Design a Backyard Bistro

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Bistro patios

Click ahead to see how airy plants, a free-form floor, a circular firepit, and other details make this Tucson garden the ideal place for entertaining.

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Portable shade

A polyethylene canopy (shadesails.com) soars above the dining table, providing cooling shade during hot months. It's fastened to the house and to steel poles beyond the patio's wall.

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Circular firepit

A conversation circle around a gas firepit serves as a cozy retreat on cool evenings. The low wall ringing the firepit  is painted yellow to match the dining patio's wall.

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Curved wall

Painted a sunny Provençal yellow, the stucco wall adds warmth and a sense of enclosure to the dining patio. Its far end steps down to an Asian water bowl tucked between the palms.

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Free-form floor

San Diego Buff concrete paving flows from the dining area toward the house and the firepit, visually connecting all three spaces. Its sinuous edges make the 23-foot-deep by 60-foot-wide backyard appear larger.

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Airy plants

The delicate foliage of ornamental grasses in the foreground, and grasslike fortnight lilies (Dietes iridioides) between the two palms, doesn't overwhelm the small space.

Design: Jim Pollack Design. Installation: Roxanne C. Dobosz, Jumping Daisies.

How to design a backyard bistro

Bistro patios

Portable shade

Circular firepit

Curved wall

Free-form floor

Airy plants