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There are hundreds of ways of making patios and many materials to choose from. You could use brick, concrete slab, reconstituted stone, crushed stone, gravel or tree bark. You could have bricks in straight lines, in zigzags, as chevrons or in soldier courses. There are countless options for each material. Look at the materials and forms in your locality – your house, and neighboring houses, walls and paths – and then do your best to follow on.

Does it have to be paving slabs?

A patio made from a mixture of materials – concrete slabs, found stone and old bricks – looks good in the right setting.

A small patio made with found brick blends in perfectly here.

This rather formal stone patio is uplifted by the planting wall.

PATIO OPTIONS

An existing patio extended with gravel, cobblestones and stepping stones.

This patio has been created using a mixture of old bricks, stone and tiles.

An unusual patio made from worn slate inside a hexagonal border.

If you want something a bit different, the strong shape of this circle looks great set within lawn and plants.

For a decorative patio, you could try mixing plain paving stones and cobblestones in a pretty pattern.

SHAPE, STYLE AND PLACEMENT

Gone are the days when the best you could hope for in patio comfort was eight gray concrete slabs and two old armchairs; now you can have a patio in just about any shape, color and style that strikes your fancy. A patio is now considered to be more an extension of the house than just a level area in the garden. Just as you want to make the best of the various rooms in your house, now you can shape and decorate the patio to suit your desires and needs.

A basic rectangular patio is a good low-cost option for a small garden.

Geometric combinations – circles and rectangles are wonderfully dynamic – can be used to create separate patio “rooms,” with some areas being set at different levels to increase the visual interest.

HOW TO BUILD A BRICK PATIO

HOW TO BUILD A PAVING-SLAB PATIO

DRAINAGE SLOPES

In the context of good drainage, a patio needs either to be exactly level, open- jointed and set on sand, or very slightly sloped. A good angle of slope is a fall of about ⅛ in (3 mm) in every 3 ½ ft (1 m).

NON-SLIP SURFACES

Old brick, stable pavers – like bricks but with a crisscross pattern – and stamped concrete make relatively good non-slip surfaces, as long as they are dry and kept free from algae.

Patio additions

Pergolas A pergola not only gives a patio architectural form, and provides a framework for climbing plants, it also provides shade.

Water features The sounds of a spouting wall mask or bubbling fountain are very relaxing.

Barbecue Consider building a permanent brick barbecue.

Built-in furniture Bench seats or stone-slab coffee tables save on moving and storing garden furniture.

Quick patio

In the sense that a patio is no more than a well- drained firm area – somewhere to sit and play – a good, swift, low-cost option is to choose a well- placed, slightly sloping area, level it with a thin layer of gravel, cover it with landscape fabric, and then top it off with crushed bark.