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Funny thing about the garage side of the house…it’s probably the least attractive side of our home and yet we have to look at it all the time.

There are several things you can do to “dress things up” by the garage, but this time around I’d like to just talk about planters. In my opinion planters can be the answer to many design challenges and I’ll be giving even further examples of that in future posts.

Whether it’s the narrow section of wall between the doors or the outside corners of the garage, these spaces are crying out for something to add interest & depth. We usually don’t have a lot of space to work with and the surface is usually asphalt or some other solid material.

Planters And The Seasons

As you can see in the photos these particular planters have seasonal plants in them. The ivy topiary between these garage doors is removed and brought indoors for the cold months because it would be too costly to replace each year.

Plants with flower color are often at the top of everyone’s list, however here in the northeast the cold weather puts an end to flowering plants after a frost or two. You could bring these plants indoors as with the ivy topiary, but most people simply discard them after the season and look forward to a new look in the spring.

In both photos we’re seeing beautifully detailed cast planters that are durable for year round use. Cast planters such as these offer timeless style and elegance. Even if they happen to be empty in the off-season they continue to carry a stately presence.

As landscape designers we can’t neglect the garage area. It’s just too often used and integral to the home.

In fact, there are homes where the garage area is unavoidably adjacent to the outdoor living space. (Yes, these are generally smaller properties.) We’ll actually design the  garage area as a courtyard-like setting so it can be used as an alternate outdoor living space.  This especially comes in handy when the homeowners entertain with larger groups of people.

I’ll photograph one these projects and have it in a future post.

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