Create a garden on your deck with deck planters
Adding a deck to your home provides a new dimension to your outdoor living space. The deck becomes a place to entertain, sunbathe or just kick back, relax with a book on a chaise lounge and enjoy the view. Once your deck is built, stained and furnished with a table, chairs and perhaps the barbecue grill, you're ready to enjoy. However, you may find something lacking. Just as in your garden, plants and flowers seem to make the deck a bit more homey and gracious. Deck planters provide a way to add color and a harmonious mood to your deck. It becomes even more pleasant to dine outdoors with a bountiful display of flowers alongside your table. Deck planters which contain a small patio tree provide shade and beauty as you relax for a nap in summertime. If you'd like to enhance your deck with planters, it's easy. You can buy them at any nursery, or if you're handy, it's a great DIY project.
Whether you choose to buy or build, you'll want to make your design plan first. You can use garden design software or simply sketch your deck dimensions on graph paper. Mark the locations of your deck furnishings and sketch in locations for your proposed deck planters. You'll want to consider views of the garden beyond the deck, so that you don't obscure the view of garden elements you want visible from the deck. For example, if you've got a lovely bed of gladiolas, design your planters accordingly. Conversely, if the trash cans are outside the kitchen at the end of the deck, improve the view by placing a planter on that perimeter.
Consider also the dimensions, both height and length, of each planter according to the type of plant you want in that location. For example, let's say you'd like to form a u-shaped configuration around your patio table and chairs for a more intimate dining atmosphere. You'd like to plant bright annuals here. Calculate the height of these deck planters such that the flowers will be at eye height when guests are seated. Make your design accommodate any other features you may want, such as space between the planters to set out citronella candles.
When making your design, it's best to keep some consistency of height in planters occupying areas in close proximity. For example, if the planter which is going to conceal the trash cans at the end is three feet high, it will look odd to have another planter at the same end of the deck which is just one foot high. Garden software allows you to easily visualize how your design will look once installed.
It's also helpful to consider your design from a seasonal standpoint. If you plant bulbs for spring and annuals for summer, consider how your design will work in fall and winter.
Your deck can be a beautiful garden all on its own. It's all in the design.
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