The best Patio » Design

Create A Garden And Patio Design To Enjoy Year-Round

admin — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 08:02:00 +0000

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.

ShareThis

Herb garden design ideas | Herb garden design

admin — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 09:57:32 +0000

It is of utmost importance to visualize the layout of your garden in accordance with the available space. To begin with, you could take a piece of paper and make a rough sketch of the layout you’ve planned for your garden. Having a blueprint of ideas and designs that you could implement in your garden is an aspect that shouldn’t be ignored. Some of the important elements you need to consider in design landscape of your garden should be paths, sitting areas, water features and the growth habitat of plants. If you aren’t too comfortable designing your garden, you could avail the services of professionals in this field. Garden Furniture
Sitting areas in a garden are very important. You could choose from a whole range of patio furniture consisting of a table, a few chairs and parasols. The quiet comfort of benches and swings will definitely add nostalgia to your garden. You could choose from materials such as plastics, glass, wood and metals for your garden furniture. You could also use patio heaters that will essentially be helpful in chilly winters. Fencing
A garden with proper fencing adds to its charm and beauty. Although hedges are commonly used to form boundaries in various sections of the garden, they soak up a lot of moisture and nutrients from the soil in the garden which may not be good for the other plants. You could use different forms of brick, stone or concrete to complement the various plants that you have in your garden. Lawn
The small little expanse of a rich green lawn forms an essential feature in the layout of any garden. The smooth surface of a lawn adds to the relaxed feel and visually supplements the neighboring plants in the garden. Sprinklers and lawnmowers have to be used regularly to ensure that the lawn looks fresh and trim. Pathway
Small pathways leading to a particular area in a garden are of substantial importance. They allow different areas in the garden to be easily accessible. They give the garden a symmetrical shape and add to its beauty. Materials such as bricks and stone can be used to mark boundaries of pathways. Ponds and Waterfalls
The presence of a waterfall in your garden has a magical effect on people. The sound of water gushing through the rocks brings a sense of calm that you experience in nature’s bounty. The flow of water through the rocks could be thundering or tranquil. In case you choose to have a pond, geometrical and symmetrical designs are preferred. Koi ponds are commonly used in gardens all over the world. Planning to have a pond or a waterfall requires a keen eye for detail, hence it would be appropriate to hand over the job to a landscape designer. Garden Lighting
A well-lit garden offers a spectacular view, especially in the after hours. Lighting is an aspect that shouldn’t be ignored while designing a garden. You could choose chrome or copper fixtures to highlight your pathway borders. You could also set up spotlights to showcase your flower beds or patio areas in your garden. Choose from the wide variety of solar lights available, to landscape your garden. Apart from the above mentioned designs and ideas for a garden layout, you could keep improvising on the arrangement of plants on a regular basis to give a new look and feel to your garden.

A Garden Trellis Design Improves The Appearance Of Your Yard

admin — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:54:40 +0000

A garden trellis design will create a beautiful environment around a home. A garden trellis design is the creation of expert gardeners who expect the spaces around a home to add wonderful atmosphere. These expert gardeners believe in planning a garden for maximum effect. They do nothing in the garden that is haphazard.

There are several great designs including the garden trellis design that are carefully created with just the right plants, structures and pavements. Each of these designs is meant to create a unity with all of the elements that go into a garden space.

A garden trellis design uses beautiful trellises as the focal point of a garden space. A trellis is a wooden structure that is used to create a unique garden. These structures vary in size and design. Some trellises are flat pieces of wood that are form a platform for the plants in a garden.

Other trellis can have round shapes on the top for another unique visual in a garden. These structures are available ready made in the local home improvement stores, and there are kits or plans available so the gardener can build one.

A Garden Trellis Design Will Receive Compliments Galore

A garden trellis design adds different heights to a garden. The plants and flowers in a garden trellis design are on different levels for a wonderful image. The dedicated gardener in charge of a piece of land for a garden will decide on a design for the entire space before buying a single seed or plant.

The gardener will try to create a unity between the main structure or home and the entire garden. The gardener will decide on a ground cover that will be acceptable for the climate and budget. The ground cover in a garden trellis design will be the first level of the garden.

A garden trellis design will have a second level above the ground cover which will be in planters or planted in the ground. This second level will tower above the ground cover. These plants can be chosen from the wide variety available, but a conscientious gardener will find plants that grow well in the local climate.

The trellises will add at least a third level to a garden. Trellises do not have to be the same size so even another level could be added with trellises of different heights. The trellises can be used to hold flowers but a trellis without plants will also be a great addition to many gardens.

Houston Patio Design, Harscape Design, Harscape Contractors

admin — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 13:55:58 +0000

A patio is a transition space between the house and the yard. Depending on your preference, your patio design can run the gamut from an elegant open-air greenhouse to an outdoor living room. Regardless, a patio expands the living space of the house and creates a focal point out the window. By adding a personal touch to the overall property, your patio design affects the emotional and physical space by changing the view and showing your personal aesthetic.

Patios belong to the subset of landscape design called hardscapes-the non-plant material of your landscape design-that play a critical part of any garden landscape project. In general, when hardscapes are combined with green, growing plants, they create an outdoor living environment that invites you, your family and friends to come in, to sit and enjoy, to meander or explore. In this way, a patio is an extension of the home that is both functional and appealing to the senses.

Patio Design: The Beginning

These outdoor spaces come in many forms. The most common here in Houston is a concrete pad that is attached to the house. Things to consider while planning your patio design:

Â• The existing view from your patio.
Â• The weather.
Â• Where the sun hits at different times of the year.
Â• A focal point. The focal point will draw the eye to it and will be the highlight of your patio. If you have an odd spot in the layout and want to disguise it, a focal point such as a water feature or flower beds is an artful camouflage.

Popular structures on patios include arbors, loggias and pergolas, most often used to create a decorative entrance, frame a focal point or provide shelter from the elements. These architectural elements are attractive ways to make a strong statement and highlight a sense of something happening outside.

Patio Design: Hard Surfaces

For the flooring of your patio, there are many different types of materials. They include:

Â• Concrete. A popular choice, concrete is durable, inexpensive and can be poured into a site-specific shape. It can be colored, stained or textured to create long-lasting beauty.

Â• Pavers. A man-made brick that recalls old world charm, pavers can be installed to create intricate patterns, including cobblestone. Laid on sand or a concrete base, usually without mortared joints, they are environmentally friendly.

Â• Stone. Types of stone used in hardscape construction include cut limestone, sandstone, quartzite and slate. These materials are available in cut pieces, like squares, rectangles or irregular pieces.

Â• Cast stone. A masonry product that adds ornamental or functional features to buildings and other structures, cast stone gives the appearance of natural stones such as limestone, granite, slate, travertine or marble.

Patio Design: Other Elements

Garden pathways connect the patio to the rest of the landscape, thus finishing off the patio design. Paths direct the eye and create interest across the green expanse of a yard. They can be dressed up or dressed down, depending on the material used.

An important component of any hardscape project, a landscape drainage system should be taken seriously-especially with Houston’s infamous torrential downpours. It makes the difference between having usable hard surfaces or dealing with seasonal small lakes and swamps. A skillful landscape designer or landscape architect can design patio drains in a way so that they are invisible or, at the very least, discrete. Drainage contractors can help as well.

Landscape lighting can bring your patio to life. It really ratchets up the impact of the space and turns your entire landscape into a 24-hour-a-day delight. Landscape lighting also serves as a security measure.

In selecting attributes and elements, remember to choose designs that complement the architecture of your house. You also want the designs to be reflective of your personality, so you can have maximum enjoyment of this personal and private space.

ShareThis