I use my backyard A LOT. My patio is where I take a break from gardening during the day. I sit out there every evening and read a book/look at the garden.

We have a small glass table with umbrella and 3-4 chairs. Also a long teak table/chairs for when we have guests & eat outside. It is funny, when we have lots of people over, everyone pulls up a chair to the small round table rather than sit around the large teak table. We do a lot of entertaining outside. Have one of those fire/grill things we use on a regular basis and for kids to roast marshmallows. A good-size grill.

It would be a dream to have one of those outdoor kitchens that I've seen in magazines with the built-in grills, sinks, all kinds of stuff. As much cooking & entertaining as we do outdoors, I could get a lot of use out of that. But no way could we afford that. What is really shameful is the people who can afford such things, plus all the ultimate backyard ammenities, and hardly use them.

I basically live in our gardens during the late spring, summer, & fall. We have places to sit, relax, & enjoy the gardens on all four sides.

Here's where I eat breakfast & lunch...

Tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: Lunch spot...

Sorry, can't figure out how to get more than one pix without doing a new post. :(

I sit in the glider during the evenings & on weekends visiting with marina friends who are walking by on their way downtown (usually for ice cream cones!). Our gardens seem to draw people in so I never lack for someone to visit with.

Tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: Front glider...

I'm always mystified too by the fact that you hardly EVA see people outside anymore....what the heck are they doing inside in gorgeous weather?? I'm also of the "pre AC" days and hate it anyway. It it's not snowing, I'm outside. I get up usually before 5am, check my email, then head outside to our sunroom patio to watch the sunrise and view the gardens and listen to the water trickle over the rocks of the pond. We have 3 (with another one coming) seating areas around the house and they all get used. I love our shade garden perhaps the most though...the first garden we created 3 yrs ago. But here's a pix of what I love to look at early morning....from our patio off the sunroom.

Here is a link that might be useful: Patio garden

I am afraid that I am one of those guilty of not using the garden enough. I always weigh the putting on of sunscreen, bug repellent and clothes to keep the ticks off. Then I cop out and stay inside. Isn't that awful? I have a beautiful view of the garden out my kitchen breakfast area window, but I also have about five seating areas in the garden and on the terrace. It's crazy!

WG

We never had "ice" (air cond.) when I was a kid and we don't have it now, either. Yeah, there are some hot days and nights, but we generally get a "sea turn" in early afternoon. I added awnings to the south windows 11-12 years ago and a canopy over the deck on the west side of the house 3 years ago, they greatly increased the comfort level inside by dropping the temperature indoors by several degrees. Shade is a good thing!

{{gwi:1076314}}

I love being outdoors. I'm used to sunscreen, hats, and bug repellant (which doesn't mean I like it all that much!). I like hanging out on the terrace because it's private and pretty:

{{gwi:159930}}

I also like the area out front under the maple tree, except it isn't very private (busy road).

Our mosquitos should have stewardesses on them. So, in the evening on warm nights we retreat to the screened deck under the canopy. We can hear the insect voices, enjoy the warm breezes, smell plants and soil, and not be eaten alive. We eat out there and hang around out there, enjoying the back gardens.

{{gwi:1076316}}

I *enjoy* working in my garden, I don't enjoy just sitting there, if that makes sense. I may sit for a minute here and there, but I love having the leisure time to putz about, pulling a weed here, deadheading there, etc etc.

If I do sit, it is while eating a meal, which we do a lot, or occasionally I will grab a drink and sit on the patio to watch the hummingbirds.

We are in our backyard all the time, several hours on every nice day spring through fall. I have 2 small kids who love their swingset and hideous eyesore of quickset pool. Unfortunately, if we are in the yard, so are the neighbors. We have zero privacy. I must do something about that. Note to self: Get planting trees and shrubs! We eat outside on our deck most nights in the summer.

I'm so short on time that most time I have at home is spent *working* in the garden. But I do love to sit outside, especially in the evening. We have a large, quite nice patio (although the view of the big, square, asphalt driveway isn't exactly great!). But I have lots of container plantings on the patio to enjoy while we sit out there.

The bad thing about the patio is that in the afternoon it can get extremely hot - full sun, large patio surrounded by asphalt - you get the idea. We've been toying with the idea of a pergola, or even one of those screened cabana-type things, but we have such a beautiful oaktree awning and it's so wonderful to sit out there in the evening and watch the sun hit the trees - like looking up at the ceiling of a vaulted cathedral. So we don't want to ruin the view. We may look into a retractable awning...

My neighbors used to have a pool and always be out on their deck, etc. Then they got central air and they are hardly ever out there anymore. Even took down their pool.

