patio paving slabs

nervousmother

Dont know if this is the best place to post this, I am looking for some advice to tart up my patio, it is a large area that was put down by the builders when the house was built about 8 years ago, they are horrid grey concrete square slabs. Ideally I would like to rip them all up and replace however I cant afford to do this.

Is there anything I can do to improve the look of them? I had considered concrete paint but wondered if there was any other option open to me?
advice greatly appreciated.

minimiser

I had the same problem. We removed a few and replaced then with bricks on edge or you could try gravel/pebbles/slate and this brightened the place up. You can also grow plants through gravel which will spread and look nice.
Try freecycle to advertise for spare bricks etc.

nervousmother

thanks for replying, the problem i have it is a large area, it does not go right to the fence i have about 1ft border all the way around that i have some nice slate chips in, i have cleaned the slabs up but they still look so drab :-(

Sunnyday

minimiser wrote: »

I had the same problem. We removed a few and replaced then with bricks on edge or you could try gravel/pebbles/slate and this brightened the place up. You can also grow plants through gravel which will spread and look nice.
Try freecycle to advertise for spare bricks etc.

I also have this problem but the area is only small and borders a pebbled area. I love the idea of only replacing some of them and also using bricks and plants so i`m going to pinch it I think that i shall plant herbs in ones that i remove from the ends and something that is low growing but spreads and flowers in some too.

Nervous mother - i hope that you find something to suit your garden too.

SD

lyndathemarvelous

Plant lots and lots of ground covering plants after you have lifted up a few slabs and replaced the soil with fresh. Nothing lifts a place like flowers. Depends on how much sunshine of course.
Try various sedums and creeping thyme. Both need little attention. The garden centre should help if you ask.

tim_n

You can either:

Lift a couple, dig out underneath and fill with nice compost. Plant with a few bright flowers like pansies etc

or

Put down some pots - at our local st john headquarters I had a corner full of tarmac. We got two picnic benches outside (round ones) and surrounded by four round pots. In each I planted a variety of very cheap plants. Looks lovely.

Hang a few flat sided hanging baskets on the fence, fill with trailing plants - it'll be lovely. You might even get a few carrots in the baskets and a few squash plants in your pots...

Lotus-eater

If you lifted a couple of slabs as tim says, a couple of courgette plants would sit nicely in there, or have a couple of big containers and stick them in there. I always think that courgette plants look great, especially when they start flowering and fruiting. Smaller pots with a few flowers in would look nice alongside.

Barneysmom

I know they look horrible, we have them too.
But some of the older council type slabs are really thick compared to the new ones they have now, and really good antislip surfaces.

Could you put loads of big pots out there, with herbs and tomatoes in?