Extend Your Living Space

by Monica Brandies

Sharon Shepard’s garden in Valrico is such a complete extension of her home that she feels free to work in her pajamas within the fenced back yard. She even has music there, in addition to the birdsong.

Her garden isn’t large, but it has many rooms. As you come through the gate, you are greeted by colorful yellow marigolds in neat, brick-edged beds. You hardly notice the chaise lounge behind the gate, but that small area is, she says, “my sun room, where even in the winter I can enjoy the warmth of the sun and get some extra vitamin D.”

There are several sitting areas surrounded with tropical shrubs and plants, all mulched with oak leaves. The leaves and the shade create a moist, weed-free and low-maintenance garden.

“I had wanted a jungle-like effect, but it turned out to be a beautiful resort-style tropical garden which I use for entertaining family and friends,” she says. She loves to read, and has a special “retirement chair” in the garden where she often relaxes with a book.

When Sharon entertains, she brings out tablecloths of specific colors for each outdoor “room.” The yellow room near the house is where food and drink are served. Many guests gravitate to the lavender-dressed concrete patio table with a lavender and pink centerpiece, a large lavender umbrella and a large swing within talking distance.

That is also where she has an old pump, complete with a dipper and bucket. She found the pump in someone’s trash and asked if she could have it. She has a flair for garden art. A fountain and fish pond, surrounded with colorful rocks and foliage, form a lovely focal point near the largest sitting area.

No one understands the value and importance of outdoor rooms more than the parents of young children. If they can play happily and safely in the yard, it will increase their health and well-being and save the parents’ sanity. Play areas are one place where grass works well, softening falls and limiting the leaves that might otherwise follow little feet inside.

The same importance applies to any area for outdoor cooking, relaxing or entertaining. Even a small yard can have several outdoor rooms that will increase the usefulness of both house and garden, and offer delights not possible indoors.

Try to make outdoor rooms an extension of indoor rooms: a dining patio or deck with easy access to the kitchen, an area for entertaining connected to the living or family room, a quiet balcony outside a bedroom for solitude and meditation. Consider the sun, shade and privacy created when you select and place your plants.

Outdoor rooms need not be as well-defined as indoor ones, but they need some of the same amenities: something nice to look at; walls, trellises or hedges for a sense of enclosure; and a place to sit or have a picnic. Grass, mulch or a deck or patio with a porous surface for the floor is essential. Mulch under benches and other seating for convenience when mowing.

For most of us, outdoor rooms are fairly simple and inexpensive: the entranceway, the parking area, the garden work area, the service area, the herb garden, etc. Eating, reading and resting areas can also be achieved with seating, garden art and planted or partial divisions. Most people don’t mind if they can be seen working, but they want to feel hidden when they sit and rest. Use your imagination; giving areas themes or names will help ideas evolve.

The service area can include garbage cans, dog runs, clotheslines, a place to work on cars — whatever your family needs. Just be sure it is convenient to the house and as invisible as possible to the public. I’ve seen gardens where the compost pile is so well hidden behind a bush that I would never have seen it had I not asked. A neat potting and intensive care area at one side of the garden will not bother other gardeners, but try to keep it where non-gardeners will not notice.

The Browlee family of Plant City added an overhead covering, a partial wall and a fireplace to turn a simple patio into the most amazing outdoor room I have ever seen. It is on one side of their pool. At the other side of the pool and adjoining the house is another eating, laundry and sitting area that the family uses most often.

A simple patio can also be turned into a gazebo, pavilion or pool house with dressing rooms, even an outdoor lavatory. This can often be done with much less cost and almost as much reward as building a conventional room addition. Be sure to get any professional help you need and to check with local building codes before you proceed.

The garden of Sue Powers, Hillsborough County Master Gardener, is no larger than most, perhaps 1/4 acre. But there are nine different outdoor sitting areas, all of which are full of plants and have lovely views. One is a fairly large trellised area near the kitchen where 50 or so people fit comfortably in the shade when the Camellia Society has their annual potluck luncheon. She even provides a fan on hot days or a fire on cold ones. When she had the annual graduation and Christmas party for the Master Gardeners one year, there was enough room to set up tables for close to 100 people.

Whether your goal is to create a special place for privacy, play, relaxation or guests, there’s nothing like an outdoor room or two to extend your space and enjoyment. All it takes is a little thought and ingenuity.

© 2013 Monica Brandies. Originally published in Florida Gardening, Apr / May 2013. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.