patio garden -- need ideas

**quiltergirl2** · 03-01-2008, 10:14 AM

In the past we have had a little patio furniture, two long planters and a big round pot on on our apartment patio. But this year I want to do something different. We never sat our there much (we go across the street to the nature park to be outside) so this year I want to lose the chairs and table and go with a more "natural look" using the entire patio (approx. 4 x 6 ft. slab of concrete). We have a copper pan that we use as a bird bath that I want to use in the center. I'm thinking smaller pots at various heights around the bird bath. Would also like to incorporate a few stepping stones, but have no idea where to get them cheap.

The main thing is I want this to look like a nice little flower garden -- not just a bunch of pots sitting out on the patio. We have a bird feeder that has been attracting a lot of birds so I also don't want to do anything to discourage the birds.

Oh one more thing it needs to be pretty much flowers -- we have tried vegetables, herbs, etc. before and they never do well. The apt. groundskeepers do all kinds of spraying around here so I'm not sure we would want to eat them anyway.

The only rule our complex has regarding patios is that anything on them has to be intended for outdoor use -- so I don't forsee any problems there.

Any ideas?

**M55FF** · 03-01-2008, 10:23 AM

what can you do if your renting and limited to a 4x6 space thats concrete and you want flowers but no pots sitting out? something has to give.

**Marie78** · 03-01-2008, 10:25 AM

What a great idea! Have you considered planiting flowers that will attract butterflies or hummingbirds. You could also put out a hummingbird feeder too. I wanted to plant flowers and veggies on my apartment balcony last year and the squirrels dug up all the seeds. I tried different squirrel or chipmunk deterents, but they still made a mess until my flowers were fully established (not many at that point). Please post pictures when you are finished. I love getting ideas. We have two long planters I fill with flowers on the balcony railing and I have two medium sized planter pots that I put flowers in. We also have a large table and two chairs. I am trying to think of a different set up for ours too.

**suki** · 03-01-2008, 10:52 AM

You can make your own stepping stones. There are some online tutorials and different approaches for materials.

Can you have hanging baskets? I think the layered look is a great idea. It sounds lovely... perhaps you can create different containers to go around your pots to make them more decorative. Like, hotglue sticks together around the outside of a pot, use sphagnum moss to cover up areas...

Have fun!

**quiltergirl2** · 03-02-2008, 07:15 AM

Originally Posted by M55FF

what can you do if your renting and limited to a 4x6 space thats concrete and you want flowers but no pots sitting out? something has to give.

I did not say I didn't want pots sitting out. What I said was that I wanted to do was lose the big formal planters and go with smaller pots and find a way to not make them as obvious -- I'm trying to create a more natural look.

**M55FF** · 03-02-2008, 07:21 AM

if you've planted things in the past and they didn't grow what makes you think they will now?
some people are not good at growing things and flowers ( bushes or anything landscaping ) can be very expensive.
Maybe for a more natural look you can look into some decorating themes instead of gardening ones
?

**quiltergirl2** · 03-02-2008, 07:30 AM

Thank you Marie78 and Suki for the ideas you both had some really good ones.

It's still too cold here to actually get started so I have time to work on this. I know the effect I want I'm just not sure how to pull it off. But most of my artwork starts out that way so this is kind of typical for me.

**suki** · 03-02-2008, 07:31 AM

Ouch!

I read that herbs and veggies didn't do well for her.

I recall living in an apt and desperately wanting some tiny garden of sorts. My neighbors would laugh at my patio tomatoes... and then ask for some!

There are several inexpensive flowers that can be planted and many grown from seeds. Inexpensive pots can be picked up at garage sales, or even homemade.

I see no reason to discourage her from this endeavor.

**suki** · 03-02-2008, 07:34 AM

quiltergirl, not sure where you live, but consider starting some things inside from seed. The time to start them would be now. They just need plenty of light and warmth. Hubby uses grow lights (shop light with one blue spectrum and one red spectrum flourescent lights... much cheaper than buying a "grow light") and a heating pad... works great for him!

