Designing Outdoor Social Spaces - Gathering in the Garden Is a Trend That's Here to Stay
Beer Circles: a term first coined last spring by my desperate twenty-somethings aching to see their friends as our now familiar virus kept us apart. So desperate were they, friends arrived with camp chairs in thirty-degree weather to share a drink on our still frozen lawn.
As the weather warmed, we all found ways to enjoy our family and a few friends, very few, in safe, outdoor settings. Many of my clients re-discovered they joy of socializing outdoors longer and more often. Vaccine or not, this trend is likely to continue.
How do we continue to draw ourselves and our friends into our outdoor spaces as the mandates fade away?
The main ingredients for successful outdoor spaces are similar to indoor spaces: floors, walls, windows, overhead space, light and warmth. However, the materials are quite different.
Floors, or the base of your social outdoor space can be defined with natural materials such as grass or decomposed granite, or hardscape materials such as stone, concrete or decking. Low plantings around your chosen space, or just a change in material, help to create enclosure and definition. Vertical plant material such as trees and hedges, along with fences and buildings create loose walls for that sense of intended space. Ceilings in an outdoor setting can be as loose as tree canopies or as literal as porches and pergolas. Creating windows can be the most fun, trying to frame the views you want most and direct your guest’s eye with plant material.
Below is a sketch that shows how a few changes can completely define or redefine the space.
Above: an open lawn separates the guest cabin from the main house (not shown). Below: a second tree creates an overhead canopy. A stone terrace connects the guest cabin to the main house and defines the outdoor room. New plantings frame the new space and direct the guest to the cabin.
If stone is not in the budget, the same plan can be achieved by keeping a low lawn as your social space that transitions to taller grasses at the edge of the space. Light and warmth are factors not to be overlooked, and I will give some tips on that in my next blog.
If you would like to sketch some ideas of your own, here is a post on perspective drawing using simple, practical techniques: https://gardentherapy.ca/garden-perspective-drawing/
Now is the time to start your plans for a spring and summer outside with friends.
Photos by Saxon Holt, Courtesy of Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates
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