Design Workshop Decks, Patios and Porches

Gardening Gone Wild (GGW) sponsors a monthly workshop on design. I posted last month about my stone in the garden. This month's design workshop is on decks, patios and porches. I try to do these posts on the last day of the month, and since tomorrow's post is my monthly 'To Do' list, I will continue with the garden tours on Wednesday and wrap that up this week.

I have a deck, a 'wannabe' patio (in the distant future), and a porch. I will not focus on them all but did want to share a design tip or two dealing with my deck.


My deck sits approximately four feet above the ground, and I am very visible to neighbors when they are on their decks. I used to have neighbors that for me not having privacy from them was a huge problem. I wracked my brain to try to figure out how to solve the issue. I have done everything from building a big arbor, to planting trees, to strategically placing houseplants on the deck. All attempts helped with privacy, but it was not until I figured out how to attach an outdoor blind to my deck that we did finally obtain the full privacy we desired.

The first picture shows the problem side. The picture angle was taken more towards the house, instead of due south where the other house is located. Though the other people have moved and I don't need as much privacy, I left the blind up. My kitchen window is shown in the picture as well. The flowers make a good view, though to be honest I don't really like looking at the blind when it is down. The blind pretty much remains in the upright position now.

I happen to like pipes, plumbing pipes, PVC pipes and copper pipes. Pipes are economical, easy to customize, and work well in the garden. I found some iron pipes in the plumbing section of a local big box store. These iron pipes come in a black or natural iron finish. I chose the black pipes in a 3/4" diameter. I decided I would drill holes in the deck railing in order to install six foot tall pipes (2), a 90 degree elbow (2-one on each end), and a cross pipe across the top. Problem solved. I now had an easy, economical way of securing not only a blind to the deck for privacy, but also a place for hanging colorful hanging plants, bird feeders, and wind chimes.



The blind is a simple, plastic blind you can purchase just about anywhere for about $10. The cost of the pipes totalled about $20. The real benefit of using this method for privacy is that I did not have to perform a major renovation to the deck, it is removable, stable, utilitarian, and beautiful. It is also somewhat unobtrusive and blends in with the surroundings as you can see in the second picture. You almost have to really look for the pipes in the second picture.

Another unique feature of our deck is the two gates we built at the staircases. You can see a gate in the second picture. The gates contain our dogs should we desire to let them out, but don't want them going into the yard. Additionally, the gates would serve to keep small children (like my one year old grandson) from falling down the stairs.

This are my deck design tips for the GGW's workshop for June. If someone else uses these tips, be sure to post about it and let me know how it works for you. I would love to see others decks and am looking forward to the posts on this month's GGW design workshop.

in the garden....