Turn Your Patio Into a Garden Paradise
Whether you only have a small garden area or you don’t have enough time, patio gardens are a viable option for many garden lovers and there is no reason why homeowners cannot turn their patios into a garden paradise.
You will need to look at various influencing factors before creating your patio garden such as how much space you’re working with, what other features exist in the area and how much sunlight your plants will be able to get. Thinking about plant variety, size, shape and colour will help make your garden stand out as a real showpiece.
When working with your patio garden, there might be things that you will have to consider that are unique to your patio garden, such as if certain plants need to be trimmed back, how much space you have between garden furniture and your place etc.
Patio gardens add the element of hardscaping. You can create a patio with your own materials, e.g. stone or brick, or you can enlist the help of a professional and choose from a number of other materials, e.g. concrete, tile, gravel or a wooden deck. Try sticking to something that suits the rest of your home’s design and creating a simple, but attractive, look. If you prefer more variety, perhaps use different colours of the same material or use another type of material for decorative detail. But remember that your outdoor area is mainly about the plants and you don’t want to anything else to be too distracting
To create a distinction between your patio and law, frame your patio and turn it into an outdoor room. You can do this by building raised planters around the edge or creating a border with containers. Be creative with your plants here. Choose plants that will spill onto your patio or select plants of different heights. You can have matching containers in a row like built-in boxes, which also provide additional seating, or you can use containers of different shapes and sizes.
Your patio garden could have plants growing directly in the ground or in containers or you could have a combination on both. This will depend on what type of patio floor you have.
Patio gardens are like an ever changing work of art. If you don’t like something or if it doesn’t work out, simply remove or replace it. E.g. container plants give homeowners the chance to experiment with different plants and they excel in control which means less maintenance for the homeowner.
First to consider with a container garden is which type of potting arrangement you will go for. The choices are limitless. The pots themselves can add colour or texture to a garden. Different sizes can allow a larger variety of plants, vegetables and flowers. To add depth to your patio garden, you can stagger pot sizes and to enhance the beauty of the area, you can use different plant sizes, shapes and colours. You can also use containers to express your unique self. Get creative by using cracked pots, rusted wheelbarrows and kitchen sinks. Wooden wagons, for example, can add height and depth while serving as an attractive backdrop for plants or elevating plants of your choice. You can decorate the wagon with bedding plants, small potted plants, larger plants and plants that hang down. A feature like this can become your patio garden’s centrepiece. Placing pots on pots stands will allow you to mix and match plant types in a small display area, furniture and ladders can act as charming stands for your pots. If your patio has rails, you can use garden boxes that are self watering which will help to maintain plants in beautiful form without much maintenance on your part. Simple ideas like this can make a big change to the appearance of your patio garden. All you need is a little imagination.
When it comes to choosing which plants you want, think about what relationship they will have with the sun, the shade, partial shade including that cause by other plants or trees, the total height they will reach, when they will flower or bloom, what kind of soil you have, how much rain or irrigation will be supplied to them and, of course, how much space you have.
You can mix variegated leafy plants, e.g. coleus, with flowering plants. Using a variety of textures, colours and sizes can also enhance the space you have and make it seem bigger than it really is. Many vegetables are suitable for growing in pots as well. Deciding what plants to use will be affected by how much space you have and how big your pots are. Larger pots can be used for growing potatoes and tomatoes, medium sized pots for cucumbers, eggplants and peppers and smaller pots for lettuce and beets. Growing vegetables will provide you with a garden that is functional while also being attractive and adding colour to your outdoors.
Think about creating a focal point in your patio garden. You could use certain flowering or foliage shrubs that will thrive in containers. Growing shrubs in containers provides a good opportunity to try plants that you might not have been able to grow elsewhere in your garden as you can create unique planting conditions, e.g. creating the right soil condition for growing acid-loving shrubs like azaleas and camellias.
You can also consider having a water container garden. These plants will grow entirely in water with no soil at all, such as lilies, some ferns and water hyacinths. If you decide on using water plants, take proper care of them as they can attract insects to your patio otherwise. Many oversized containers, including old sinks and bathtubs, can make interesting backdrops for these types of plants.
A patio garden is a simple, yet beautiful, option for homeowners with small outdoor areas. Your patio is an important part of your house and a wonderful place in which to relax and get in touch with nature. Beautifying your patio with plants can drastically improve your outdoor living space.
