nature at her own game. Not only to the hold up against the elements of weather, but will remain beautiful and comfortable. For a more detailed design in teak garden benches, you can easily find one with engraved back, with and without armrest, and if you have a preference in the style of the back of your bench, you can get a varying style. A high back garden bench seems to be among the most popular among the teak garden benches. But, if that is not to your liking, rest assured as you can get a mid back or low back design as well.

These garden benches are just a few, hopefully giving you a taste of what is available today in garden benches. For the perfect garden bench, you must try not to get a bench that can take away from the beauty of your garden. A garden bench should only compliment the garden and be comfortable to sit in.

Jesse Akre, gives online shoppers outdoor decor information on patio furniture and garden teak bench. Click teak patio furniture.