Have you thought about getting some pot plants? Dotting different plants of varying heights could add a bit of depth and colour to the patio!

would remove paving slabs and replace with paving brick to match in with low wall if the fence is yours I would replace if not possibly put bamboo screen to tidy it up. place some colourful pots with good plants around the area to give a lift

We got some nice slate from a reclamation yard, looks pretty and doesn't show the dirt really

Don't be misled that stone doesn't get dirt & lichens on - it does. We have a natural stone patio and nothing will shift the black spots (even a scrubby pressure washer). I have googled it and not much will shift it. Maybe if you owned it from new and kept it clean once a year at least, it might not be quite so prone to get the spots on.

The imprinted concrete we looked into once and unless you have a very large area to be done (or do driveway as well at the same time) they aren't really interested.

Replacing patio is nice but make sure you have the budget for it - we managed to get ours done (prob similar size) in our old house for about £3K and some other works too.

Pat Oliver Interior Design

How big is your patio and what is the style of your home. The patio is an extension of the house and your choice of material should be in keeping. For example, if you have a modern home, you might want to consider decking. If it's an older property, stone or a reproduction stone may be more in keeping.

What ever material you choose for the ground, consider the following:

• Remove the low wall so a lawn can come up to the patio or plant shrubs and perenials to divide the 2 areas.
• The fence lets things down, so replace the panels if you can. If you can't, put a screen of hurdles or reeds in front of it. Widen the border by half again and plant it up with shrubs, climbers and perennial flowering plants for softness. It looks like the border is shadowed by the house, so choose shade loving plants.
• Some potted plants, grouped together by the house wall and an appropriate style of furniture will complete the scheme.

Get digging!

I would recommend you lose the paving and have a nice pale sandstone laid, if it is sealed and kept cleaned it will not have any black dots on it, the pale colour will bring some light into the garden.

I would consider, if you cannot replace the fence panels, fronting them with trellis panels incorporating mirrors. Otherwise a row of matching pots planted with Convulvulous, Lavender and Bay Standards to add some height.

The low brick wall need to either be removed, rendered or at the very least painted white or another pale / pastel colour.

Really without further photos and a budget it is hard to advise but we work on many gardens of this size in London and there are lots of possibilities.

Regards

Chris Pawson

C P Landscapes

HI as a landscape gardener I have a few ideas

firstly I would rebuild the wall and renew the paving with natural stone and gravel planted borders to soften the edges.

Definitely replace the patio, but live with it for a while, until you get a feel for the house and garden, because it would be annoying to replace the patio on the footprint of the old one and then realise it's too big or too small or whatever. A lovely garden will increase the value of your house and the quality of your life, so it is worth taking the time to figure out how to achieve that.