Wooden decking

Decking made of hardwood to withstand the weather is another alternative patio surface.Raise up the decking so that air can circulate underneath to prevent rotting.It need only be a few inches above ground level,but you could create spectacular raised decks to give a view over the surrounding or teamed with a woodland or oriental –style garden.To make the most of the timber theme ,use wooden containers and furniture on a deck,and choose plants that suit a timbered background.Camellias,miniature rhododendrons,hostas,hardy ferns and lilies in wooden tubs help create the feel of a woodland garden close to the house.For and ultramodern style,choose striking  shapes like those of yucca ,phormium and trachycarpus(Chusan palm),with plenty of exoting looking half-hardy plants,such as agave,aeonium or abutilon.You could even add a gnarled log covered with airplants and other bromeliads.For an oriental feel,go for a few good,well-shaped,clipped conifers and bonsai shapes in oriental ceramic pots similar to large bonsai dishes-wider than they are high.

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A water feature in a tub

Ponds are very popular garden features,but If you do not have space for a full-sized one,why not have a pond in a pot? They make good features for the patio ,providing a succesion of new attractions to enjoy-flowers,floating foliage,beautiful dragonflies and damselflies;even birds will come to drink.there are so many fascinating and lovely pond plants to grow that you will be spoilt for choice.In a very warm area,you could choose exotic tropical waterlilies,many of which have unusual blue flowers.Papyrus and sacred lotus both make large plants that would soon fill a tub on their own but look very stunning;these and tropical waterlilies should be moved to a slightly heated conservatory for the winter.

    A wide range of aquatics ill thrive in cooler areas.choose a mixture of floating and upright marginal plants ,including some with flowers and others with reedlike foliage.Good floating plants include water hyacinth(eichhornia crassipes)and water chestnut(Trapa natans)-both of which need replacing each spring-frogbit(Hydrocharis morsus-ranae)and floatong soldier(Stratiotes aloides),which looks like a half submerged pineapple-best for a biggish barrel.If you want a waterlily,choose a pygmy variety as the rest grow too big and in any case need deeper water.For reedy shapes,go for dwarf reedmace,corckscrew rush (juncus effusus ‘Spiralis’)or Equisetum hyemale,a domesticated horsetail.

 

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