Me? I'd rather be outside than inside!

:)
Dee

A pretty bad look at my patio:

{{gwi:224142}}

Dee, is the patio behind the planter, in the "corner" of your home or in front of the pretty planter and arch?

Just a quick thought on retractables (which are great, BTW), you have to have some wall above your windows to mount them (I think it's 12-15"), otherwise you'll have to go with a roof mount. You could also go with a cover made out of one of those meshes they use to diffuse sunlight... wouldn't protect you during a rain, but it would certainly cut the direct sunlight, giving the effect underneath of dappled shade. "Sunsur" will cut 90 % of the UV, they use it alot in Florida and the southwest.

We hardly ever used our westerly facing deck before the canopy. It was "too darn hot" and as soon as the sun left it the mosquitos took over. The canopy was the smartest thing I've ever made. (I have to put it up this weekend, after I give it a proprietary scrub).

Chelone, as you look at the picture, the patio starts immediately on the other side of the fence covered with morning glories, and runs to the green back door. It's about 21 feet that way, and 16 feet out from the house (16 feet left to right in the photo). To the right of the photo is our garage and the big square of asphalt (bleah!)

Yeah, I think we won't have enough space on the wall for the retractable, unfortunately. I was actually looking at something in a catalog that is basically a triangular piece of mesh or some fabric, and you attach it on the three corners to make a canopy, which you can detach when wanted. I just need that third point of attachment! Not sure what to do about that...

:)
Dee

Inspired by all of you, I spent a few hours out on my terrace today finishing a book. What a great day!

WG

'I spent a few hours out on my terrace today finishing a book.'

Finishing to write or finishing to read? :-)

I still can't finish planting, that musical chair game is killing me :-(

I don't think the words "finish" and "planting" can be used in the same sentence together, unless of course the words "never" and "not" figure in there somehow...

:)
Dee

On weekends, I usually spend all day outside, puttering in my tiny garden. I find it almost impossible to "do nothing" on my free time, unless I'm sick.

When we have visitors and sit down out on the patio with them, it takes all my concentration to keep from pulling weeds or dead-heading flowers while we're talking - doesn't matter if I'm wearing a dress and having a glass of wine, either. You don't need to be inactive to be enjoying your garden, IMHO.

My utopia is a work in progress, and the work and the progress are what make it my favorite place to be.

Reading, not writing. That is a totally different story! Yes, there are still plants waiting to be planted, but not this weekend. Maybe my husband will get them in next weekend while I am working?

WG

I try to sit down once in a while, but it seems there is always too much to do and too little time.

View from the patio

{{gwi:1076318}}

{{gwi:1076321}}

Saypoint, those pictures are beautiful. What a nice series of spaces you have created.

WG

Beautiful, Saypoint.

May I ask the size of the lawn area in the center of the main garden? I need to rethink my lawn area, and can't quite decide how much is enough - I don't want any more grass than necessary. Yours seems to be just right, and though it's probably bigger than my entire yard, I'd like to have some kind of starting point for my calculations. Thanks - DtD

Thanks, WG and DtD. The lawn is 75 feet long and about 28 ft. wide, with a radius at the far end by the birdbath. The beds on each side are about 8 ft. deep, but I may be ready to make them a bit deeper to accomodate larger masses of plants as my new purchases and swap acquisitions increase in size.

The center line of the lawn is in line with the steps that go to the back door. This shot is from the other direction, year two of the garden. It is now four years old.

{{gwi:435793}}

Aha, that's helpful; thanks. It's about 2x bigger than what I'm planning for my much-reduced lawn area. Yours looks wonderful, I just don't have that much space, at least not if I want any width to my garden beds and borders. Since I'm in a downtown location on a small lot, I need all the buffer areas I can carve out.

Gordon Hayward would approve of your main axis - I think that's especially important in a small garden, and it's something I'm having a lot of trouble with, since my back door is on the far right of my yard (not including the space taken up by the garage, which doesn't count). Some kind of symmetry in the layout really helps the design, but I'm just going to have to adapt the concept and find balance, order and a "sense of plan" some other way.

Yep digging, with design, symmetry is not as important as balance. Sometimes, actually, painful symmetry can be very oppressive.

You know what the two of you should look at? The Mary Washington House garden in Fredericksburg, VA. That is a wonderful garden on this scale with a bordered lawn like you have pictured.

See the link below.

WG

Here is a link that might be useful: Mary Washington Garden

Say. that is a lovely retreat! I applaud the white clover in the lawn, too. :) The view looking back to your handsome home is revealing, as well. It was a good one to post as it gives a nice persepective to the size, scope of the borders and lawn shown in the first shot.

