A lush garden room replaces an unused entry patio in this home.

Before- The concrete entry area is open to the street and serves no purpose.

Think “outside of the box “when creating usable garden rooms in your yard. Don’t overlook your front-yard as a site for a destination area either. This is exactly what landscape designer, Michael Glassman and I did on our show, “Garden Police”when we transformed an unused concrete entry patio into an outdoor family room.

First, we separated the future “family room”  from the lawn area and created a sense of enclosure with a  simple  “translucent” wood post fence detailed with copper wire. Not all fences are solid!

Next, a basalt fountain and “water garden” serve as a focal point for the family room. Plants include  papyrus, asparagus fern, daylily, all mulched with cobalt blue tumbled glass to simulate the look of a bog.

We planted out the patio with one style of container in different sizes for continuity. We varied the plantings though.  The cinder-block walls are softened with over sized plantings of Japanese privet and Tibouchina. Drip irrigation supplies the water.

Coral-colored,  ”Nancy Reagan” rose contrasts nicely with the purple flowers of the Tibouchina.

We detailed the window with a copper window-box to marry the architecture of the house with the garden.

Prefabricated fireplaces like this one, make hearth-side relaxation a reality in one hour!

Go outside and take a look at your wasted spaces and think of the possibilities! For more details on this outdoor family room makeover, read the episode recap on my web site and look for the Garden Police show on the Discovery Home Channel!

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