Johannesburg - If you have decided to spend the festive season at home, why not spend some time re-evaluating your outdoor living area?
An attractive patio encourages people to spend more time outdoors, whether it is dining “al fresco” style, entertaining or simply relaxing. By giving some thought to the overall design it can become a lush green oasis, a colourful Mediterranean courtyard, or a cloistered sanctuary.
You have six weeks to transform your patio before the New Year festivities. Now is the time to consider some ideas for a revamp.
l Frame a good view. If you have a beautiful view from your patio, don’t detract from this with tall plants and intrusive objects. Rather take advantage of it. You can use columnar shrubs or pillars to frame it.
l Privacy. Where there is an undesirable view, focus attention on the patio itself. Shrubs, wattle screens and trellis can screen the unsightly from view. A “roof’’ of wattle, or a climber-clad overhead structure, can provide privacy from neighbouring upper-floor windows.
l Flooring. To make the transition between indoors and the outside as naturally as possible, choose a patio floor that complements or matches the adjacent indoor flooring. A smooth surface is necessary and the area needs to be large enough – with space to spare – for intended furniture.
l Illusions of space. To make the patio area look bigger one solution is to place a mirror where it will reflect a garden view. Another idea is a trompe l’loeil (trick of the eye) painting on one of the walls. This painting needs to be a realistic scene with a lot of depth to it so that it gives the illusion of being the actual scene depicted. It could be a fountain, an archway or a distant rural scene.
l Built-in braai. Entertaining al fresco is relaxing and social for all age groups, and constructing a permanent braai complete with the latest cooking equipment, spacious work tops, storage cupboards and even a bar fridge makes it so much easier.
l Provide a focal point. If there is a focal point in the garden that can be seen from the patio this makes the view more interesting. This can be a piece of statuary or other garden art, a large container with a plant, bold foliage, a water feature or something as simple as a bench.
l Shelter from the sun. This can be built-in roofing, a roof extension of one sort or another, a roll-out shade cloth, an overhead structure made from beams over which a vine is grown, or more simply, a patio umbrella.
l Display area. Create a display area for décor items – some decoration will make the patio feel like another “room”. On a small patio, these can be items attached to a wall, for example, a grouping of colourful plates. You can have shelving on a larger patio. You may even have the space for an outdoor cupboard with display shelves. Then create the ambience you desire with the items you choose for display.
l Plants for patios: A patio is an integral part of summer living and patio plants add pleasure to this experience. By selecting containers and plants that complement your chosen design style, the patio becomes a link between garden and home and takes on a unique “outdoor room” character of its own. Bear in mind that one or two big containers overflowing with plants are more eye-catching, and require less watering, than many small pots.
Permanent plants are well suited to large containers and are less time-consuming than seasonal plants – consider New Zealand flax, miniature conifers, variegated weeping fig and palms.
For a position in full shade, select aspidistra, azalea, camellia, clivia, ferns, fuchsia, hydrangea or seasonal begonia and impatiens.
Kay Montgomey, Saturday Star