Thanks for sharing it.

Thank you, thank you very much. (In an "Elvis" voice)

The Martha Washington garden is lovely.

DtD, funny you should mention Gordon Hayward, as he helped me with the overall layout when I was starting this garden and was stumped on how to break up a large blob shaped lawn. Gordon came out and spent about 4 hours with me walking the property and sketching ideas, and some follow up phone-landscaping afterward. I should send him some photos of the results, but I still have a long way to go in fleshing out the plantings. There is a cross-axis in this garden as well, from the arbor to the other side of the lawn and allee.

Chelone, I overseeded the whole place with white clover. Our sandy loam drains fast and I don't like to water or fertilize the lawn. When we dug up part of the yard for a new septic system last fall, I was amazed to see beautiful topsoil about 4 feet deep before we hit sand. We had to put the drain field really deep to get below it.

Aha! That explains a lot, Saypoint - I thought maybe you'd studied his books, your wonderful garden seems to express a lot of his design principles.

The Haywards' garden in Westminster West, VT, is open to the public this coming weekend, as a fund raiser for Westminster Cares. I'd love to go, but we're in the middle of laying a brick patio, and I'm dying to get that finished. I'd really like to hire him, or at least to attend one of his hands-on design workshops. He did one this past winter (at Blithewold, I think) with a small group.

The Mary Washington garden is certainly symmetrical, WG! I looked for more photos but haven't found any; apparently it was recreated based on fragments that remained, but I wonder if it may have been more dynamic when Mary was actually gardening there. I'd love to see more photos or read a description of it.

Digging,

I have a slew of photos from when I was there a couple of years ago. When my busy season is over in two weeks, I promise to dig them out and post them for you.

WG

Elvis,
Your home and garden are without a doubt gorgeous, but I would have bought your property (in my dreams) just for the majestic grand daddy of tree in front. Could you share what happens with the white clover during the winter. Do you overseed in the spring or fall? Any chance of getting a peak at your allee?

Do you mean the birches? Or the maple? That's actually the back of the house, we're on a corner lot and the driveway is on the side street. Makes for lots of excitement when we have a delivery or work done, no matter how many times I explain where the driveway is, I get to watch people drive in and out of all the neighbors' driveways while I stand out there waving my arms.

There is a nice shot of the sugar maple in my album, I'm adding the link below. I need to take more photos, the English roses are blooming right now, yummy!

Spring or early summer is the best time to overseed with clover. Agway actually sells a mix, or at least they used to, called Conservation Green, that is a mix of grass and clover seed. Or you can just buy the clover. I never really noticed what it does in winter, it just sits there. I mean, I never noticed that it turned brown or anything, it just looks like green lawn from a distance.

Here's a pic of the allee from a year ago. The shutters were off the house for painting, and the nekkid spot in the foreground is reserved for a large pergola covered with roses with a bench with cushions wide enough to take a nap on, and lattice on the back side for privacy from the side street. Maybe this year. I hope.
Jo

Here is a link that might be useful: album

Saypoint, your property is lovely. While I enjoy the outdoors and gardening in general, (your gardens are wonderful) I'm even more intrigued by your house. What year was it built? Have you done much 'restoration'??

The main two story section was built in 1837, the three one story wings were added around 1847. We've only been in the house 5 years, and have done a lot of stuff that was neglected by previous owners: replace 100 yr. old cess pool, new A/C, repoint and seal brick, repair chimneys, repoint stone foundation, concrete over the dirt floor under kitchen wing, new rubber roofing on the flat parts, build a shed, install woodburning stove, upgrade electrical service, plumbing repairs, all that fun stuff. And of course, the patio, walks, and landscaping. We still want to tie into city water (we have a well under the kitchen) and build a pergola, more walkways, and I'm sure something else will break before long.

I've done some repainting inside, plaster repairs, stripping wallpaper, stuff like that, and there's more to be done, but it doesn't need too much more serious interior restoration work.

Saypoint, can I ask how much Gordon Hayward charged for his services. I would love to get input from another set of eyes.

WG

Emailed you off the forum. Sorry to have hijacked this thread, I didn't intend to.
Jo

Thanks, maybe I will contact him.

WG

After spending my lunch hour digging through tough grass in an abandoned corner of my yard, my backyard utopia is defined by our small swimming pool. It's not a thing of beauty, but skinny dipping at noon in the total privacy of my own garden is a beautiful thing.

The garden would certainly *look* better without it, but then it wouldn't be utopia.