Tips on Patio Decorating For a Lifeless Backyard

Patio decorating should be an extension of the inside. Below are some patio decorating tips to help you create the resort of your dreams right at home.

1. Don�t be ashamed to plant silk flowers. Buy a high quality realistic looking flowers and they last all summer long with no maintenance. If you go this route take care to change them with the seasons. And for goodness sake, keep the plants upright. They have a tendency to blow over in a storm and look tacky. You can also purchase beautiful topiaries made out of rubber or juniper that will weather quite well. This is really a terrific option if you don�t have the time or the green thumb to do it yourself.

2. Visualize outside what you would inside. Add objects at different heights to create visual interest. A child�s dollhouse that has been outgrown makes a lovely birdhouse. Hang artwork like bird feeders and wind chimes on outdoor invisible walls.

3. Low voltage lightingcan be added inexpensively along walkways or decks when patio decorating. Purchase solar powered lights that you just stick into the ground. No wiring required! When installing them, position the lights so that the solar cell faces due South, perpendicular to the sun.

4. Use potted plants everywhere! You just can�t have too many. Terra cotta pots are an economical way to accomplish this. You can use overscale potted shrubs and trees too. Buy an inexpensive terra cotta pot for every shrub or tree and decorate it as you like. Place 2 bricks at the bottom and then put the black 5 gallon container and tree on top. Fill in all the empty space with mulch. Wow! It looks like you�ve planted the tree right in the pot. Shhh! It�ll be our little secret.

5. If you are artsy, make a junk garden sculpture. Collect odds and ends of metal refuse. Fasten them together with long sheet rock screws and washers. As the sculpture ages, it will rust and get a nice patina.

6. Replace outdoor light fixtures and the front door (or paint it) for a quick makeover.

7. Add an outdoor rug to tie patio furniture together.

8. Have a stump you don�t know what to do with? Plant tall fountain grass around it and place a tall flowering potted plant on the stump.

9. When patio decorating add a bird bath, a sun dial or maybe even a gazebo!

10. Attach several wooden planks to the outside of your house at different levels. Attach several plant hangers with plants at different levels to create a garden walkway.

Build a Trellis

When patio decorating, sometimes you have outside walls that you want to cover up. Follow these how to build a trellis directions and soon you will have a lovely wall of flowers instead of an ugly blank wall. To create the trellis, begin with four 10-foot posts vertically spaced out across the wall to be disguised. Anchor each post in a one-inch-deep hole with concrete. Attach 10-foot horizontal runners along the top, middle and base of the vertical posts to add structural support.

Use a pencil and tape measurer to mark along the horizontal and vertical posts every foot, and secure eye-hooks about one foot apart along the marks on both the horizontal and vertical beams. Attach and string one-inch gauge wire through the hooks, working across horizontally and connecting the vertical posts. Then go back and attach wire vertically, weaving the wire in front of and behind the horizontal wires in an alternating pattern. This process will take some time, but the end results are well worth the effort.

Now you are ready to plant! To get fast results, buy large vining plants like morning glory or clematis in large buckets. Wind the tendrils around the wires to give it a good start.

patio decorating is a perfect way to express yourself. Sometimes we feel more liberated outside. Who knows? Maybe your patio will even become your new home away from, home.

Decorating a Patio

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