Designers often call these features “outdoor living spaces”; gardeners call them prime territory for plants. Railings create ready-made supports for vines and windowboxes, and paving provides a place to grow creepers and a flat surface for pots and planters. You can surround yourself with herbs and edibles for super-easy harvesting, or indulge yourself with containers full of color and fragrance to provide a private backyard sanctuary.
I realize it’s a little early to show off this year’s displays, but hopefully some of you have kept pictures from previous years. Show us your plants, or show us your construction projects: They’re all fair game!
If you’re new to the Garden Bloggers’ Design Workshop, here’s how it works: Write a post on any deck- or patio-related topic on your own blog and leave a link here (already-archived posts count too), or jot down your thoughts in a comment below. At the end of the month, I’ll gather all of the links into one summary post for easy reference. If you’re interested in checking out previous GBD Workshops, you can find them here:
Paths and Walkways
Fences and Walls
Arbors and Pergolas
Color in the Garden
Container Plantings
Front-Yard Gardens
Stone in the Garden
And for those of you who like to know what’s ahead, here’s the list of proposed topics for the next few months of Garden Bloggers’ Design Workshops:
* Garden Whimsy (plantings and accents that are clever, quirky, or just plain fun)
* Trellises and Screens (and vines, too)
* Water Gardens (ponds, waterfalls, bog gardens, and container water gardens)
* Coping with Slopes (groundcovers, terraces, steps, etc.)