Plant Combinations for an Abundant Garden. A. & G. Bridgewater

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       PATIOS

      There are hundreds of ways of making patios and many materials to choose from. You could use brick, concrete slab, reconstituted stone, crushed stone, gravel or tree bark. You could have bricks in straight lines, in zigzags, as chevrons or in soldier courses. There are countless options for each material. Look at the materials and forms in your locality – your house, and neighboring houses, walls and paths – and then do your best to follow on.

       Does it have to be paving slabs?

      A patio made from a mixture of materials – concrete slabs, found stone and old bricks – looks good in the right setting.

      A small patio made with found brick blends in perfectly here.

      This rather formal stone patio is uplifted by the planting wall.

       PATIO OPTIONS

      An existing patio extended with gravel, cobblestones and stepping stones.

      This patio has been created using a mixture of old bricks, stone and tiles.

      An unusual patio made from worn slate inside a hexagonal border.

      If you want something a bit different, the strong shape of this circle looks great set within lawn and plants.

      For a decorative patio, you could try mixing plain paving stones and cobblestones in a pretty pattern.

       SHAPE, STYLE AND PLACEMENT

      Gone are the days when the best you could hope for in patio comfort was eight gray concrete slabs and two old armchairs; now you can have a patio in just about any shape, color and style that strikes your fancy. A patio is now considered to be more an extension of the house than just a level area in the garden. Just as you want to make the best of the various rooms in your house, now you can shape and decorate the patio to suit your desires and needs.

      A basic rectangular patio is a good low-cost option for a small garden.

      Geometric combinations – circles and rectangles are wonderfully dynamic – can be used to create separate patio “rooms,” with some areas being set at different levels to increase the visual interest.

       HOW TO BUILD A BRICK PATIO

       HOW TO BUILD A PAVING-SLAB PATIO

       DRAINAGE SLOPES

      In the context of good drainage, a patio needs either to be exactly level, open- jointed and set on sand, or very slightly sloped. A good angle of slope is a fall of about ⅛ in (3 mm) in every 3 ½ ft (1 m).

       NON-SLIP SURFACES

      Old brick, stable pavers – like bricks but with a crisscross pattern – and stamped concrete make relatively good non-slip surfaces, as long as they are dry and kept free from algae.

       Patio additions

      Pergolas СКАЧАТЬ