Think about garden and patio decorations just as you would if you were designing a room in your home. We always hear of interior decorating, so now think about exterior decorating! A well-decorated patio can have sitting areas, dining areas, and center pieces. Because you're outdoors, garden and patio decorations let you become creative in really fun ways.

​The garden decor you select will give your outdoor "rooms" style and character... so go with what appeals to you. Are you formal and elegant, or informal and casual? Whatever approach you take, keep in mind that too many garden and patio decorations will give you a crowded look. Plants and flowers should play just as big a role in your decor as structures and furnishings... let them compliment each other.

Visualize Key Furnishings
First, envision your patio, deck or garden area. Plan out a few different layouts for the main, larger decor items that will need to fit within your space. These would be chairs, benches, tables, grilling or cooking stations. If you work at home, you can even design an outdoor "work station" for your laptop and office work.

Weather-proofed wicker, wrought iron, cedar and teak garden furniture are excellent choices for patio and garden furnishings. Functionality is important, but go for comfort and style, too!

Outdoor Lighting Sets the Mood
Once you identify your main furniture pieces, add even more atmosphere to your garden and patio with outdoor lighting. Lighting arrangements can change the entire feel of your outdoor area. You can go for festive, subdued, ornamental, warm, or bright!

Choose Your Accents
There are no rules for garden and patio decorations and lots of choices! Here are some great accents that will add life and charm to any yard:

Garden Benches: Have you ever noticed a rustic bench placed "just right" in a garden? It's a very inviting sight. It doesn't need to be fancy just a spot to sit down and relax.

Garden and patio decorations can be as elaborate or quaint as you wish. Simply keep in mind that it's just like fixing up a room in your home. If you like what you see, you've added your own personal signature to your outdoor living place!

The Bristol Gardening Team is always available to provide you with support in making the best out of your happy place. Call us now for a free quote.

Growing vegetables in your garden can save you money. During harvest time, your own produce becomes part of your meals. Home gardeners feel deep satisfaction in preparing salads or seasoning the casserole with freshly picked plants from their own vegetable gardens. Their taste is incomparable. Fresh surpluses are distributed to friends and loved ones while some are kept frozen.

It doesn't require much space to grow vegetables. Even a container pot or a window box will do the trick. Where space is limited, you can grow a mini-garden indoor or outdoor. If you have good sun, access to water and enough containers, growing a garden's worth of fruits and vegetables in a limited space is a no-brainer. 

When planting in containers, proper spacing is very important. One sturdy plant is better than several weak ones. Crowding chokes root systems, can slow growth, cause poor production and frustrate your expectations.

With container vegetable garden, you no longer need to worry about poor soil types and bad drainage, or heavy-duty tillers to break up hard clay and rocks. There is no weeding to worry about and you can change the looks of your container placements by simply moving them around anytime to a place you wanted to. ​

​Vegetable gardening offers a change from the monotony of the supermarket. You can grow a variety of vegetables that you want. When choosing plants for your vegetable container garden, consider container worthy crops such as beans, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants and radish. 

One great advantage of growing vegetables and spices in containers involves the advent of upside-down gardening. Crops with the likes of tomatoes, basil, parsley, rosemary and peppers do well with this approach. The idea is that the vines will cascade downward instead of raising a stake. 

Equally important, seeds and soil must properly be taken care of in your vegetable container garden. Seeds do not always have to be bought. Reasonably fresh dill, anise, fennel, coriander and other seeds already on the spice rack should grow. ​If not, they are too old to add much to food anyway and should be replaced. Scoop out seeds from vegetables you've bought and dry them a week or so before planting.

Soil preparation, on the other hand, is very crucial for good results. Have the soil tested. Every city has a land-grant college that will test soil for a small fee. It will give abundant basic gardening advice and garden resources tips. Start growing those veggies in your garden and turn your home made meals into something truly special. Take care of your plants to make them productive by keeping them watered and harvested.