Ideas for Al Fresco Garden Dining Areas

Now that the summer has arrived, you will no doubt find yourself spending a lot more time outdoors in your garden. There are plenty of ways to make the most of the outside living area that a garden can provide. One of the most pleasant ways to enjoy your garden on a sunny summer's evening is to dine al fresco – enjoying a bite to eat in the fresh air. Some gardens are more delightful for outside meals than others. To make the most of your garden, here are some al fresco garden dining ideas that will help you break away from the boring patio and table combo and create more interesting outdoors rooms in which to indulge your passion for different sorts of outdoors dining:

A Wildflower Meadow

One wonderful way to enjoy dining outdoors is to have an informal picnic. But you can go beyond the lawn and create a more magical picnic spot by sowing informal wildflowers and grasses to create a meadow. A wildflower meadow will buzz with life and will be a truly enchanting place to spread a blanket and enjoy a summer picnic.

A Woodland Glade

Another lovely place for a picnic, or to place a wooden table and chairs, is a woodland glade. It is easy to create a woodland garden where you live. Consider choosing fruiting trees that provide a yield of edible produce as well as shade. The dappled shade of a forest garden will create a calm and soothing environment in which to dine outdoors.

A Perfect Pergola

If you do have a patio area already, one way to elevate it into a truly special outdoors dining area is to create a perfect pergola, draped with climbing plants that create dappled green shade and perhaps also have flowers with a heavenly scent that can also add to the ambiance.

A Sunken Garden

If you have a small garden, one way to really maximise the space is to think up and down as well as side to side. As well as creating vertical gardens, you can also dig down to create a sunken dining area. Sinking down your dining table and seating will give you a different perspective on your garden, can make it a more sheltered spot, and can put plants at eye level when you are sitting down to eat.

An Outdoors Kitchen

Why limit yourself to only dining outdoors. Many of us already enjoy a barbecue in our gardens, but you can go a lot further and create a whole outdoors kitchen area to enjoy! As well as a charcoal barbecue, you could also consider creating a clay oven for pizzas and other outdoors food, and other DIY cooking ideas.