**quiltergirl2** · 03-02-2008, 07:43 AM

We have lovely flowers every year -- they do great. It's tomatoes and herbs that don't do well -- I think is has to do with the type of herbicide the grounds crew uses. I never spend a huge amount of money on flowers, but this is something we really enjoy so I take the money out of our entertainment budget. We live next to the front door and get lots of compliments on our patio from the other people in the building. I just want to try something a little different this year -- I am not a novice at this.

I have a couple of friends in the building -- next time we get together for "girl talk" I'll see if they have any ideas.

**perSue** · 03-02-2008, 12:20 PM

for height and depth you could use window boxes.
they easily hang from different places (walls, fences, etc).

you could put a shelving rack (a good steel wire rack meant for outdoors) to stack different bowls, shallow dishes, pots and other dishes for holding plants on. any old dishes you have you dont want/use?

use some hanging plants from the top of a fence or a hook on the outside of the wall.

i'd put the bird bath pan on top of something... a table, a shelf, something high, and not just setting on the ground. and then surround the base of it with flowers and plants... birds LOVE that!

good luck!

**Ceashels** · 03-02-2008, 12:58 PM

When making your choices for plants use vine types as well as upright tall ones. I had ornamental tricolor sweet potato plants that had beautiful foliage. http://www.naturehills.com/new/produ...px?prodid=2432 has a picture.

**ellebee** · 03-02-2008, 04:03 PM

What kind of lighting do you get on your patio? Tomatoes and herbs like a lot of sunlight so perhaps thats why they didn't do well. I have learned to really pay attention to how much sunlight a plant needs in order for it to really do well. My porch is very shady and now I only have pots of plants that really like shade - in the past I have tried other plants and while they may live they dont really do well and bloom alot. On my back patio there is more sunlight and I am going to try some herbs and veggies (not tomatoes - it gets too cold here at night I think) like lettuce and zucchini. I agree with the layering advice to give a natural look - putting smaller plants in front of the bigger plants container will give you the look you want I think. Plus try not to choose too many varieties - it will look more cohesive if you have limited types of plants repeated over again. Give us an update later in the season if you can. I'd love to see how it turns out. HTH

**quiltergirl2** · 03-02-2008, 09:23 PM

Thanks Laura. I think it's probably partially sunlight -- we only get a couple of hours of direct sun a day. But they also spray a lot around here and since there isn't a dandelion anywhere in sight I'm sure at least some of it is a broadleaf herbicide. It never seems to affect the flowers though.

Pansies do very well, but they die off around July and by then it is difficult to find flowers to replace them. I just don't have room to start seeds. Last year I had geraniums and impatients. I brought them inside and they are still going strong -- but they are in the big pots.

What I really want it to look like is a rock garden. But where I'm going to find the rocks I haven't figured out yet. And instead of looking really symetrical or rows of "layers" I want the heights of the plants to be varied more randomly. I'm starting to see what it might look like.

I might build the bird bath up a little but not too much. I think a table or anything like that would be way too tall. I don't really want any racks, tables or other furniture because I want this to look as natural as possible.

We have a large stone in my family that great grandma used to water the chickens on the farm -- it has a depression in the center that holds water. My grandmother used that as a bird bath and planted flowers around it outside her "sewing window." She was a professional seamstress and would watch the birds while she worked at her machine. That is what I keep seeing in my mind. I think I can at least come close if I keep that picture in my mind.

Sorry this got so long -- I was kind of talking some ideas through here.

**M55FF** · 03-02-2008, 11:00 PM

if you want something easy to grow that mutiplies itself like mad, grows in bad dirt with little care... and provides privacy, get some bamboo.

your landlord may end up hating you because its invasive but its nice.
I have some regular and black bamboo growing in pots as an experiment to see if it can be contained and grow like this.. if it starts going nuts, I'm going to get rid of it.
It was free...
I've been a garden person for a long time and it's a very expensive hobby. I learned all about plants to save money in making bad choices about selecting them. When I first started in gardening it was very expensive to make the mistakes in choosing the wrong plants for the area...
Now ( after 20 years ) have beautiful gardens all around the house ( mostly flower and herb).. but it can sure cost energy, time and money if you plant stuff that dies ( wrong plants for the area).
To have nice gardens you have to have the right amount of light... and water. there is just no getting around that.
Some plants do well in shade but generally they are not flowering plants.