Tuesday, July 15, 2014

DIY Patio Makeover, Pavers, Lattice, Planters

I've been working on the front patio which was faded out pavers and a roof.  I started by extending the patio out 3 feet to the edge of the roof and painting them, adding a Mediterranean pattern.  You can see that post here
Now I have the lattice wall completed and the succulent planter done as well.
(click to enlarge photos)
The lattice wall started as four 2x4x8's screwed into the last rafter.  The bottom ends sit inside a square cinderblock filled with rocks.
We have very high winds here and part of the reason for the wall was to knock out enough wind that the patio chairs do not go sailing anymore, especially when we get a dust storm.  The rocks along the edge of the patio are in a small ditch for drainage.  Not that we get a lot of rain but it tends to pour when we do and the clay & caliche soil don't soak it up much.
The lattice cost me less than $20 since I used primer, paint & screws we already had, and the lattice itself was ripped down on the table saw from free boards that came out of a horse barn.
This is the outside at the halfway point.  Each piece was cut, primed and painted before being screwed into place.
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The succulent planter is made from 2 short metal file cabinets.  I removed the drawers and drilled holes to bolt them together.
The bolts are shown in the circles.  Then I used a primer and the blue paint which is my accent color, adding some more horse barn boards as is for top & bottom trim.  I used self-tapping screws to go through the wood and into the metal.
With the rustic branch arbor out in the front yard I wanted to bring that element to the patio so small branches were silicone glued onto each side.  I ran a thick bead of glue top & bottom and pushed the ends of the branch into it, using short cuts of branch to bill in the spaces along the edge.
This is it planted up but not totally done yet, I ran out of the blue glass marbles and still need a plant or two to fill in the left side.
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This is my little mixed plant group near the door.  Papa's old milkcan holds a clay pot of plants, the rusted out bucket from the same place I got the wood has a planting of blue daze, and the larger plastic pot I dry brushed with the blue paint to bring out the detail, holds a gardenia.  The Welcome frog will move once I get the walkway extension done and the pot on the right is temporarily holding a wisteria that will get planted in the center of the lattice wall.  There's a jasmine in the back that will grow up the lattice too.
The rocks here are again for drainage so water does not get into the house.

These are what has kept me busy for the last few weeks in addition to the garden. 




5 comments:

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Very nice! I like the colors.

lotta joy said...

I LOVE the planter!! When we first made our backyard patio out of patio blocks, we were so proud. One year later we picked all of them up, (grunt work) and had concrete poured and ended up giving our pavers away. We know how to waste money like no body else.

kristine barr said...

Looks very neat and relaxing. Love how you reused older things.

Caddie said...

You have a tight handle on your sense of design. So talented. Love the 'sticks' on the planter. Reading farther back about your quilt, I'm wondering how you did the writing on the squares - embroidery?

I too spent the past winter making a quilt. Not quite as efficient and speedy as you are though. Posted pictures of it back in March, in case you want to take a look-see.

Recycled Cottage & Garden said...

I used a permanent marking pen for all the names on my quilt, I bought it at Walmart. If I had embroidered the names I would be sewing for at least another year, lol. The reason it went so fast is that I am presently not working.

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