Cormaic's Garden - Layout - The Main Patio

Garden Layout - The Patio
This is where I sits and admires the colours on summer evenings and plan my future schemes. The patio was re-laid in Spring 1997, and utilises red and brown clay paviors in a basketweave pattern. These were chosen not only for their rich, light-fast colours, but also because they are so natural looking, some of them being slightly askew as a result of the kiln-firing, and they are easily colonised with mosses, giving an aged appearance to fit in with the rest of the garden within its first season.
I spend a lot of time here, usually sitting in my chair sorting out the world's problems, or doing the crossword, but I also use this area when I'm potting up or preparing the hanging baskets. It gets the sun all the way through from early morning until around 8pm in the evening, and I tend to shift the position of my chair to suit the intensity of sunshine. The honeysuckle clambering along the 1.8m high fence panel creates a natural, and scented, arbour, which is my favourite sitting spot, and I like to use as many scented plants as possible in this area, usually in pots, so they can be moved about to suit the season.	Cormaic's Corner
The patio is large enough to take the patio dining table, for when we eat outside. Insects can be a pest late in the evening, so I burn citronella candles to keep the majority of them away, and I'm rarely bitten as a result. Once the table is put away, we can easily fit half a dozen garden chairs around the patio, for when we have visitors, or when the kids are too hot to sit in the house. The pots are moved about as required, one of the things I love most about patio and pot gardening.
The edging kerb after rain	The Cotoneaster and Winter Jasmine smother the wall of the house, and hide the unsightly soil stack, to height of about 3.6 metres, and the purple-blue flowers of Lathyrus Matucana, a wonderfully scented but not very tall sweet-pea, and the vivid oranges and yellows of tuberous Begonias make it a very warm looking spot. The Belfast sink was added in 1998, and is the sole preserve of Mrs Taz, who tends the oxygenating aquatics and the two goldfish with an almost religious duty. Charlie the Cat is also fond of this sink, as a source of drinking water - the lazy sod has yet to notice the fish, and probably couldn't be bothered to try and catch one, even if he was aware of them!

This is a scale diagram of the layout of the Patio and the pots and baskets dotted around it. Passing your mouse over each plant will result in the name of the plant being displayed on your status bar. Clicking on any of these hotspots will take you to the page dedicated to that plant.

Planting Schedule for Patio
*Perennials* Achillea 'Moonshine' Arenaria balearica Arenaria caespitosa Cotoneaster Horizontalis Dianthus deltoides - Brilliant Dianthus deltoides - perfumed pinks Hedera hibernica Jasmine nudiflorum Lathyrus fragrantissimma Lathyrus latifolius Lathyrus matucana Leucanthemum vulgare - Shasta daisies Lonicera Dropsmore Scarlet	Bedding see bedding page Begonias Fuchsia Dark Eyes Fuchsia Hermiena Fuchsia Marinka Pelargonium Century Cardinal Pansies
Boxes and Baskets see baskets page Basket - varies with the seasons Basket - Surfinias, trailing begonias, trailing fuchsias Belfast stone sink with assortment of alpines Birdcage planted up with Fuchsias, Pelargoniums and Lobelia Herb Pot - Oregano, Thyme, Sage, Rosemary and Bay Green Man planter - with Hedera helix 'Golden Ripples' Hanging Basket - Lobelia Cascade with Fuchsia Marinka Trough - Sepervivums Winter Troughs with Crocus, Jumblies Daffodils, Primroses and Pansies

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