Outdoors: 10 Holiday Ideas You Can Scale Down and Borrow
Steal some of these great garden design ideas from dreamy holiday spots to help you to get away from it all without leaving home
Andrew Fisher Tomlin
1 August 2015
Houzz contributor, garden and landscape designer, Andrew Fisher Tomlin is renowned in UK garden design for creating modern gardens for traditional homes. Andrew is a fellow of the Society of Garden Designers, a fellow designate of the Chartered Institute of Horticulturalists and a Royal Horticultural Society Judge and creates gardens worldwide.
Houzz contributor, garden and landscape designer, Andrew Fisher Tomlin is renowned... More
We all like to get away from the pressures of everyday life during our summer holidays but, with a little creative planning, we can do this in our own outdoor spaces every day. Those amazing gardens we see on our summer breaks often have great elements we can bring home and adapt. Check out these ideas for creating a retreat in your own garden.
Eat out in rustic style (without planning a thing)
One of the joys of summer holidays is being able to eat outside. With all the paraphernalia in the garden shops, you’d think you need lots of specialist equipment, expensive terracing and luxury seating. But all you need to do is make up a table with a tablecloth under a tree or improvised canopy on the lawn, and hang some jam jars with candles in them over the whole thing. Decorate the table with wild flowers and herbs and it’ll take you back to the villa in Tuscany in a split second.
One of the joys of summer holidays is being able to eat outside. With all the paraphernalia in the garden shops, you’d think you need lots of specialist equipment, expensive terracing and luxury seating. But all you need to do is make up a table with a tablecloth under a tree or improvised canopy on the lawn, and hang some jam jars with candles in them over the whole thing. Decorate the table with wild flowers and herbs and it’ll take you back to the villa in Tuscany in a split second.
Enjoy hot nights outside (even when it’s chilly)
It’s all too easy to head back indoors once the sun goes down and it gets a little chilly. But a sure way of extending the evening outside is to gather around a fire.
You can re-create that romantic evening you spent around a fire on holiday in your own home with a fire pit. Choose one made of stone like this or, if you’re in a more contemporary setting, try building an indoor-style fireplace. There are plenty of options for adding cooking racks and ovens so you can ditch the BBQ and cook over an open fire.
Check out ideas for installing a chimenea in your garden
It’s all too easy to head back indoors once the sun goes down and it gets a little chilly. But a sure way of extending the evening outside is to gather around a fire.
You can re-create that romantic evening you spent around a fire on holiday in your own home with a fire pit. Choose one made of stone like this or, if you’re in a more contemporary setting, try building an indoor-style fireplace. There are plenty of options for adding cooking racks and ovens so you can ditch the BBQ and cook over an open fire.
Check out ideas for installing a chimenea in your garden
Snooze on the veranda (or re-create the atmosphere)
Dream summer holiday homes often come with a veranda, and there’s nothing better than whiling away an afternoon dozing on a swing seat in the shade of a cool house.
Of course, back home, you might not have a veranda, so the obvious choice is to build a hammock into your garden design. Even treeless or new gardens can benefit from a hammock if you buy a support frame or install two solid wood posts to hang it from. You could also try a swing seat with its own frame. Whatever you choose, locate it in the dappled shade of a tree… just in case you doze off for the afternoon.
Dream summer holiday homes often come with a veranda, and there’s nothing better than whiling away an afternoon dozing on a swing seat in the shade of a cool house.
Of course, back home, you might not have a veranda, so the obvious choice is to build a hammock into your garden design. Even treeless or new gardens can benefit from a hammock if you buy a support frame or install two solid wood posts to hang it from. You could also try a swing seat with its own frame. Whatever you choose, locate it in the dappled shade of a tree… just in case you doze off for the afternoon.
Take a dip in a lake (or build your own natural swimming pond)
Remember that childhood summer holiday you spent playing in the local stream or pond? Well these days, if you have enough space in your garden, you can create a natural swimming pond.
These are a relatively new invention in northern Europe that rely on plants rather than chemicals to create a great swimming environment. And when not in use, it’s a great feature and wildlife reserve in itself.
Read expert advice on fitting a green roof anywhere from an extension to a shed
Remember that childhood summer holiday you spent playing in the local stream or pond? Well these days, if you have enough space in your garden, you can create a natural swimming pond.
These are a relatively new invention in northern Europe that rely on plants rather than chemicals to create a great swimming environment. And when not in use, it’s a great feature and wildlife reserve in itself.
Read expert advice on fitting a green roof anywhere from an extension to a shed
Get lost in the woods (even in the city)
Woodlands and forests are great ways to escape everyone else on holiday. Whole holiday villages have been built where you hardly ever see a neighbour! So take a leaf out of their books and grow lots of trees in the garden, both front and back, to shelter and screen yourself from your neighbours.
You need to avoid the big trees, such as poplar and willow, but smaller, domestic-sized trees, such as snowy mespilus, paperbark maple, cherry and rowan, can all have a place in an urban garden. And, of course, your neighbours are going to get as much enjoyment as you from the trees and the birds they will attract.
Woodlands and forests are great ways to escape everyone else on holiday. Whole holiday villages have been built where you hardly ever see a neighbour! So take a leaf out of their books and grow lots of trees in the garden, both front and back, to shelter and screen yourself from your neighbours.
You need to avoid the big trees, such as poplar and willow, but smaller, domestic-sized trees, such as snowy mespilus, paperbark maple, cherry and rowan, can all have a place in an urban garden. And, of course, your neighbours are going to get as much enjoyment as you from the trees and the birds they will attract.
