Just as inside the house, the basic choice outside comes down to one between hard and soft flooring - the hard being patios and paths, the soft being planting. But while a single floor surface running seamlessly from wall to wall looks wonderful inside, outside, in anything but the smallest patio, it is likely to look flat and dull. Introduce variation, texture and a change of levels to create a much more interesting vista.
A small paved patio teeming with plants and pots of different heights.
