There’s something undeniably special about coastal garden entertaining in summer, especially if outdoor dining in a seaside garden or if your garden is inspired by the coast, having friends or family around your garden can be one of the best feelings. Here at Ivy & Whyte we can suggest some of the top tips to get summer garden on the south coast ready.
Great news for coastal garden entertaining though, you don’t need a huge space or a compete redesign to create a garden which can feel welcoming and is summer garden ready
Questions to ask yourself
Changing the way you think about your space can help the redesign come a little more easily. Think about your garden as a series of rooms in your house, you might want an lounge, a kitchen table, a play room, an area which focuses on planting, a fire pit etc.
Consider these different areas? Think about how people might use the space when they come to visit. When coastal garden entertaining are you a person who loves to sit around a table and chat until the sun goes down? Do you prefer sitting on an outdoor sofa? Relaxing around fire pit? Or do you prefer the more causal and relaxed set up, chairs can move, spaces can change and adap
So, what’s next?
The best coastal garden entertaining often feel organised without feeling overly structured and formulaic.
Having a outdoor dining seaside garden with a large table can really bring the attention into the centre of the garden. Its can be a focal point for entertaining, meals and gathering, while other areas can be more informal relaxed areas.
The key with this is not to place this against the house, sometimes this is the only space it can go, however the best way to start designing is to actually push this away from the house, make it an area people want to travel through the garden too.
A lawn, (although you might not think, this could be a harder part of design of the garden) often it can feel like it dominates the space and becomes the central focal point when we want this to be the outdoor dining area. Here we can use the extension of your house analogy, treat the lawn as a room and not the whole outside space, use planting beds like the walls, make sure these jut into the garden space and wrap around the different areas, dividing them up. Some of these planting beds could even be taller and some lower level. They create areas which can feel hidden and tucked away which will be much more entertaining and inviting for guests. This will stop the lawn being the dominating feature of the coastal garden entertaining space, a space where guests are not sure where to sit or place themselves.
Defined spaces makes guests feel relaxed because they know where to sit, eat, relax and gather.
Choosing materials which can handle the weather
The best thing to consider is strong materials which can handle the strong coastal weather all year around.
Weather resistant timber or composite decking
Power coated alluminum furniture
Porcelain paving
The focus is creating a space which looks good and is usable all year around without requiring much maintenance.
Layer your seating
One of the most common mistakes people make of coastal garden entertaining is not providing enough spaces to sit. Mixing the different types of seating allows for different options for all ages, abilities as well as moods.
Dining tables
Comfortable sofas
Portable chairs
Built in seating when space is limited.
Different seating options creates spaces which also allows you to use all year around as well as garden party design.
Lighting makes your space come alive
Evening comes and darkness settles, lighting is KEY to ensure you have the garden party design atmosphere sorted. All you want to be able to do is switch on the lights and a warm glow fills your space, meaning you don’t have to bring your guests inside.
Low level pathway lighting
Warm wall lights
String lights
Candles
Solar panel lighting (these can be popped in the planting beds)
With lighting ensure you think about lighting both the dining areas as well as the planting beds, when its dark where nothing more beautiful than seeing a multi stem tree lit up from below.
Soft Furnishings which you guests
This is really what will WOW your summer guests for your coastal garden entertaining space. Think about throws, cushions and accessories. Outdoor storage for these is one of the hardest things to design into your garden, consider this when thinking about your space.
Really the key for creating a coastal garden entertaining space is for it to be relaxed. An enjoyable space for yourself and your guests. Happy designing and hope you have the best summer garden parties.
