Dh and I poured a ten by ten square foot patio block the other day. By the way, if you ever plan this please rent a cement mixer, we poured it by hand mixing in a wheelbarrow . My arme are still sore.

My question is that now I don't know what to do to finish it. Any ideas? I wanted something that doesn't cost a fortune. We thought of a pergola but they want $40 for a 6 by 6 inch post and I need 6 of them not counting all the lumber for rafters and beams. Probably a $500 job at the least.

My patio set already has an umbrella, so I don't have to worry about shade, maybe some kind of fencing around it? Please throw some ideas my way.

tamara you sure don't take the easy way out do you no wonder your arms are sore. Did you mix the color into the concrete as you mixed it or are you going to paint it later? Did you think about lattice work as a fence around this. It can be done real pretty and is fairly cheap. also you can plant Roses' around it making kind of a Rose arbor. I would use several colors of bush type Roses'. But then I love Roses' and Hibiscus as well as coleus. You could also get other types of shrubs like Holley or juniper shrubs. If it were mine I would put ether Roses' or Rose of Sharon which can be pruned into a shrub or left to grow as a tree. You ask for idea's these are mine. good Luck.
Jimmy

I'm with JV, lattice would be nice...and a good place for morning glories or ivy! They now have that pre-painted lattice and a vinyl lattice that doean't need painting! Even if you omly did 2 side of the patio....would be pretty.

I'm boring, give me boxwood hedges.

Maybe we can get G~Mom over here...she is the BEST at coming up with stuff............Oh G~Mom...where are you????????

You could make large flower boxes on 2 of the sides....or 3...depends on if the slab is next to your house or not. ...and how you want people traffic to be diverted. Anyways, I'd build flower boxes that are 2-3 feet tall and put a nice lattice on one part of it so that you can have something that climbs. Then I'd just plant your favorite flowers in the rest of the boxes. I would have one continuous box going around it, but you could do a box at each corner and then on the sides that you'd want something, put another box...like 2'x2' in the middle of the length of slab. You could eventually connect the boxes with a nice wooden bench. They aren't hard to make. I believe I have plans for bench seats that are built using 1x3's or 1x5's....or something around that size. So...that's my idea.

I just love using other people's yards for ideas!!

garden projects & ideas...

http://www.bhg.com/bhg/category.jhtml?categoryid=/templatedata/bhg/category/data/t_43.xml

cool site pc that will come in handy thanks for posting it

I like JV's idea, especially if you added wisteria to it!



Merme

Ooooooh Merme-- I like that -wish I'da thought of it... I love Wisteria!!!

Thanks guys, Merme I love wisteria also but I'm in Zone 4, Well really close to zone 3 so not alot overwinters here. Oh by the way the concrete is just plain concrete grey, that's the same color as the trim on my house. The slab is at the corner of my acre and a half, I'm not worried about privacy.

Tamara,
There was one idea I liked under Pergola's,
the first one you come acrossed and it had
planter boxes built into the legs of the unit..

If you have any wild vines that you can get. The old growth works great for bentwood projects. And it creates a very natural looking lattice(sp) style. It's sort of like what Bill did with the hummer house down in Wild Willy. That way you could have your pergoda and come in under budget.