Summer Decorating Ideas for an Apartment Patio: A Romantic Tuscan Garden
Tuscan gardens are named after the region in Italy called Tuscany. Tuscany is well known for its rich agriculture, rustic cooking and its Chianti wine district. It is home to the romantic cities of Florence and Pisa. Your own Tuscan garden should reflect that and contain lush foliage, herbs and flowers.
It’s easy to turn any size patio into a romantic Tuscan garden and it doesn’t have to be expensive either.
With the current trend in plastic faux pottery you can find some very interesting pieces that only look expensive and can be left outdoors all year long without cracking from extreme changes in weather.
Tuscan gardens are well known for their plant filled pottery so this would be a good place to start. Pick up a few faux terra cotta styled pots of differing sizes or a couple of Grecian shaped urns. Of course you can use real clay pottery but keep in mind that if you live in a colder climate, these will need to be brought indoors for winter storage. Today’s faux pottery looks so much like the real thing that for apartment dwellers, where space is a priority, it’s silly to even consider using anything else and faux pottery is only a fraction of the cost of the ceramic type making it cost effective as well.
The Tuscan look leans strongly to the causal side so choose your plant containers with an old world feel, nothing too shiny. Mixing pots and urns of different shapes and sizes adds interest to the look but try to stay with compatible color schemes when you are working in such a small area. Mixing too many colors will give your garden a busy feel and detract from the stress-free environment that you are trying to create. A suggestion of this would be to use all terra cotta colored pottery in the same shape but of differing sizes, adding a pot or two of a different color to add interest.
Tuscan design colors include rusty red tones, hues of apricot or peach, ochre, rich browns, olive tinted greens, orange, bright yellows and shades of deep blue. Mix and match using any or all of these colors when choosing your garden pottery, patio furniture and decorations.
A small bistro table with a couple of chairs made of (or to look like) wrought iron would be perfect here and would make it easy to enjoy a cooling beverage on a hot day or a romantic dinner on a warm evening. If you prefer you could place a wooden or stone bench on your patio instead and still have a lovely place to sit and enjoy the view.
Stones and garden statuary should be placed in and amongst your furniture, plants and pottery. A water view adds to the calming effect of a Tuscan garden. Look for a small fountain that can be placed on a bench or table on your patio to achieve this quality in your own Tuscan garden. If you have the room you might want to consider adding a bird bath instead. Any water feature will give your garden a cooling sensation.
Choosing plants for your Tuscan garden is the fun part. With so many plants native to the Mediterranean region of the world your choices are almost limitless. Choose small trees and bushes for your larger pots and containers, and dainty flowers and herbs for the smaller ones. You can even add patio tomato plants and vegetables to your garden without losing that desirable Tuscan look.
A Tuscan garden won People’s Choice and Best of Show at a recent gardening competition in New Jersey and they are becoming quite popular all across the United States. The casual elegance and relaxing attitude combined with their lush beauty is what’s pushing this Tuscan trend forward.
By designing a Tuscan garden on your patio, no matter how small, you will be able to enjoy this lovely stress-free atmosphere daily.
