Ways to Refresh and Enhance Your Outdoor Patio

This Bromley Estates back yard has a custom hardscape patio with ribbon fire feature and arbor in beautiful Weddington, NC.

Spring is finally here, and there’s no better time to start this new season off right than by refreshing your patio. Whether you want to use your patio for entertaining or to simply curl up with a good book, here are some ways you can enhance your outdoor living space:

1. Patio Maintenance: After you’ve had your patio area pruned back for spring, you’ll want to make sure your hardscape is in great shape. Remove any weeds which may be growing between cracks, and have your patio pressure washed to remove any stains, dirt and grime leftover from winter.

2. If your poured concrete patio slab is cracking, consider installing pavers instead. Pavers come in a variety of shapes and sizes. If one of them cracks, it’s much easier and more cost effective to replace a single paver than it is to pour a new slab. Installing natural stone like irregular flagstone is another alternative to concrete.

This back yard has hardscape walkways, a patio with a natural stone water feature and a playground for little ones to play.

3. Soften your patio space with potted trees or shrubs. Potted plants are great since they soften the overall look of your patio space. You’ll want to choose trees or shrubs which are small in size so they don’t crowd your patio over time and can easily be move, if needed. You can also add containers with a perennial centerpiece and layered annuals, or install hanging baskets to attract wildlife to make your patio more inviting.

4. Create planting beds by your patio and install shrubs and perennials like boxwoods, hydrangeas and ferns. These beds can easily be enhanced with splashes of colorful annuals.

5. Create a gathering place by adding a fire feature like a gas fireplace or fire pit which you can use at the flip of a switch.

This is a custom-built Ribbon fire feature and patio with a waterfall and pond.

6. Add a water feature. A custom pond, fountain or waterfall provides a soothing, calming oasis you’ll appreciate for years to come.  

7. If your patio has a grassy area which has become too shaded to grow grass, consider planting ground cover, installing artificial turf, pebbles or mulch to create a new, more usable space.

8. If you’d like a little bit of shade over your patio, consider investing in an arbor or pergola. You can create a shade canopy with fast growing flowering vines like Carolina jessamine, confederate jasmine, or wisteria.

9. If you do a lot of entertaining, you may want to invest in an outdoor kitchen. Outdoor kitchens are a big help so you can do all your cooking outside while being able to enjoy your guests without having to run in and out of your house to check on food or to chop ingredients.

10. Finalize your patio by adding some strategically placed outdoor lighting. Energy-efficient LED lighting not only highlights aspects of your yard, it also provides safety and security at night.

With so many ways to refresh and enhance your outdoor patio, it may seem overwhelming to you. If so, give our experts at The Whole Blooming Landscape a call so we can help you create the patio of your dreams which you’ll enjoy for years to come.

This multi-use space was designed and custom-built for adults and kids. The lower gardens include a pool, fire pit area, waterfall, café table for the kids and a playset.

Getting Your Yard Spring Ready

We do the installation, irrigation, lighting and maintenance of this beautiful Myers Park residence.

Seeing all those birds fluttering about and looking for food, gets us thinking about spring. While you might already be thinking about spring cleaning your house, you also want to think about spring cleaning your yard. Here are some things to consider when getting your yard ready for spring:

1. General Clean-up of Your Property

Remove fallen leaves, dead foliage, spent annuals and other debris cluttering your beds.  

Freshen up your property by pruning trees, shrubs and plants as needed. Remove branches that have been damaged by harsh winter weather. Be sure to prune back to live stems, and use hand clippers to shape hedges and bushes rather than gas powered or electric shears. Shearing only removes the top layer of the plants' foliage and doesn’t encourage internal growth. Hand pruning allows for a more selective approach to branch removal from all over the plant. This allows more light and air to penetrate the plant, encouraging natural growth habits, healthier growth, and helps to prevent the occurrence of disease and insect infestations. 

Trim overgrown evergreens back as needed. Cut back spent perennial blooms that are left from the fall and dormant ornamental grasses. Pruning plants back now will allow for new growth in warmer weather. In crowded beds, thin perennials like hostas, irises, Lenten roses and daylilies by dividing and transplanting them as needed.

2. Bed Prep

Edge planting beds and natural areas whose edges may have shifted from heavy winter rains and storms. Use a square-head shovel applied at a 45 degree angle to give beds a clean edge. This also helps prevent turf grass from growing into them. Once you've done this, apply fresh mulch to a depth of 3-4” in landscape beds and around the base of your trees. Mulch discourages weed growth and assists plant roots, helping them to retain moisture. It also refreshes and enhances the overall look of your landscape.

3. Assess and Clean Hardscape Surfaces

Landscape design, installation, hardscapes, irrigation, low voltage lighting, water feature and maintenance courtesy of The Whole Blooming Landscape.

Put gravel back in its place by raking or sweeping escaped gravel back into aggregate walkways and patios, and apply more gravel as needed. Readjust any pavers which may have shifted out of place. Finally, use a pressure washer (on a low setting) or brush to remove slippery algae spots or stains from stepping stones, walkways and patios.

4. Turf Care

If you didn't aerate your lawn in the fall, or if the weather effected your fall overseeding, you'll want to make sure you aerate and overseed in the spring. Apply a slow-release fertilizer for a greener lawn and to strengthen grass roots. If weeds appear, spot treat them as needed. Once your grass seed has germinated and is up and growing for at least two weeks, apply a pre-emergent application to your lawn to help prevent weeds.  If you don’t need to overseed, make sure you apply a fertilizer with pre-emergent before the dogwoods bloom to green up your turf and control weeds before they appear. 

Formal landscape design installation showing a Japanese maple with boxwoods and a manicured lawn.

5. Plant Care

Speaking of fertilizer, once the threat of frost has passed, be sure to drench your established boxwoods with an organic all-purpose plant food like Espoma Plant-tone and add lime to the base of each plant. The benefit of drenching them with this kind of plant food in early spring is to help them fight off disease throughout the season. Additionally, all plant materials would benefit from an application of slow release 14-14 -14 or Espoma organic Plant-tone or Holly-tone in early spring.

6. Turn on Your Irrigation

Have a licensed irrigation contractor run through your irrigation system for you to make sure it is working as it should. Walk your property to make sure drip lines are properly attached, and everything is getting the right amount of water needed. Make adjustments and/or repairs to your system as needed. 

7. Dress Up You Yard With Annuals

When most perennials are just starting to poke their heads up, installing annuals can quickly enhance the overall beauty of your garden. Annual beds give uniform beauty, while colorful containers filled with tiered annuals can really give your garden that instant pop. When installing annuals, we recommend waiting until
all threat of frost has passed. For our area this is usually the end of April/beginning of May. Start planning now where you would like to plant annuals or fill in containers so that you are ready when plants become available at local nurseries.

If you want to get your property in great shape, contact the experts at The Whole Blooming Landscape today.  We'll take care of your property so it's spring ready for you to enjoy.

A stunning annual flower bed display bursts with color during warmer weather months.