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A garden patio provides a versatile space for you to dine, relax, cook and eat food, and even grow plants. It can be designed to complement the overall look of the garden, incorporate seating and/or storage, and include any 'must-haves' like a built-in barbecue or pizza oven. Before you start choosing your new patio, work out how much space you have and what you want from it – do you need space for a barbecue and dining or seating area? Do you want to have planting pockets in the patio itself or will you be happy with container displays? And how about installing some eco functionality to your garden while the patio is being dug, such as creating a land drain, soakaway or underground water storage tank, to reduce the amount of rainwater being sent into the sewerage system and even save water to use on your garden? Whatever your needs, there's a patio for you.

Start with the paving slabs, which give the patio its overall look. Do you want dark or light coloured stone, a modern or traditional look? As well as colours and finishes, paving slabs come in a range of shapes and sizes – if you want a formal, uniform look then go for slabs all the same size, but for more of a rustic feel choose slabs cut to different sizes. Think about adding planting pockets to soften the feel of the patio, reduce rainwater run-off and create focal points, which can also bring the garden closer to the house.



New patios can be expensive, but with patience you can source reclaimed or secondhand slab.

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