Patio Ideas
When selecting plants and materials to surround a patio, Welsch advises that you keep it simple and repeat them. Clients love intimate spaces that feel private and calm, he says. “Keep plant and materials selections simple for a clean, elegant and calming oasis.” Here, he used a tight planting palette of white hydrangeas, Japanese forest grass and climbing roses, plus a few potted flowers for seasonal color.
Clumping bamboo. Clumping bamboo is a noninvasive grower with clumps of compact, nonspreading culms (stems). It is well suited to smaller spaces because of its manageable mature size (most varieties top out at 8 to 16 feet in temperate climates) and compact growth habit. These plants tend to have slimmer culms and take on the appearance of a bamboo hedge. Clumping bamboo does not require containment and flourishes in a wide variety of situations in a small garden. Tip: Fargesia bamboo is one of the best clumping bamboo species for the small garden and fares well in a variety of light conditions. My favorite variety is the low-maintenance Fargesia robusta, which grows to a maximum height of 14 feet in a temperate climate. It’s also the bamboo variety preferred by panda bears — but sadly, this isn’t taken advantage of where I live! Up your gardening game with new tools and accessories
10. Stick to a single color. This compact terrace works as an extra room because it doesn’t try to do too much. There’s not enough space for big trees or complicated schemes, but flowers in a single color lift the mood, providing an easy setting for meals or drinks outside. Twin olive trees add variety.
Could put potted bamboo along the back fence. 6. Limit your finishes — but vary the way they’re used. This courtyard is all about the view from inside the house. While there are a lot of hard materials here, there’s also consistency, in that just a few different types have been used, and these have been arranged to create different patterns on the floor and walls. The overall look is completed with a very simple palette of plants used consistently. Try repeating shapes in your own garden to get a rhythm to your planting. The bamboo especially creates a curtain on the boundary, while the evergreen balls add softness.
4. Go up the wall. In a courtyard, green walls not only look stunning, they can cover stark surfaces and save on precious space. Having all your plants on the wall means you can keep the floor area for dining and lounging, while still having the benefit of a living garden. You don’t even have to have an enormous wall like this one; you could easily create much smaller “pictures” of plants within frames. Simple drought-resistant plants, such as sedum, make for easy maintenance as well.
3. Perfect a plant paradise. Big double doors lead out onto this long, narrow courtyard packed with plants. The length of the courtyard is accentuated by “pinching” the access at certain points, so it feels as if the view goes over and under plants and trees to create a plant lover’s paradise. Larger pots containing trees are placed to the right to create some screening, but also to give a focus from the left-hand windows. The view then carries on down to the extension to create the perfect space for having a coffee. You can achieve the same effect yourself by using lots of different-size pots containing different plants to take the eye through your courtyard.
Like the wooden planter box
not heavy construction
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