There's a big crabapple tree that dominates the front yard, so I'm having a hard time finding a good focal point there to put the fountain. Also, the neighbors right across the street have a big dramatic fountain, and our little fountain might look a little odd by direct comparison. I think it makes sense to have it in the back, with seating around it. But that means I need to figure out where the patio should go now. The plumber will be here in a few weeks!
So I guess I have two questions. Given that this is the site plan (below), any suggestions on where the patio should go? Near the house? Near the garage? (That's the shadiest spot right now, since there's a big tree over the garage -- whose roots are destroying the garage foundation, but that's a problem for another year.) Near the south side neighbors? (Sunny.) Keep in mind that we're planning on a fair bit of vegetable gardening in the back, so most of the sunny places are committed to that.
And given that I have this as a PDF and as a JPG, are there any free (or relatively cheap) garden design programs out there that I could use this with? Or I could calculate the dimensions and draw a new plan in the program, if there isn't one that can take an existing PDF or JPG...
Help?
Are you keeping the small deck? I’d keep one deck or patio near the house/kitchen. It makes it easier to bring things in and out, right now my sitting area is far away from the kitchen and I don’t end up using outside as much as I’d like.
You could do a nice little fountain/shade garden in the back corner next to the garage… a lot of shade plants like moisture anyway. But even having the fountain in the middle of a veggie or herb garden might be nice!
Yes, the small deck will be there, with a pergola over it, and a little seating. Probably a cafe table with two small chairs, since we have that already, and it’ll fit comfortable there. It’s directly off the family room, which is off the kitchen. So two rooms away, but a reasonably straight shot through wide doors — maybe 10-15 steps from the kitchen island to the deck?
The grill will be near the back mudroom door, I think — it’s a fairly direct shot from the kitchen, though it does involve a few steps. I don’t think there’ll be much else right there, though we do need to use patio stones or something to build a stable surface for it.
I hadn’t thought about the fountain in the middle of a veggie garden — I agree, that’d be charming too. Oh, now I’m torn.
I am thinking the area on the bottom of the picture (not sure which way is north or south) between the house and the fence would be a cute place for a patio and fountain. Instead of a sidewalk, you could pave the whole area and put in your fountain, and then you could access it from the front–coming from the porch through the gate, or from your deck. You could also theoretically see your fountain from indoors through the window. Your lot is huge! Very nice!