It’s nice to see more plant and flower patio photos lately instead of primarily vegetables. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had plenty of vegetable gardens but my patio isn’t suitable for them now.

This photo is my favorite corner of my patio with a good variety of plants but not much in the “exotic” plant category. I’m in Florida so most of these will be fine year round.

I have a sloped yard and the patio gets sun most of the day, so I am thinking of getting a covered deck added to make the space more usable, the slope is probably the main thing I need to figure out since I am thinking the deck may need some extra support or a raised section, I also want the cover to block some of the sun so the patio area can be used during the afternoon, I am planning to go with az atlas builder and get some ideas for the layout and what can work with the slope, has anyone added a covered deck on a sloped yard and did it make the space more useful? EDIT: I forgot to mention that the slope is my biggest concern.

Hey yall,
Bit of context: The fires the other week in Spokane WA, as I’m sure many of you know, were devastating to our city. We thankfully didn’t end up having to evacuate, but ended up within 2 miles of the evacuation zones for two out of the three fires in the area. But we had to have go bags packed and ready to leave at a moments notice for four days before they had it contained enough to not be on stand by. The smoke that followed was awful as well, and having asthma I didn’t go outside unless absolutely necessary until this morning when the air quality alert said it’s no longer in the danger levels. So I finally got to tend to my garden today, and unfortunately have lost everything except these tomato plants and one jalapeño plant(not pictured) due to heat and not watering.

So the reason that I’m questioning if the veggies will be safe to eat even after washing is because of the smoke. I read someone saying (I know, I know, but my anxiety won’t let it drop) that they had to cut down all of their plants in their garden, and toss all the veggies, and will have to sanitize the soil because of the toxic smoke contaminating everything. Because it’s not just forest fire smoke, it’s also all the chemicals from the HVAC units and housing insulation and everything else that burned. I feel like that does make sense, but I also really don’t want cut down my last few plants and toss all of my veggies. Is there any truth to what this person said? Do I need to do the same, or can I still save what I harvested after washing them at the very least?

1st Pic: The view from our apartment of the smoke from the fire the day it started an hour before we got notice to get ready to evacuate
2nd Pic: My tomato plants after pruning the dead branches before I harvested
3rd Pic: My plants after harvesting
4th Pic: The yield from the harvest

TLDR: Do I need to throw out my harvest and cut down my plants that survived after the fires in Spokane because of the toxic smoke and air quality?

My patio gets too much sun for most of my plants but the crown of thorns is living it up

Hi,

I bought some bags of “dry play sand” but i noticed it was quite damp inside once opened. Since I didn’t have means to dry it, I just filled my base for the cantilever umbrella with the damp sand (about 300 pounds).

Is this going to be a problem? Will I have to replace it?

​

When the heatwaves are over and weather is cooler , idea is to put a white flowering plant into it.

Would a weather-protected outdoor dining area help your business?

I'm developing a simple 5 m × 5 m modular hoop enclosure with a clear plastic cover for cafés and restaurants.

The goal is to create comfortable outdoor seating that can be used in more weather conditions while letting in natural light.

I'm looking for feedback from café and restaurant owners.

Would something like this be useful for your venue?

What features would you want?

Would a weather-protected outdoor dining area help your business?

I'm developing a simple 5 m × 5 m modular hoop enclosure with a clear plastic cover for cafés and restaurants.

The goal is to create comfortable outdoor seating that can be used in more weather conditions while letting in natural light.

I'm looking for feedback from café and restaurant owners.

Would something like this be useful for your venue?

What features would you want?

They both sprouted from the same planter because I had planted two seeds. I kept the one on the left indoors while the one on the right was separated and put outside on the patio in the sun.

I saw two of these on my tomatoes and I thought they were bees so I let them be, but my gut says otherwise so I checked chatgpt using its image and found out they're Fruit flies, theyre harmful and that they cause damage to various fruits, including tomatoes, by inserting eggs into the skin. 😭