Some people get confused when faced with whether to go for a patio or a veranda, since the difference isn’t always that well known. An outdoor patio is made of a hard material such as brick or tiles, and can range in size from being quite a small area to a very large one depending on the amount of space available and the needs of the owners.

Outdoor verandahs differ from patios in that they are always covered areas which are attached to the building. By contrast a patio can often be uncovered, but a veranda will always have some kind of roof – possibly fixed or sometimes with retractable sections so that you can still enjoy the sun if you want to.

If you are in a position of trying to decide which one you would prefer, you need to think about what your individual needs are to be able to make the right decision. For example a veranda will be attached to the rear of your property and can extend round the side as well if you have the room. It is also ideal if you like to stay outside but don’t like the sun too much, as you can sit in the shaded areas all day. You will need to determine when and where the sun falls on the rear of your property before you decide how far out from your house the veranda should extend.

Patios have rather more versatility in some ways, since you can build them on many levels and in any shape you wish. With a veranda you need to have a certain number of supports to be able to hold the structure up, whereas a patio doesn’t have this concern.

If you would like a patio you need to think about how big you want it to be and where it will be situated in relation to your house. Some people even build more than one patio area if they have a large garden, so that they can enjoy sitting in different parts of the garden.

Of course if you have the right kind of property you may be able to have the best of both worlds, and have both a verandah and a patio added to your garden. This can transform your property and give it an additional outside room to enjoy, with plenty of space for parties and barbeques as well.

It should always be remembered that both structures are fairly permanent, so it is worth spending some time sketching out your ideas and building in areas for planting and flowers to soften things up a little as well. As with so many areas in the garden it is quite often the finishing touches that make all the difference to the final look, so make sure you don’t forget them, whichever structure you eventually decide to go for.

But just as with any other external fixture to your home, an awning will need cleaning from time to time and if you want to keep it looking at its best you will need to do this on a regular basis.

The first step should be to check the instructions given on the packaging that came with the awning itself. Different products may have different requirements so if the instructions give you specific steps to follow then you should certainly go along with these.

However most awnings have fairly similar needs and they are not complicated either. The frames should be wiped down with a soft clean cloth which is slightly damp, to remove any dirt that the wind kicks up during the day. If you do this regularly there shouldn’t be any need for any hard scrubbing.

Awnings do differ in their design and structure, so make sure you use the right method for your particular design. If you have a fabric awning then soap and water is the best way to clean it. If you don’t keep on top of this job you may find that more stubborn stains will develop, and if this is the case you may need to call out a professional cleaner to get rid of them. This is one particular point which goes in favour of you cleaning them regularly yourself to make sure no build up occurs.

You will generally find that most awnings for use on your house patio are treated to be waterproof, or at least showerproof. In the case of retractable awnings the fabric still needs to be able to retract easily, so the awning still needs to be quite flexible.

This isn’t to say that you should leave the awning out in all types of weather though, especially not if you want to keep it clean and looking good all year round. Make sure you retract it if heavy rain is forecast.

When you do clean it, it’s best to do so in warm weather if you can. While you shouldn’t be soaking it in water to clean it, you will need to be able to sponge out any stains and so the awning is likely to be damp once you have finished. If you were to retract it while it was still damp, you might end up with mould growing on it, which could ruin the material altogether.

The moral here is to devote a little time on a regular basis to keep your awning looking as good as new. And if you find your existing one doesn’t scrub up to standard once you have cleaned it, perhaps it is time to buy a new one. After all, an awning can add a stunning touch to any patio if it is well looked after.

But before you do anything you should take some time to work out what you would like to do. Make a start by sketching out a rough plan of your entire garden to scale, and mark in any features that you would like to keep in place, or that are permanent anyway.

Lightly sketch out your existing patio and then work out what you would do if you added a section onto it. Would you need to extend it in a certain direction? Would that affect any features you already have, such as flowerbeds and perhaps part of the lawn?

It’s also a good idea to think about how you will use your garden, mainly because you will have to work out how much bigger the patio will be once the addition is in place. If you need lots of room to entertain people, a barbecue area might be a good idea. Conversely you may not be prepared to lose a lot of your lawn if you have young children, so bear this in mind too.

Once you have an idea of where you want the extension to be, mark it out in your garden using some string to indicate roughly where the edge will be. This will give you a much better idea of the size of your whole patio once it is finished.

