Patio Makeover
From Bland to Breathtaking—Overnight!
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| The key to this transformation is enclosing the patio with larger plants and adding furniture. We used shrubs and perennials, but you can often get similarly dramatic results with annuals. |
When longtime gardener Vivian Daum moved into her new home, she faced a common problem: a beautiful house with all the amenities, but with no attention to landscaping. The patio was especially uninviting. It had a nice view, but it was exposed to the neighbors, there was no place to sit and there were no plantings to define the edge. In short, it was a blank slate -- the perfect place for the Gardener's Supply staff to try a makeover. While Vivienne worked on planting the rest of her yard, we set to work making the cookie-cutter patio into a comfortable outdoor living space. Here's what we did:
Containers: To create a private space with a sense of enclosure, we used small trees planted in containers. We chose our Terrazza planters for their planting depth and self-watering convenience. Because each planter was fitted with casters, we could rearrange the patio in just minutes, with very little effort.
Soil: We used our Self-Watering Container Mix in all of the planters. It's specially formulated to wick moisture to the roots of the plants and maintain good aeration.
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| Small planters can be moved easily until you achieve the right look. |
Plant Selection: Our goal was to design a patio with a canopy of foliage and flowers to filter the morning sun and create an immediate, grown-in atmosphere. Four square planters defined the corners with colorful, richly textured plants. Our plant color palette included foliage in green, purple, red and silver. For flowers, we used primarily whites and creams, such as Pee Gee Hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata 'Grandiflora'), foxglove, gaura and Oriental lilies.
Furniture: Faux Wicker Furniture provided a warm, cottage-garden feel. We chose no-maintenance Faux Wicker and added cushions in a hydrangea pattern to match the color theme and complement the white planters.
Vivian loved the new look: an instant garden room, perfect for relaxing or entertaining.
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