When designing rear gardens, think about setting up a series of spaces. These can be thought of as analogous to the spaces inside the house. People use outdoor spaces much as they do indoors. There is likely to be a rather large space where people gather, a space for outdoor cooking, dining and for conversation, a vegetable patch, a pool for the family’s active recreation, and so on. Each area needs special thought. For example, pedestrian movement through the outdoor dining and conversation areas might be prevented by the use of low walls, the cooking area needs to be close to the outdoor dining space but positioned to minimize the impact of smoke from BBQs.
Entertaining space
Here is an example of a space for entertaining. Raising the circular area, providing steps up, and paving with a different material to the rest of the hard surface provides extra interest. Chairs and a table provide an additional visual clue as to the function of the space.
Outdoor cooking
Vegetable patch
Pool for active recreation
Conversation and dining areas
These spaces need to ‘protected’ from foot traffic. Raising or dropping the areas, surrounding the space with low walls at seating height and sometimes overhead structures like umbrellas and pergolas can help create and reinforce this feeling of semi-isolation – a special place with a defined function.