Regardless of the size that you want your outdoor patio to be when it is complete, you will want the new addition to match the existing patio as closely as possible. Obviously the shade will not match exactly, since a certain amount of weathering will have affected the original patio, but a close match will provide you with a good finish once the elements have done their job in the ensuing few weeks and months.

Another point to bear in mind is whether there will be a difference in height between the existing structure and what you intend to add to it. If there is you may want to think about building a step or a slope into the design, depending on your needs. If there is a reasonable difference between the two levels you could take the opportunity to build a raised bed into the design, softening the join between the old patio and the new one with some good planting and foliage.

If the difference between the old and the new is still quite visible, try blasting your old patio with a proper cleaner to get all the grime and dirt out of the floor. It’s amazing how much difference this alone will make, and it’s worth spending a couple of hours doing this as it will improve your brand new larger patio no end.

But if you plant the right things you can enjoy even more than that. Every garden can be a haven for birds and wildlife, and if you take the time to find out the best items to plant to attract their attention, they will soon come and explore your garden and give you even more joys to watch as you sit back and relax.

No matter where you live, you will have a unique habitat just waiting to come into your garden. Just as we humans prefer certain habitats to others, so birds and wildlife are exactly the same. That’s why it’s worth finding out what you might expect to see in your particular area. From birds to butterflies, and bees to pond life, your garden can welcome them all if you know what to plant to attract them.

The best strategy is to plant things as close to your veranda as possible, to ensure that when the wildlife does start to come, you will have a great view of it. You don’t need to plant everything in borders either – it’s possible to create a nice array of tubs containing different plants and shrubs to add variety and colour to different parts of your veranda. You might even try a ‘tub pond’, which is exactly what it sounds like; a half barrel fitted out to be filled with water and plants to attract pond skaters and other types of water dwelling insects.

Plant some ivy somewhere where it will be allowed to climb and you can expect to see birds of all kinds visiting your garden. You should also think about getting a wide range of plants native to your area that have pollen, as this will attract bees and other insects and birds to visit.

Butterflies are fantastic to see in any garden, and if you want to see them in yours you will need to select plants which are filled with nectar for them to feast on. Don’t just restrict them to ground positions though; think about putting them in wall mounted baskets and pots and troughs sitting on the ground as well. This will bring the butterflies right up close to you, which is a wonderful experience. Try and select the brightest flowers you can find as well – you should see even more butterflies this way.

Whatever types of wildlife, insects and birds you want to see in your garden, try and remember to get a good balance of plants that are attractive to you as well as the wildlife. If you do you should achieve a good balance that will continually draw all kinds of delights into your garden.

While it’s good to do any repairs as soon as they are needed in order to prevent any problems from getting worse, it’s also important to make sure that you are able to do what’s required. If you are unsure of anything then it is always best to get the experts in. Making a shoddy repair yourself can actually make the damage worse.

It’s obvious that repairs will be necessary now and again even if you are lucky enough to escape a lot of bad weather. Wooden fixtures may need re-staining to prevent them from rotting, and the simple process of aging will require regular upkeep to ensure your veranda always looks as good as the day it was first installed. Even when wood isn’t involved you will need to keep an eye on your roof and the supporting structure to make sure it remains in good condition.

You should also keep an eye on the floor of your veranda, since this is an area which can lead to accidents if brickwork or patio areas become damaged in any way. Herringbone design brickwork looks wonderful when it is first laid, but over time the bricks can become a little loose and this generates a tripping hazard if it is not seen to.

The offending bricks may have to be removed and bedded down again to provide the best repair; this shouldn’t actually take too long to achieve but that is also a good reason for wanting to put it off for a while! It’s always advisable to take good care of your veranda, both for aesthetic and safety reasons.

Alternatively, you might have installed decking as your preferred type of flooring. In this case it’s a good idea to check the boards every now and again and keep them as clean as you can. If you don’t you are liable to get a build up of a mossy type of substance, which can be extremely dangerous and slippery.

If the boards are wooden and not made from composite materials, then you should ensure you treat them every year to protect them against the weather. This will prolong the life of your decking; it’s also a great idea to treat any wooden planters you have at the same time, taking care not to harm any plants as you do so.

Keeping your veranda in good repair isn’t just about making it look good. Keeping it clean will help to prevent it from aging prematurely and causing unnecessary accidents. So long as you don’t try and make any repairs that you aren’t able to do yourself, some regular effort really will go a long way.

That’s why it’s so important to make sure we have some extra protection, and the best way to achieve this is through using a sun umbrella to shield us from the bulk of the heat.

