Pallet for Home

Maybe some of you remember my post from last year about our patio project? Well, I am pleased to let you all know that it has now been FINISHED! Well, at least, as far as the actual patio area goes. The edge from patio to rest of the garden is still another little bit of work that we need to look at later. Yes, later. Like, next year. But gosh, am I happy that it is done, even though Summer is almost over! It's only been ten months! Still, it's been worth the wait and all the hard work.

Here are some before shots to refresh your memory...

 

And....here is the finished patio:

The outer ring of pebbles we did ourselves and took absolutely forever, preparing the ground, placing cement, deciding on the pattern, tapping them all in and making sure they're  level. And you can't do these things in rainy weather!

As for the planting I choose bamboo plants for the top bed (as we'd like them to give us some more privacy in the future and bamboo is meant to grow fast!) and lots of alpine plants and sedums for the top of the wall. I choose lavender for pots and the lower beds to match the purple slate. The small tree in the pot is an olive tree (that only gets put out for a little while in Scotland!).

I love the old oak plank that has been built as a bench into the drystone wall:

Our patio certainly has a lot of creativity, love, blood, sweat, tears - and a hell of a lot of rocks - in it. I love the natural stone, the different textures, patterns, the purple shades and the way it looks like it's always been there. Concrete slabs may be quicker, but this patio will sure bring us (and the cats ;-) many years of joy.