Embellishing, in stages, a tiny concrete back yard

Cara Schneider Bongiorno and her husband, Charles Bongiorno, a physician, are true Philadelphians: They've made the most of their 20-by-12-foot concrete back yard by converting it into a graceful garden and May-through-November party space with seating.

Many city residents rely on a concrete pad behind their homes to serve as their "outdoors." The Bongiornos were determined to bring true green to their space and to decorate it in a way that would be inviting for a barbecue with friends, a glass of wine in the evenings after work, or just a quiet refuge.

With the help of Graceful Gardens, a Center City landscaping firm, the couple were able to cover over their large outdoor air conditioner, hang bistro-style lights, design and build new outdoor furniture, hook up a gas grill, and populate the area with luscious planters.

"I wanted a really verdant, peaceful space," said Schneider Bongiorno, who works for Visit Philadelphia tourism center. "It's an extension of our home, but a nice, cool escape."

The couple live in Fairmount, a few blocks from Girard College, and share a backyard view facing several other houses. But the patio space is theirs alone, and they wanted to transform it into something special.

First, they started designing. Their home contractor, Kenny Dominello, had done some initial drawings. (He had already renovated the garage and installed a tankless water heater.)

Then the Bongiornos met with Graceful Gardens, which designed the chef's gardens on the roof at the Four Seasons. The firm is the brainchild of Grace Wicks, daughter of environmentalist/restaurateur Judy Wicks.

"Grace totally got us pumped up, gave us a plan," Schneider Bongiorno recalled, "and we worked with her in installments."

They started by designing and building wooden seating and benches and an open-top table using TimberTech, an environmentally conscious material that is "slightly more expensive," but also is a compressed material without chemicals, she said.

She bought planters and pots from Urban Jungle in an ochre color and painted the wooden surfaces in such colors as Harvest Bronze and Rustic Bark.

From an old house, Charles Bongiorno had reclaimed some Mexican saltillo tiles, and those were incorporated into the back of the benches to add color and texture.

Bongiorno painted over the porous tiles with Aldon Mexiglaze to make them waterproof. He also installed an electrical outlet, a water hose and bib, and a natural-gas line outside.

Since the couple use gas inside the house, it was an easy job, he says. And gas "is only a fifth as flammable as propane" for his Weber grill.

Their contractor built a flip-up carving station near the back door from wood and a table with a removable top for storage.

At Mio Culture at 12th and Wood Streets, Schneider Bongiorno purchased some reclaimed-skid planters (from wood pallets) to serve as vertical hanging planters at the side of the house.

"It deadens sound and also insulates," she said. She planted feather grass and climbing rose.

For illumination, she bought glass bulbs online, after visiting Hickory Lane restaurant and admiring the hanging lights there.

She picked up some bald-cypress stump tables from a Coldwater-Creek store that was closing and selling off its furniture.

Grace Wicks' design and plant recommendations were $750, in a fee set from the outset. Before starting Graceful Gardens in 2008, her professional experience included horticulture, farming organic vegetables at Green Meadow Farm in Lancaster County. Her firm designs roof decks, planters, window boxes, and backyards.

For about three times that $750 price, Graceful Gardens could have purchased and installed the plants for the Bongiornos, but the couple chose to do that work themselves.

The biggest expense was the TimberTech, but, they said, they wanted a material that would last. Labor was the next biggest expense, and they spread that out over six months. Without the TimberTech, a similar job could be done for less than $7,500.

As the weather gets cooler, Schneider Bongiorno said, "we take blankets out whenever we need to, which is often.

"Wine and cheese after work in a sweater on fall nights is perfect."