A Patio Project With Mandarin Stone

In my dreams, my garden would be a sprawling space in the countryside, with a walled garden, a potager within feet of the back door and an orchard for sitting and whiling away the day in. I like to think that one day this just might be, but for now we have our city suburb space, and how immensely happy with it we are too.

When we bought our house back in 2009 the back garden was a completely blank canvas. As you can see from the 'before and after' photos below, we've done a lot to it in that time and now have mature flower beds, a Willow arch and a Jasmine and Clematis climbing wall which has given us some privacy. Back in the Spring we renovated the patio area with some natural Limestone from Mandarin Stone which has made the biggest difference yet to our outdoor space. With the addition of Sam's new best friend 'Kamado Joe', which we're cooking on most days, it now feels like we have an extra room in our home and we're all (including the pooch) loving it.

We've used Mandarin Stone in other areas of the house - in our loft bathroom and in our kitchen so, with their wide range of outdoor tiles, they were the obvious choice for the patio too. After a lot of deliberating and scrolling of their Pinterest boards, we went for their 'Mandalay Buff Riven Limestone' as it is hard wearing and would give us grip underfoot if it ever got wet. We also wanted a light coloured stone to lift the space and complement the existing brick wall.

During the renovation we also rebuilt the raised beds which separate the patio from the garden, adding a matching light stone coping, rebuilt the brickwork lining the path and laid Cotswold stone down too. Small things which have actually made a huge difference and brought the space together brilliantly. The patio is a dream to walk on bare foot now but I still can't manage the stone path without shoes - ouch!!

There's a few finishing touches I want to make including finding a comfy garden chair and stringing up some festoon lighting for when the evenings draw back in (I can't believe I'm already saying that!) For now though, I thought I'd share a few photos that I took over the weekend as well as a few I dug out from years gone by. I hope you enjoy!

The three photos below were taken in August 2009 (the day we moved in), the Summer of 2011 and then (shakily hanging out of the window) the morning of our project in the Spring this year.

And now.

The back fence may stop this space from sprawling but we have a greenhouse and herb planters behind that raised bed, feet from the back door and apple and pear trees up at the back. I'm calling it my orchard and I'm going to go find that comfy chair and sit right in it.

*This post was written in collaboration with Mandarin Stone, however all words and opinions are my own.