Favour a folly (or pimp your shed)
Holidays can often mean staying at home and taking day trips to heritage properties. Most of us have spent time at a big country pile straight out of Downton Abbey, exploring the house and strolling around the grounds.
Some of the main features of any great country house are the hunting lodges, memorials and shelters dotted through the landscape, which allowed the wealthy owners to decamp for a picnic or just escape the rain.
While this one is a little grand, if your garden is big enough to house a shed, you, too, can create your own folly. With a bit of imagination, you can recycle old materials into a unique garden lodge – or why not give the shed a creative makeover?
Holidays can often mean staying at home and taking day trips to heritage properties. Most of us have spent time at a big country pile straight out of Downton Abbey, exploring the house and strolling around the grounds.
Some of the main features of any great country house are the hunting lodges, memorials and shelters dotted through the landscape, which allowed the wealthy owners to decamp for a picnic or just escape the rain.
While this one is a little grand, if your garden is big enough to house a shed, you, too, can create your own folly. With a bit of imagination, you can recycle old materials into a unique garden lodge – or why not give the shed a creative makeover?
Enjoy parkland meadows (or create your own)
The big trend in public spaces across Europe is to grow a meadow instead of maintaining finely cut lawns. Lots of big visitor attractions are now putting down what was once lawn to meadows to cut maintenance and help wildlife. But you don’t even have to sow meadow flowers to get the look.
Experiment with cutting paths through the lawn and letting the rest grow into interesting shapes. Plant some bulbs into those swathes of long grass this autumn and next year you’ll have a bee-friendly spring meadow.
Discover more ways to encourage bees into your garden
The big trend in public spaces across Europe is to grow a meadow instead of maintaining finely cut lawns. Lots of big visitor attractions are now putting down what was once lawn to meadows to cut maintenance and help wildlife. But you don’t even have to sow meadow flowers to get the look.
Experiment with cutting paths through the lawn and letting the rest grow into interesting shapes. Plant some bulbs into those swathes of long grass this autumn and next year you’ll have a bee-friendly spring meadow.
Discover more ways to encourage bees into your garden
Channel the joy of a beach-bound boardwalk (wherever you live)
The path to the beach is often a big part of the pleasure of a day at the seaside. Those secluded beaches around the world often start with a leisurely stroll and, if you’re fortunate enough, you might have that beach house or lakeside shack where there’s no Wi-Fi to interrupt you.
But don’t leave this for the holidays. A raised boardwalk or path to a summerhouse in your garden can make so much more of the walk to your destination. Run the path in a leisurely way, changing directions to encourage visitors to stop and enjoy the plants. A raised timber walkway works especially well through a magical woodland.
The path to the beach is often a big part of the pleasure of a day at the seaside. Those secluded beaches around the world often start with a leisurely stroll and, if you’re fortunate enough, you might have that beach house or lakeside shack where there’s no Wi-Fi to interrupt you.
But don’t leave this for the holidays. A raised boardwalk or path to a summerhouse in your garden can make so much more of the walk to your destination. Run the path in a leisurely way, changing directions to encourage visitors to stop and enjoy the plants. A raised timber walkway works especially well through a magical woodland.
Rejoice in hot, dry gardens (even in a British summer)
The epitome of a Mediterranean garden is grasses and gravel – and that hot, dry feeling you get with baking temperatures relieved by plants moving softly in the breeze.
Bring the spirit of the dry garden home with you by creating your own relaxed, natural dry garden. Pick grasses and other plants that are suitable for your location and plant in big swathes. Then dress the spaces and mulch the plants with gravel.
Plants such as verbena, fennel and Aquilegia will self-seed over the first season so that, come next year, that natural gravel garden feel will be right at home in your space.
The epitome of a Mediterranean garden is grasses and gravel – and that hot, dry feeling you get with baking temperatures relieved by plants moving softly in the breeze.
Bring the spirit of the dry garden home with you by creating your own relaxed, natural dry garden. Pick grasses and other plants that are suitable for your location and plant in big swathes. Then dress the spaces and mulch the plants with gravel.
Plants such as verbena, fennel and Aquilegia will self-seed over the first season so that, come next year, that natural gravel garden feel will be right at home in your space.
Light up and enjoy your garden at night (from indoors)
Holiday gardens are all about living outside – and it’s such a shame when we get home to much cooler temperatures.
But gardens are not just for the summer and most houses will have at least one great view across an outside space. So make sure you bring the garden – or patio, or balcony or even window box – in by lighting that view.
It can be practical, too. Here, this small space is used for growing herbs, so good lighting off the kitchen means the produce from the garden is easily accessible whatever time of day.
TELL US…
What holiday-like features do you enjoy in your own garden – or which of these is your favourite? Let us know in the Comments below.
Holiday gardens are all about living outside – and it’s such a shame when we get home to much cooler temperatures.
But gardens are not just for the summer and most houses will have at least one great view across an outside space. So make sure you bring the garden – or patio, or balcony or even window box – in by lighting that view.
It can be practical, too. Here, this small space is used for growing herbs, so good lighting off the kitchen means the produce from the garden is easily accessible whatever time of day.
TELL US…
What holiday-like features do you enjoy in your own garden – or which of these is your favourite? Let us know in the Comments below.
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Some wonderful ideas. We took a load of photos on our recent holiday so that we can bring inspiration to our clients gardens. Like this...