Landscape Design
Patio of the Week
Patio of the Week: Outdoor Spot Becomes Couple’s Favorite Room
Grilling, dining and fire pit lounge areas are set inside pleasing curves in this Virginia yard
When it came to their backyard landscape plans, these Richmond, Virginia, homeowners were all about curves. “They had seen one of our projects with a lot of curves on our Houzz page, which gave us a starting point,” landscape designer Greg Koehler says. As for function, their must-haves included a sitting area with a fire pit, a dining area for six, a grilling station and stairs from the back door down to the patio.
After: Koehler gave the couple a patio with a zoned layout that embraces curves. He lined the circular fire pit with a curved seating wall at the back edge of the patio. The new stairs from the kitchen lead directly to the grilling island for easy transport from indoors to out. And the dining table is close to the grilling station for easy serving.
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Work with a landscape designer
This drawing illustrates that every curve Koehler designed is an arc of a defined circle with a radius. “I find it’s best to use exact circles — circle is classic, whereas other curves can be hit-or-miss. A circle is crisp and looks better to the eye,” he says. “It’s also the easiest way to make sure it will be built exactly to what has been drawn, because it gives the installers a radius measurement to work from.”
Here’s how the circles worked out in forming the footprint of the patio. This plan also shows the flagstone pavers that lead to the patio from the front yard on the right and from the patio to the basement stairs on the left.
Koehler chose three types of pavers for the patio. He bordered the circle around the fire pit and the greater fire pit area in cobblestone-like pavers. In between he used pavers that have an irregular river stone type of look. The fire pit and seating wall are from a kit that includes architectural blocks and caps. And he added matching pillars at each end of the seating wall.
Cobblestone pavers: Villagio; river rock pavers: Antika, fire pit kit: Valencia, all by Techo-Bloc
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Cobblestone pavers: Villagio; river rock pavers: Antika, fire pit kit: Valencia, all by Techo-Bloc
Hire a masonry and concrete contractor
The third paver, a mix of rectangles and squares, covers the dining and grilling areas of the patio. “My clients wanted a tapestry of colors, nothing too monotone,” Koehler says. So he composed these pavers in three colors that work well with terra-cotta and brick tones. “This was the most custom part of the patio. We had to work out how to make it look random yet balanced. We tried a lot of different combinations until we landed on this,” Koehler says.
The joints between the pavers are permeable and allow water to seep into the ground rather than running off the patio. A new catch basin takes care of any other water runoff on the property resulting from the patio construction.
Pavers: Mista in Chestnut Brown, Champlain Grey and Sandlewood, Techo-Bloc
The joints between the pavers are permeable and allow water to seep into the ground rather than running off the patio. A new catch basin takes care of any other water runoff on the property resulting from the patio construction.
Pavers: Mista in Chestnut Brown, Champlain Grey and Sandlewood, Techo-Bloc
Here’s a good look at how the circular seating area meets the rest of the patio. Koehler edged the patio in the cobblestone-like pavers.
Bright green planters add fresh color to the patio. Koehler stuck with a green-and-white color palette in the planters.
Browse planters in the Houzz Shop
Browse planters in the Houzz Shop
The designer used a fantastic variety of foliage in terms of shape and color. Plants included in the planter arrangements are white geraniums, dusty miller (Jacobaea maritima, syn. Senecio cineraria), common thyme (Thymus vulgaris), sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas), white vervain (Verbena urticifolia), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and creeping thyme (Thymus praecox). “I love to add herbs into planters,” Koehler says. “They add so much wonderful texture and aromas. And you can dash out and clip some if you need them when you’re cooking.”
He recommends adding a landscape fabric in the bottom of pots to keep the dirt in, then adding several inches of gravel to prevent the drainage holes from becoming clogged with dirt. “And this will keep the area around them clean,” he says.
He recommends adding a landscape fabric in the bottom of pots to keep the dirt in, then adding several inches of gravel to prevent the drainage holes from becoming clogged with dirt. “And this will keep the area around them clean,” he says.
The pillars at each end of the seating wall coordinate with the other stones but have a more rugged look. Koehler used a stone veneer called Mountain Ledge from Eldorado Stone in a color called Charleston. The caps on top of the pillars coordinate with the caps on the wall and fire pit.
Koehler planted a kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) behind each pillar. And behind the wall he planted ‘Limelight’ panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’), Endless Summer bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) and ‘Green Mountain’ boxwood (Buxus ‘Green Mountain’).
Koehler planted a kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) behind each pillar. And behind the wall he planted ‘Limelight’ panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’), Endless Summer bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) and ‘Green Mountain’ boxwood (Buxus ‘Green Mountain’).
The homeowners wanted a dining area that could accommodate a table for six. Here it is set up for a spring dinner party.
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Shop for outdoor dining furniture
Koehler covered the grill island in the same rugged stone veneer he used on the pillars. The homeowners wanted the outdoor cooking area to coordinate with their kitchen, so he matched the granite to their kitchen countertops. Beyond the grill is a crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) tree.
In addition to the gas grill, there are two side burners. “These are great for cooking an entire meal outside, especially if you want to keep certain odors out of the house. For example, when you’re making surf and turf or curry,” Koehler says. “They are also great for keeping sauces warm, keeping a big pot of chili going, and I’ve even had clients who use them to brew beer.”
In addition to the gas grill, there are two side burners. “These are great for cooking an entire meal outside, especially if you want to keep certain odors out of the house. For example, when you’re making surf and turf or curry,” Koehler says. “They are also great for keeping sauces warm, keeping a big pot of chili going, and I’ve even had clients who use them to brew beer.”
Before: There were no steps from the back door to the backyard. The homeowners wanted to wait and do something that would coordinate with their landscaping plans.
After: The new stairs coordinate with the rest of the patio. Koehler gave them custom powder-coated aluminum railings that are very similar to existing railings at the front entry and exterior basement stairs. Additional happy green pots add some plant life at the base of the stairs.
The homeowners love their new outdoor space and use it as much as possible. “My clients have reported that they spent every possible evening out here until bedtime during the pandemic,” Koehler says. “And they tell me that wine tastes even better when they drink it out here.”
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More on Houzz
Read more landscape design stories
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Shop for outdoor products
Patio at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Designer and builder: Outdoor Dreams
Before: The homeowners knew they would be completing their landscaping after moving in, so they had the builder leave the yard a blank slate. The yard backs up to a forest and there was a swale, or depression, running through it.
A project by Outdoor Dreams that the homeowners had seen on Houzz inspired the design. “After my initial meeting with clients, I always put together a Houzz ideabook with inspiration photos I think they’ll like,” Koehler says. “Then I share it with them so that they can tell me which ones they like, which ones they don’t like and add more photos themselves. Seeing these photos is a really important part of the process.” From there he presents his clients with three to five different plans.