So what points should you bear in mind when you are looking for sun umbrellas to use on your veranda?

The first point to think about is the size of your veranda, since a small one will only be able to accommodate the smaller sizes of umbrella. When you go shopping make sure you get the measurements of the actual canopy of the umbrella when it is open, so you can then go home and check whether or not any particular ones that you like will easily fit into the space available.

Remember that as the sun moves round you will want to be able to move your umbrella as well, so while it should always be weighted in the base to prevent a sharp breeze from being able to blow it over, it should also be fairly easy to pick up and move.

Make sure you look out for an umbrella that has a polyurethane coating as well, which all the best ones should have. This will prevent any rain from coming through, and it also offers some protection from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. This is why it’s worth spending a little more to get a garden umbrella which is of better quality, as it will last longer as well as offering a far superior performance to any cheaper models.

It’s still important to make sure we use sun block to protect our skin though, and especially that of children and babies, because as the sun moves around we can still get caught out and start to burn before we realize there is a problem.

When choosing your umbrella it’s worth taking some time to look around at the various models and designs which are available. A dark green color will always look good in any garden, but you might want something a little more flamboyant to really make a splash with.

You will also need to choose from a free standing umbrella or one that fits into the middle of a table. If you go for the latter option you can often get good deals on combinations which come with the table, chairs and parasol all in one. This can save you a lot of money in the long run.

In short a garden umbrella is an integral and necessary part of any veranda. As such you should make sure you buy the best there is.

Your veranda essentially stands between your house and your garden, but that doesn’t mean you should view it as a solid structure. It can work well to bring elements of the garden onto your veranda by clever use of pots and troughs to blend the two in together.

Curved borders look wonderful running along the edge of your veranda, but be sure to leave adequate space to step down from the veranda itself onto your lawn if you have one. Take care to include beautifully scented flowers as well, which will flower at separate times throughout the year. This way you will have a constantly changing view and array of beautiful colours to appreciate as you sit on your veranda and soak up the sun.

Think about lighting as well, since this will make your veranda more appealing to use at night during the warmer summer months. One of the best options to buy nowadays is solar lighting, which means you don’t have to worry about putting in wiring, or doing anything other than simply pushing the lights into the ground exactly where you want them. A lot of solar lights come on spikes which make for quick and easy installation. Plus they won’t cost you anything in electricity!

You can also get solar lights which are designed to look more like rocks, which can look good when placed in among the plants you have put into your borders.

When you are thinking about landscaping around your veranda you should also bear in mind how everything will look from the garden, as well as what it will look like if you were sitting on your veranda. Achieving a well designed landscaping project depends on thinking about all the angles.

Depending on what styles appeal to you most – not to mention what height your garden is in relation to your veranda – there are a variety of styles you could select for your landscaping project, from the most formal ‘boxy’ looking designs to the more relaxed, curved and natural looking ones.

It helps to sketch out plenty of ideas before you actually start digging your garden up and creating the borders and planting that you think you will want. Sketch your house and veranda to scale and then draw in a number of different styles, depending on the amount of garden you have and the kind of planting you want to introduce. Some people like to have huge borders which incorporate several different levels, creating a kind of wall between the veranda and the garden, while others like to keep things as simple as possible.

However you landscape the area around your veranda, it’s important to remember that it should always appeal to your tastes and desires, to make the area as pleasing as possible.

But even in the height of summer it can get a little chilly sitting outside as the sun goes down and it starts getting dark. There’s nothing better than enjoying your veranda late at night as you watch the stars above – but if you don’t have a patio heater you won’t feel like staying outside for very long.

Patio heaters are a wonderful addition to your veranda, and they can greatly expand the amount of time you can use your veranda for. Not only will you be able to enjoy longer evenings sitting outside, you will also be able to get outside far sooner each year, as the cold weather starts to recede and the spring arrives in full bloom.

They also give you more protection against the indecisiveness of the weather. We have all planned for a barbecue on what is forecast to be a warm sunny day, and similarly we have all come unstuck when a chilly wind starts to blow. If you have an instant source of heat that you can turn on and off as required, your plans won’t go awry.

There are plenty more benefits of having a patio heater as well, quite apart from extending the usefulness of your veranda in the first place. Depending on the size of your veranda you may find that you only need one heater in the first place, since each one gives out a lot of heat and distributes it over quite a large area. This makes them very cost effective.

