A Patio for All Seasons

Patios today are so much more than just a paved part of the garden. They are an extension of the home and can be styled and decorated in the same way. And whether your focal point is a fire pit, a chiminea, or a full outdoor kitchen, a well-designed patio is the ideal place for entertaining your family and friends.

Peter Ross - March 2010

A patio is not only somewhere to be used on warm summer nights; with the help of a covered seating area and an outdoor heater, it can be a great place to be in the evening even if the nights are a little cool. This is just one of the things that you should think about when you're planning your patio. It used to be that a patio was nothing more than a few paving slabs with a kettle grill on it--alright for cooking a few burgers and hot dogs, but hardly a place for entertaining. Today everything has changed.

The patio is more of an "outdoor room" than a part of the garden, although with the right plantings and integration into the landscape, it crosses both boundaries. A modern patio will often include a covered arbor with lights and perhaps a fire pit so that you and your guests can sit in comfort and enjoy the warmth and blaze of a real fire. There is nothing so evocative as the smell of wood smoke and the light of flickering flames--a reminder of the bonfires of our youth!

A well-designed patio becomes a stage for your entertaining and everything about it needs to be planned and coordinated--like the paths leading up to it, illuminated by low-power or solar lighting, and surrounding trees and shrubs picked out with spotlights to create the garden atmosphere, even at night. The seating area can also be lit up with small strings of lights such as those you see at restaurants, and you can borrow further from the bistro theme by adding outdoor patio heaters. With the right arrangement, a patio can be as much fun at night as it can during a warm summer day.

If your budget stretches to it, a full outdoor kitchen and wet bar completes the outdoor living experience, and using different levels on the patio, and perhaps different materials, will help to differentiate food areas from the gathering and seating areas and will give the impression of the space being larger than it is.

The materials you choose to build your patio will also add to the overall effect. One of the best materials is natural stone, complemented with a wooden arbor and maybe a pergola. To get the best ideas, and value for your money, it is useful to discuss your plans for a patio with a professional designer at an early stage. He will know the latest techniques and materials and can build to whatever budget you allocate. Talking to a designer in the planning phase can also help to avoid expensive mistakes later in the process.

Blue Ridge Landscape and Design is a professional landscaping company based in Winchester, VA. With a staff of designers, horticulturists and outside crews, they undertake all types of landscaping from design and build to commercial landscape maintenance. They also have extensive experience in all areas of residential landscaping, from small plantings for garden patios to complete outdoor kitchen design and installation.

Source: http://www.blueridgelandscape.com