If you develop and landscape your property along naturalistic instead of formal lines, you will provide no patios or terraces. But because of the appeal of some spot where you can sit and enjoy the garden shielded from the eyes of the outside world, you will want to find or create some area for that purpose.
Such sitting areas are of real importance these days when the tempo of living puts a heavy strain on our nervous systems. We want and need some spot where we can relax in partial even if not complete privacy. The sense of protection and seclusion that a tree affords makes one almost imperative in your sitting area. It need not be a big one; in fact, shrubs that grow 10 or 12 feet tall can often serve this purpose.
Fortunately, naturalistic garden design calls for promontories and bays in the enclosing planting which usually provides space for a sitting area. Its floor can consist of either turf or paving done rather freely to harmonize with the surroundings. Bricks in sand or, better, flagstones set in the turf would be superior to plain turf since they would permit use soon after a rain. Besides, garden furniture sits more solidly on a hard surface.
Picnic Areas
On a very small property a “picnic area” will have to be used for various activities. The typical home in a large city may have a space of only 15 feet wide and 35 feet long for a garden; the owner will obviously have to merge terrace, sitting area, picnic area, badminton court, and other features into one. In other words, practice good American ingenuity. Thus, you will avoid cluttering your garden.
Large Picnic Areas
On larger properties, of course, definite steps can and should be taken in designing the garden to include suitable areas for special activities. The picnic area, for example, may not need hard paving around the tables, chairs, and barbecue; yet it should be planted to tough grass that can stand traffic or else covered with some material as gravel, tanbark, or pine needles, if flagstone or brick are not desired.
Outdoor Fireplace
Do not locate your barbecue too close to trees lest the hot air from the fire injure their branches or bark.
If you plan on a permanent outdoor fireplace, see that it is not only well designed to maintain a good fire, but that it is also made of such materials and proportions that it is pleasant to look at. A pile of stones held together with mortar and a few metal-rod cross pieces to support a frying pan might function well enough, but it would not add to the garden’s attractiveness, even with a the addition of solar garden lights it will not be attractive and food cooked on it will pall. Such an eyesore usually ends as an incinerator or a catch-all for garden debris.
Locating the Fireplace
Rarely, if ever, should a fireplace or barbecue be used as a terminating feature for a main axis. No matter how well designed or built, it is not something you will want to look at the year round. It would be better used as the focal point at the end of a cross axis or a minor parallel axis.
Where there is room for a fair sized fireplace or barbecue, it should definitely be the center of interest in the section of the garden devoted to it. It should be located so that it is easy to carry food and other necessities to and from the house; a water outlet should be located at or near it. It is also a good idea to have electrical outlets available so that night gatherings can be floodlighted.
When locating the area on your plans, take into consideration the possibility of smoke being blown across the garden or toward the house by the prevailing winds in your locality. And, as already stated, any plant material used to beautify the fireplace should be placed a safe distance from it.
Future Picnic Area
One way to work a picnic area into your future plans is to locate the children’s play area approximately where you would like the picnic area to be. When the children no longer require the space you will not have to disturb the overall garden plan, but simply change the purpose of that particular spot in your garden. It becomes a picnic area instead of being the play area.
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