Outdoor Living Areas
by Dr. Robert Black, Consumer Horticultural Specialist

We often consider a landscape successful if it's attractive and it enhances the beauty of a home. However, a landscape should be functional in addition to being aesthetically pleasing. An outdoor living area designed to fit the needs of a family should be developed as a definite and important part of a well-designed landscape. Whether it is for active games engaged in by small children or for the passive type recreation for most adults, some provisions should be made so that all members of the family, their neighbors and friends may sometimes play together and enjoy the outdoor environment.

Patios should be large enough to be useful. Small concrete slabs near the house are often cold and uninviting. Keep in mind the kinds of activities that will take place on your patio. The patio should be large enough to accommodate family and friends when entertaining. Ample room should be allotted for game tables and for children's wheeled toys.

However, the patio can be made so large that it takes on the coldness of a parking lot. The size of your patio should be in scale with the size of your lot and house. A large patio would be appropriate for a large lot and house; however, the same size patio would dwarf a small house.

Provide planting areas within the living space for plant material. Where areas for active recreation are desired, eliminate plantings that will cut down on usable space for play. Shrubs and flowerbeds spotted throughout the recreational area will make this space useless for play.

Trees are often desirable in some play areas for shade. However, it is wise to use them nearer the house to provide shade for the indoor needs as well as outdoor recreation. Grouping trees becomes quite desirable rather than the random spacing of trees throughout the entire yard.

In selecting trees for the outdoor living area, choose small trees with interesting trunks, branching and leaf shape. Avoid trees with objectionable or large fruit, flowers or seeds that will create a maintenance problem.

Place the outdoor living area so it can be seen from the living or dining room. An extension of the indoor function to a similar outdoor use is desirable. It should not interfere with the service areas or driveway. The area should be enclosed to insure complete privacy for the family dressed in casual wear.

Plants are important in outdoor living areas. Interesting specimens that give a variety of seasonal effects will eliminate the monotony often associated with many plants used in the landscape. Because the family will be close to the living material, use those plants that are striking from the standpoint of color, form and texture.

Color is a must in the activity area and should be planned for year round in such a key area of the landscape. Flowering annuals in masses in the patio area are easy to establish and due to the great variety of flowering annuals we have an excellent choice for adding color to the landscape. Many small trees have colorful blooms, seedpods or fruit. Colorful shrubs with permanent foliage color can be a real asset to the living area with not only blooms, but foliage as well.

However, remember that a hodge-podge of many plants that entangle and become lost in a mass of green is undesirable. Work out the vital planting schemes in your yard just as you would select the most useful and beautiful furnishings for the indoor areas of the home.