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When thinking about garden design, 99 times out of 100, you are going to incorporate a patio of some description in your design. Following the Alan Titchmarsh methodology for garden design, you start with a blank piece of paper, put on the things that will remain the same (house, boundaries etc.) then put on the places you want to sit, i.e. the patio, before you link them with paths and fill the remainder with lawn, flowerbeds etc.
That's easy enough. The chances are that there is an existing patio in the right place or you have already established a spot that you sit in when you are relaxing in the garden. The only time you might not know where this is to be is if you have moved in to a new house and haven't experienced all the seasons yet.
When I produce a garden design, assuming there is enough space, I like to have a place to sit in the sun towards the end of the day and also an area in the shade for those few days of the year when it is actually hot! The shady area should be big enough for a table and chairs as I think it is best to eat in the shade - if it's not warm you wouldn't be eating outside anyway. If natural shade is not available, providing the shade is always a good excuse to incorporate a pergola of some description into the garden design.
Assuming you know where to put it, the next question is what to make it out of? Of course you may be influenced by existing structures, the most obvious one being the house. If you live in a modern brick built house, a modern man made flag patio may look best even though it doesn't sound as romantic as reclaimed Yorkshire stone flags. Similarly an 18th century cottage probably wouldn't look right with a deck surrounded by stainless steel balustrades (although Diarmuid Gavin may disagree).
Assuming, for the sake of this article, you have a real blank piece of paper, let's look at the pros and cons of the most common types of patio - stone flags, deck and loose aggregates - usually gravel.
Stone flags - look good, (unless you really try hard to pick a type or colour to clash with their surroundings) are hardwearing and are reasonably easy to maintain. On the downside they are probably the most expensive material to use although price per square metre will vary greatly - from as little as £15 for man made "budget" range concrete of the type builders use to surround new build properties, to over £50 for new, natural, Yorkshire stone flags. If you are paying to have the patio built, a stone patio can be expensive if a lot of earth needs to be removed, for example to bring down the level sufficiently below a damp proof course. Even if that isn't the case, there is still a lot of labour involved in laying the correct base, mortaring the joints etc.
Decks - look even better (perhaps) when they are new, and should be reasonably hardwearing (pressure treated timber should easily last 20 years+). Decks are also a good option if you have a difficult location as you can simply build over the top of rough or sloping terrain, making them a cheaper option in lots of situations. Looking at basic materials alone, a basic, pressure treated, softwood deck should cost in the region of £15-20 per square metre.
On the downside decks can be a health hazard in the winter when they become very slippery in the wet and I have read reports about them becoming havens for rats if you like to eat out a lot and drop food down between the cracks.
Loose aggregates - such as gravel and slate chippings are definitely the easiest and therefore cheapest option. Basic gravel will cost say £60 per tonne, delivered, and I would estimate a tonne to cover 10 square metres to a reasonable depth. Assuming the ground doesn't need much levelling it's a quick and easy job but probably not a great long term option. Even if the loose material is laid on a weed suppressing underlay, weeds will still germinate in the loose material and eventually begin to encroach. If you want an informal look it may be to your advantage but usually a weed free patio is considered more desirable. A lot also depends on what the patio will be used for as gravel is not a great surface for table and chairs.
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