How to create an al fresco area: Turn the outdoors into your dining area this autumn

Author: Catherine Smith via domain.com.au

With summer now over, your verdant vegetable patch can become more than just a hard-working utility area. Bring out a table and chairs, find a shady tree, add an umbrella or pergola and spend long lazy afternoons eating what you’ve grown. Copy one of the hottest restaurant trends, and you’ll be dining garden-to-table in minutes.

1. Shape up
   Add architecture to the garden to tie it to the rest of the house. Here chunky pergolas make ideal climbing frames for beans and tomatoes. (A strong enough post can even carry heavier courgettes or gourds into the autumn.) Pick your lettuces straight onto the plate.

2. Shed rescue
   Soften the back of an ugly shed or garage with battens, or disguise it with a dark paint colour that makes the building recede and the greenery pop. Espalier a fruit tree against the wall, trail strawberries over the edges of the bed and you can pick dessert too.

   Tip: Colour coordinate your veggies to match the paint work: comb the seed catalogues or garden centre and you’ll be amazed at how much you can eat that’s not green!

3. Terrace dining
   Layer an eat-in garden on the tiniest deck or courtyard: espalier fruit trees against the walls (look for varieties with dwarf or ballerina in the name), stretch wires or yachting rigging to grow climbing vegetables, and tuck the year-round lettuces and herbs in front. The back of the raised bed supports bench seating so you can seat a crowd, while an umbrella provides midday shade.

4. Rock solid
   For a soothing palette, limit the materials you use so that your finest veggies stand out. Stacked stone planting beds are the same creamy tones as the limestone table, as are the painted walls and gravel walks in this garden. For a more modern twist, use concrete edging, square pavers and a slick contemporary concrete table.

Easy Lighting Fixes for Your Outdoor Area

5. At the bottom of the garden
   The barbecue doesn’t always have to live next to the house. Move it down to the back of the garden, so that you have a pretty amble between the veggie beds to pick what you’re going to eat. Portable barbecues can be ugly, so dress up the space with a proper outdoor bench, add a tile splashback and a living roof to make a great focal point.

   If you already have a garden tap, it is not much more to rig plumbing to this area too for a kitchen sink. (Hunt demolition yards for super-cheap vintage, and look for old brass taps that will weather prettily outdoors.) Then you can really get away from it all.

6. Shady business
   If your yard has no big trees, create shade with architecture. Crisp posts and beams balance the geometry of the raised bed. Vary the look with the shade materials: use solid canvas shade sails for deep shade, mesh gardening shade cloth for more dappled light, or operable louvres so you can alter the light or for weather protection.

   Tip: For a cool south-of-France look, use striped canvas in classic blue and white or black and white.

7. Climb the walls
   Not enough room for a horizontal garden? Vertical veggies can still feed a crowd, and create a gorgeous focal point. Buy ready-made pockets and fill them with good quality potting mix. It is best to plant densely so there are no ugly gaps (and it slows drying out). Check the manufacturer’s info for irrigation instructions, as a vertical plant wall will need frequent watering.

   Tip: Plants look most effective in mass groupings. Mix and match coloured lettuces and herbs, and tuck in swathes of bright flowers – marigolds (Calendula officinalis) to keep away bugs, blue flowers to attract bees. Feed regularly for lush foliage and replace plants as soon as they start to get leggy.

8. Classical
   If you prefer formality in your garden or terrace – veggies can look shaggy by mid-summer – stick to sharp shapes. Train fruit trees (or grapevines) along horizontal wires, and keep them clipped to reveal structure. The bare branches create lovely winter lines too.

   Tip: Plant small citrus trees in classical pots and clip into balls for year-round structure and bright winter colour.

9.  Living room
   Don’t just eat out, turn the veggie garden into the living room all autumn: bring out deckchairs or basket chairs for a spot of post-meal lounging. When the dining table is not in use, decorate it with rows of vintage plant pots, glass hurricane lanterns for candles or pots of herbs for snipping to add to salads.

10. One on the side
    Don’t waste the side of the house – it can be more than the dumping spot for rubbish bins or gardening gear. Even if light is limited, you can slide a raised bed right by the back door for veggies such as lettuces that bolt to seed in full summer sun. Add hard paving and hardy ground-cover herbs, and tuck in a folding table and chairs for your morning coffee spot.