Need help with garden landscaping.

[Imtoooldforallthis]

So moving into a new house, small garden and thought I'd sorted the plan. But having been this evening the sun's not quite where I thought it would be. It's a roughly 7m x 7m square garden. house on one side and a full side to side shed opposite. House has bifolds, I was planning as you look out of the house to have patio running from house to shed running along the right hand fence. This gets all the daytime sun. Just realised that evening sun is along the left had side fence. A side to side patio would not work, so know I don't know what to do as we would have to move all furniture ture from patio on right onto the grass on the left to catch the evening rays.

When are you most likely to use a patio? - daytime or evening? Whatever the answer, put the patio there.
It sounds like you might want the patio on the LHS and make the most of the daytime-sunny-RHS by putting a flower bed there. But there's nothing stopping you from having more than one seating area, of course!

Have you thought about what else you need to pack into the garden and where you are going to site these things (water feature, greenhouse, compost bin, washing line, etc)

Or you could have two smaller patios / seating areas in opposite corners? Somewhere to sit in the mornings with a coffee and somewhere to chill in the evening wittba cool drink?

Long straight borders can make the space seem smaller so breaking them up with patios or seating areas might work better anyway.

Thanks for the suggestions, the gardens not really big enough to have two patios, especially if I have a corner sofa I can't really be moving furnite around we'll just have to move a couple of chairs over.

Just heading into semi retirement so will be using morning til night, unless we are off travelling.

On the daytime sun side, could you have a bench with border on either side, or maybe an arbour seat that you can plant up over? And then a patio or larger seating area on the evening sun side, if you are more likely to use the daytime sun to sit out and read and the evening sun for entertainment?

I have a north west garden, I get sun at the top of the garden during the morning to mid afternoon then it foes shady as the sun then moves to the front of the garden for rest of the afternoon and evening.

I have a small-ish patio at the top, fits a sunlounger and small table and the front I have a larger ptio for corner sofa and dining.

You can have two patios you just need to decide how you are going to use those spaces at various times.

Think about how you are going to use the seating area/s , and how many people will be using it regularly. For example, in my situation I have a small metal patio table that seats two comfortably or three at a squash, I use it for early morning tea/coffee/breakfast and for lunch. In the afternoon I have a bench with cushions and a sunshade for reading with a small table that holds a wine glass or a tea tray. If more people need to sit there are folding chairs available.unless you are regularly hosting large groups then seating areas don’t need to be huge. In a small space the recommendation is that you don’t use straight lines, use curved lines and different heights to break the space up.

I don't like to sit in the sun at all, but I'd rather evening sun than brighter hotter sun.

It will be used for family get togethers so either 2 of us or 14. Usually afternoon going into evening. Also the right hand side daytime sun is not overlooked, evening sun is.

Where is the most convenient place to site a barbecue so that there's easy access from the kitchen, and where smoke isn't going to waft into the windows, either yours or the neighbour's?

I'd position that with a small seat alongside, and the main seating area on the opposite side of the garden.

We put the main pation with room for 6-8 chairs (bit of squeeze for 8) in the area that gets the sun in the evening as that's when we have people round. It doesn't get sun till about 2. So I put a smaller patio area with room for a bench and a small table in the daytime sunny areas - tbh it's usually just 2 of us at lunch or morning cup of tea so a cosy little sitting area in the sun is great.

I'm training an evergreen clematis round it and got pots on it too.

If there's more than 2 of us in the day we either squeeze into that space or sit in the shade. It's a pretty hot garden anyway so the shade in summer is nice.

Could you have 2 smaller patios either side but diagonally like a chess board to get all benefit?

@BarrelOfOtters has a point about shade in the summer, if we get another boiling heatwave like last year, some shade in the afternoons would be very useful.

Very true.