How to make a yard into a patio?

danielley

Hello all

I am after some suggestions please for the layout and design of my yard.

I live in a terraced house and have 'yard' which is 15ft by 14ft by 27ft by 9ft approx (see plan in link below)

The yard is surrounded by a brick wall which is head height. The floor is all concrete.

To cheer myself up I am going to stop saying yard and start saying 'patio'

The patio is south facing and gets the sun most of the day.

http://cid-ed9d9cc0db59d603.photos.live.com/self.aspx/Garden/Garden%20Plan.bmp

Within the patio, I have to accomodate 2 wheelie bins, (the council sent the neighbourhood a nasty letter stating we MUST keep them within the property and not on the path outside the house :cool:)

I tend to keep them by the back wall next to the back door, as the opposite wall gets the sun so I dont want the bins to get hot and smell!

I could put them down the side return, but then they would be visible from the french doors and kitchen window (again see plan) which isn't ideal, unless I can find a way to make them look pretty.

I really want to make my patio into a beautiful garden that I will enjoy sitting out in and tending to.

I would really appreciate some ideas for how people would design and fill the patio if it were theirs.

Many Thanks

Optimisticpair

Hi,

It would help to know what things you think will make a pleasant patio like water, herbs, vegetables and fruit or are you interested in just having mainly flowers. It'd also help to know if you can easily water plants, if you have much time to water etc a few or many containers, or if it has to be low maintenance. Are you looking for suggestions for the hard layout or plants or both?

It would be possible to make a surround from trellis, feather edge boards or brick placed next to the back gate to hide your bins with a roof/cover to keep the heat off them. I would build a raised bed/planter at the same time to grow an evergreen at the back and trailing plants in front to hide and prettify the bin store.

Do you want to sit facing the house or with your back to it or in a corner? An obelisk? Pergola of scented climbers convenient for hanging baskets of tumbling tomatoes or flowers from? Open sided or partly enclosed with trellis?

Would you like fan trained apples growing along a wall with lower planting in front or for when you are using the patio most a summer flowering climber?

Still water in an oak barrel or a modern metal fountain? Is there an electricity supply to power a water feature? A raised bed with a pond for fish or pond plants?

What style and type of materials would suit the style of your house?

I would add raised beds on the non-house walls and a planter with a path behind it on the house wall side. As it is square-ish is that neat and to your taste or too formal? Would you prefer beds all or part way along the non-house walls that curve round to leave you with a curved space? Or a central feature that you can view from all around?

There are lots of images and ideas online if you search for garden design.

elsien

The raised bed thing sounds like a good idea. I have lots of pots in my back yard, and the smaller ones need watering every day when it's hot, even with the water retaining crystals in. They do look good (mainly summer and winter bedding) but they're a pain in the backside to keep going. (I only have your side return bit, so my plants are crammed in there.)
I do have a trellis with winter flowering jasmine up the side of the house though, which gives brings a bit of cheer in the colder winter months.