When the Garden Becomes an Outside Room

Having some greenery around the house comes a long way to planting your roots in your new neighbourhood. The backyard we created in Lunenburg offers a well-used place to relax, garden, and entertain friends. It is a place to recharge anytime you feel the need.

Laying the Ground for a Magnificent Garden

Gardens are areas dedicated to the growth, display, and appreciation of plants and other elements of nature. Gardens are not only, or even necessarily, spaces for cultivation.

Under the leadership of Philip Shinnick, a long-time collaborator at Lab Atelier, the garden kicked off the ground.

The project specifications were:

• A yard landscaped in a succession of terraces,
• its space enclosing, its privacy enhanced,
• with a central patio for the main sitting area,
• and a preponderance of native plants, mixing flowers and vegetables.

Well, later on, our visitors will merely refer to the landscaped area as 'the backyard', but always refer to it as the 'garden'. That is what we call a success.

The Patio, an Outdoor Gathering Space

Philip created the outside room, a patio that is surrounded by rock walls, hedges, and greenery. He created a private and sheltered space for relaxation and entertainment. As for this project, a patio garden typically features a wide variety of plants: trees, shrubs, flowering plants, and evergreen foliage.

On so many occasions, the patio acted similarly to an indoor space. Friends and family enjoyed themselves like we were in the dining room, with the added experience of nature. This is when and where an outdoor room is successful, by becoming an actual room.