An Outdoor Corner For Flat-Dwellers

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31549, 11 December 1967, Page 3

An Outdoor Corner For Flat-Dwellers

'By STELLA BRUCE)

If it is a hot, pleasant evening, why not go out on the terrace? Before you glance sardonically through the window of your flat into the backyard where the dustbins live, let me point out that I use the word “terrace” in its loosest sense. To me, a terrace is just somewhere to enjoy the open air, perhaps a bit of foliage, and a glass of something with ice in it. It does not need a threepiece orchestra or a lily pool. Unsightly objects—the dustbins, for instance—can be hidden by a lattice on a wooden framework. Lattice can be made, but it is easier to buy it. Fixing a light can be as easy as running out a special waterproof lampholder on a flex from the nearest threepin, properly-earthed socket in the house, and fitting on a shade for party occasions. There are also decorative waterproof lights to fit per-

manently, but these should be professionally fixed. New garden furniture in teak or metal is invariably costly, but look around the

second-hand dealers’ shops and yards for heavy-based tables and seats: you can often pick them up for next to nothing.

Concrete-asbestos boxes will accommodate quite large shrubs and the lattice will support a variety of climbing ivy and rambling roses, and even runner beans.