Ideas wanted for patio area

[Beau]

Hope you guys might have some out of the box ideas.

Outside our barn there is a large expanse of concrete running the length of the building so 20m long and around 2.5 wide. As you can imagine it is none to pretty buy what to do with it. I could put decking over it but here is the snag. This concrete is only just below the internal floor level the surrounding fields flood it from time to time so whatever goes on it needs to have as small a thickness as possible. I could fit decking straight down to the concrete but cant see the wood lasting long as A it is east facing so a fair bit of shading and B I live on Dartmoor which is about as soggy a hole as you can imagine. Could put paving slabs over it but for anything other than cheap concrete coloured is not going to be cheap.

Any bright ideas that don't cost the earth would be welcome.

 

[sunnybob]

Paint it green and put deck chairs out.

Green tarmac is my ideal garden.

 

[Beau]

Thanks Bob. Yes dressing the surface and a coat of paint is a possibility.

 

[gregmcateer]

First World problems, heh?

20m long - That's bigger than my bl##dy garden!! (And I moved from the South East to be able to afford somewhere bigger!

Seriously though - that is quite a challenge. Obviously not seen the site, but if, say, it slopes / changes levels anywhere, it may be nice to break up the area with different materials - e.g. some deck, some patio, possibly some weed mat and gravel / shale etc.

Possibly a few planters / large (homemade, obvuously) pots with ornamental trees to distract from the vast expanse.

Obviously a different setup, but a quick google for images of 'landscaping a large area' brought up, amongst other things;

http://www.thinkter.com/marvelous-b...-landscaping-ideas-european-backyard-concept/

Or google; 'landscaping a long narrow area' for loads more ideas

Water feature running some / all the length.

Just a few thoughts.

 

[Wuffles]

What's your budget? You could flagstone (Indian Sandstone) it and forget about having to do anything to it again - about £20psqm or under, stick them down with some mortar.

 

[NazNomad]

Acid staining ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxAwC7A634I

 

[Beau]

Thanks for the ideas

Yes it's very much a first world problem but the barn is not as grand as it sounds. Yes its 20m long but only 4m wide inside. Just one long thin building. The budget is not set but it rains a hell of a lot so no point in doing something overly fancy to only get used a bit but we do look straight out onto it so something nicer than bare concrete would be nice.

As for a water feature simply no. We have free range ducks on the farm and it would be carnage but the ducks would probably love it :lol:

 

[YorkshireMartin]

how about a series of raised walkways using deck framing and put a nice garden of pots/planters/rockeries around, sort of like a japanese theme. Water wouldn't be a problem then.

 

[n0legs]

Do like I do on my patio.
Drink, lots of it. After an hour mine looks fantastic.

 

[AndyT]

"Outdoor carpet" exists and is not hugely expensive. The first one I found on ebay was 2m wide and cost £2.49 per square metre, so roughly £100 for your patio.

 

[Beau]

"Outdoor carpet" exists and is not hugely expensive. The first one I found on ebay was 2m wide and cost £2.49 per square metre, so roughly £100 for your patio.

Now your talking. Never knew there was such a thing as outdoor carpet but off to google it.

 

[novocaine]

Pool.

everything else is just a temporary fix.

 

[Beau]

Pool.

everything else is just a temporary fix.

That would be easy. Just dig a hole and wait a short while as we average 2m of rain a year.

 

[novocaine]

worked for Bude.

 

[Adam9453]

Extend the barn to make this patio extra indoor workshop area, a lot of people would covert a 6.5x20m workshop at home

 

[Beau]

Extend the barn to make this patio extra indoor workshop area, a lot of people would covert a 6.5x20m workshop at home

Would love to and was in our original plan but we are in a national park and they were having none of it.