Posted: November 2, 2021
Whether you have a big back yard or a tiny urban lot, outdoor rooms are the key to functional outdoor living.
A well-designed series of garden rooms. Photo by L. Spellman
An outdoor room won't serve any function well if it tries to do everything. So, start with an honest assessment of what you truly plan to do outdoors.
Once you've decided this, the next step is to analyze your existing landscape. Think about the views you'd like to have from each room. Do you like to look away from the house or toward it? Is there a specific focal point like a mountain view or gorgeous specimen tree to highlight? Are there large canopy trees that can create an implied ceiling? Are there existing fences, hedges or walls that could be used to physically separate different outdoor uses? What is the elevation like across your property? Those might be the first places to consider creating garden rooms.
So how does one create a garden room? First, let's talk about what a garden room is not. It is not putting floral-printed patio furniture on your porch and adding a few hanging baskets. And while a patio can make a nice transition from house to garden, a narrow slab of concrete outside the back door doesn't always create that sense of place one would call an outdoor room. Placing ornaments in your yard also does not make the space a garden room. These items can sometimes serve as accessories within an outdoor room, similar to pillows on the living room couch or prints on the wall; but they don't typically scale well in the residential landscape and usually look best at the miniature golf course.
The best way to think about outdoor areas is to think about the inside of your house. No matter their size, our homes are all comprised of walls, floors, and ceilings. In landscape design, these features are referred to as the vertical plane, the ground plane, and the overhead plane. In our houses, rooms flow from one to another via doorways or hallways. In the garden, outdoor rooms are tied together by thresholds.
A sense of enclosure is most easily created by vertical planes. Humans, by nature, want to feel sheltered and protected. When your entire yard is open in all directions, your eye takes in the whole view at once. There's nothing to focus on and the feeling is usually less than calming. However, by artfully obstructing the view, the perspective becomes more focused. You view the garden in shorter, smaller pieces which has the added effect of making your landscape appear larger.
Vertical plans in the landscape can be either explicit (solid) or implied. Examples of explicit vertical planes are walls and fences. Solid rows of tall evergreens can also create an explicit vertical plane. An example of an implied vertical plane is a small low planting bed that separates the patio from the open grass yard. There is a physical separation between the uses; but you can still see one from the other. Another example of an implied vertical plane is a collection of large pots planted with tall grasses flanking each end of a garden bench. The idea is to create a sense of enclosure and privacy.
Different functions within the landscape are most strongly defined by the ground plane and so the shape, size and material choice should all correlate to how the space is used. If the use is intense and frequent, it will function best if covered with some type of hardscape - a flagstone patio, concrete pavers, or wooden decking. If the use is infrequent, the ground plane material can be grass, mulch, or a hardy ground cover. For example, a large open grass lawn is a great place for that occasional game of croquet or bocce ball. While mulch is an appropriate ground plane material for a small bench used for occasional magazine reading or a morning coffee break.
Differing ground plane materials can also help to define different uses within the same space. For example, if you want to have separate areas for dining and relaxing on the same patio; you can visually separate them into two "rooms" by placing an outdoor carpet under the lounge furniture while leaving the dining area uncovered. Varying the paving pattern within the same larger patio can have the same effect.
The ground plane can also define different outdoor rooms through elevation changes. If your lot is sloped, consider installing a retaining wall with steps that tie one area to the other. The lower elevation can be used for one function and the higher for another.
Like the vertical plane, the overhead plane can be either explicit or implied. It is also key to creating a sense of enclosure and controls the degree of exposure to outdoor elements. The overhead plane can be as simple as using patio umbrellas or as elaborate as building a pergola or gazebo. Well-placed trees with large umbrella-like canopies create an implied ceiling. So don't feel like you must always use man-made elements to achieve this effect in your gardens.
Tying multiple outdoor rooms together is crucial to cohesive and appealing landscapes. Thresholds can be stone, mulch, or gravel pathways. They can also be gates, trellises, matching columnar shrubs or two tall planters.
The dog days of summer are the perfect time to start designing your outdoor rooms. Get outside and start brainstorming.
Linda Spellman is a Penn State Master Gardener from Adams County. Penn State Extension of Adams County is located at 670 Old Harrisburg Road, Suite 204, Gettysburg, phone 334-6271.
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