Garden Spot by Larry Sotnick Outdoor living spaces - A 'room' with a view What is the most comfortable room in your home? Your family room with its large open floor plan, overstuffed couch, and favorite reading chair? Or your kitchen that you finally got just the way you wanted and the place where everyone seems to congregate when they come to visit? Maybe it's your small, cozy "spa" bathroom where you can indulge yourself and leave the world behind - relax, enjoy your favorite book, and satisfy your senses. But wait a minute; perhaps there's a room you don't even know you have, where you can accommodate all your interests, needs and desires. This room has no ceiling. In fact, you can see the sky. Its boundaries are more in the mind than in the physical and its appeal can be ever changing, along with its sounds, smells and light. Do we all have the ability to "construct" an outdoor living space - a "room" with a view? We certainly do, and it's limited only by our imagination. When planning any of our indoor rooms, we start with a simple question: What do we need and want to accomplish within this space? The same question starts us on our creation of our new outdoor room. By creating a space outdoors where we can do our most enjoyable things, we assure ourselves that we will use this space. Larry Sotnick is owner of Sotnick Landscaping, Monroe. He has been in the landscaping business since 1976 and resides with his family in Monroe. He can be reached by calling (732) 521-0778. If you're thirsting for a quiet place to read and think, determine what you'll need. Maybe you'd like a comfortable seating arrangement in a shady, relaxing garden area with a small table at your side for a newspaper and a drink. Perhaps a tan is your objective. How about an open spot in your yard and an extra-long extension cord attached to your AM/FM/CD player? For those of us bitten by the gardening bug who plan our gardens through winter catalogue orders and early spring plantings, a place to repose, have a drink, and enjoy the beauty may be just what we need. The list can go on and on. Whatever your hobby or interest, quite simply, you can bring it outdoors. Just outfit yourself for comfort, and plan to have the things essential for your activity outside. Just as a beautiful room in your home requires more than a couch, table and lamp, bringing garden architecture to your outdoor space will enhance a beautiful outdoor room. With the incorporation of statuary, boulders, birdfeeders, arbors, and other inorganic elements in the garden, we bring an added dimension to it just as we do with art or our favorite collectibles inside. By including these outdoor architectural elements in our "room," we heighten the garden's appeal and flexibility. What can we do to enliven our outdoor "room" to encourage our children's interest in nature? How about some small garden areas with exotic plants? To children, seeing a tiny sunflower grow into a giant beauty can be an amazing experience. Or how about, even if you have only a small patio on which to create a "room", planting containers with tomatoes or peppers or eggplants? Tasting this harvest 90 days later can be a treat - and not only to a child. Space doesn't have to be paramount to achieve a cozy feel for your outdoor room. A simple rose plant with a small trellis and a few flowering annuals at its base can inspire a garden feel if that's all the space you have. For those of us lucky to have a sizable "room", the sky and the "borrowed landscape" (the view beyond our property's boundary) can be as valuable as possessing a Dali or a van Gogh. With today's busy lifestyles, it is intriguing to consider creating a space where family and friends can gather, in a relaxing, uplifting and natural setting. Fill this space with your own personal essentials. A comfortable chair, the perfect view, a small pond with fish, a hammock - the possibilities are endless, and, the best part is, it's just outside your back door. u