Question

A landscaper wants to create a rectangular patio in the backyard. She wants it to have a total area of 132 square feet, and it should be 12 feet longer than it is wide. What dimensions should use for the patio? Round to the nearest tenth if needed

Answer 1

The back garden of this semi detached house in Dallas had a very simple, somewhat uninspiring layout when Mike  was asked to redesign it. It consisted of a small patio and a rectangular strip of lawn, with flower beds running along each side. “The owners wanted a variety of shapes and textures that would change all year round. Mike scrapped the rectangular lawn and replaced it with a design based on two ovals. This introduces movement to the landscape and makes it look wider. For the plantings, Mike chose a mix that would bring year-round interest and. at the back of the garden, handle the shade produced by a Shumard Oak.

The lawn area is a design of two ovals, set slightly on the diagonal. “Clients often ask for waviness in their garden design,” Mike  says. “They often want wavy flower beds, but that can make your lawn look odd. So we designed the lawn based on ovals, then just made the beds around that as wide as we could. When Mike was asked to redesign the garden, the owners had lived here for a while and been happy with simply having a big lawn for their children to play on. As the children began to grow up and move out, however, the owners decided to rethink the garden.