They are also surprisingly cheap to buy and come in a wide range of designs and styles, so whatever your budget may be you are sure to find a patio heater that will suit your needs. Whether you want something quite flamboyant, or a heater that is simply practical and serves its purpose, you will find a huge range to choose from.

Another benefit is that they don’t take up a lot of room, which makes them ideal for even the smallest veranda. The surface area is relatively small because they stand quite tall. This fact does put some people off from buying one because they have a tendency to look somewhat fragile, as if they could be knocked over in an accident.

Fortunately the makers of these heaters have thought of this, and you will find them to be bottom heavy, making it virtually impossible to knock them over even if you were to try.

In short, if you enjoy using your veranda and getting out into the garden then a patio heater is almost an essential. What’s more you will find that you want to use your garden even more, thanks to this neat piece of equipment that creates atmosphere as well as warmth.

Trellis is extremely versatile, which makes it ideal for using with any kind of veranda. From the complicated designs to the simple ones, whatever you choose provides a way of softening the design of your veranda and introducing more greenery at the same time. It can also close off your space from prying eyes, should you want a little more privacy.

Begin by sketching out a rough plan of your veranda and mark out where you might want to include some trellis. There are several different types you could go for – if you have a large section of blank wall that you would like to liven up you could attach a single piece of trellis to it. On the other hand a trellis gateway to link your veranda with your garden can look sensational once you have flowers and climbing plants trailing all over it.

But perhaps the most stunning option is to build a low trellis wall right along the length of your veranda, which will help to create a divide between this area and the rest of the garden, while softening it by encouraging climbing plants to wend their way all over it. Over time it really can grow into a wonderful feature.

Once you have decided what you want to do you will need to buy the right amount and size of trellis you need, and get ready to fix it into place. The best bet is to mix up some concrete to ensure it has firm footings, but if you aren’t confident about doing this yourself it is best to get an expert in. The alternative is to use Metposts and hammer them into place, which is much easier and should withstand all but the fiercest of winds.

However you choose to insert them, once the trellis panels have been put in place and attached to one another you will need to make sure they are protected against the elements by using a reputable wood stain to waterproof them to a certain extent. It’s essential to do this before you get any climbing plants since once they are in place it is virtually impossible to paint your trellis; ivy and other plants will simply grow over it and take over.

While brand new trellis will look good in any garden, the eventual growth of the plants and shrubs around it will soften the look and help it to blend in more easily.

While you can build your own trellis by getting the right lengths of wood and attaching them to the lattice sections, it’s usually easier to buy it ready made and erect it yourself. Once you do, you will notice the huge difference it can make to your garden.

But even while wicker furniture is quite rugged and well made, it still needs to be looked after if it is to last a long time. This is especially true since it spends so much time sitting outdoors; even if the weather is dry it can create problems for wicker furniture.

When it comes to caring for your wicker chairs and tables, you should find out first of all exactly what material they are made of. Wicker is merely the style in which a particular material has been used, which in this case is woven; the most commonly used types in this case are bamboo and willow.

Assuming you have bought the right piece of furniture to use outside (some wicker furniture is only meant to be used indoors, so be careful when you are buying it in order to ensure you get something robust enough to last outdoors) the first step is to make sure you clean it regularly. If you don’t then it is not likely to last as long since it will be less able to withstand the weather. Make sure you get into good cleaning habits as soon as you get your furniture, to stand a better chance of sticking with it.

Dust is a big factor for outdoor furniture, and the natural design of wicker means that there are plenty of places for dust to blow into and become lodged. The best method of getting it out is to use a feather duster or static duster to be rid of it.

Once you have done that a quick wipe with a damp cloth (not soaking wet) should do the trick. The problem with having wicker furniture sitting in the sun is that all the moisture content of the wicker will gradually be lost and the furniture will become compromised as a result. Wicker should never be completely dry. Regularly wiping it over like this helps to combat this natural loss of moisture to the sun.

Some types of wicker may need oiling with linseed oil or something similar to help protect it against moisture and replace some of the natural oils that are lost. But there is only a certain amount you can do to clean and protect your furniture from the elements.

Each year there comes a time when the weather changes for the worse, and then you are better off storing your wicker furniture for the winter if at all possible. If you don’t have the room then get some large tarpaulins to cover it with and make sure they are anchored down.

However good your wicker furniture is in quality, dusting and oiling it will only help to protect it against some things. Sometimes a change of location is your best bet until the weather gets better again.