Seating and eating space around firepit

As evenings cool, guests gather closer to Ginny and John Young's inviting firepit. Added during a remodel of their sloping garden, the firepit nestles in one corner of an aggregate-and-brick patio. Since the patio is visible from an upper-level living room, Portland landscape architect John Herbst, Jr., created an orderly composition that can be enjoyed from above as well as up close.

Mortared bricks define the 6-foot-square firepit. Its walls rise 10 inches from the patio except at three corners, where Herbst placed stubby, 18-inch-high columns capped with removable wooden tops, The 16-inch-square tops, made of 2by-2s with 1-by-4 lips, serve as either seats or as mini-tables. Their design is similar to that of three benches positioned around the firepit.

To break up the expanse of aggregate patio, Herbst divided it into 9-foot squares, using brick pavers like those that top the firepit. Centered in one of these squares, the firepit is surrounded by broken aggregate pieces interspersed with woolly thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus). This low-growing plant, which tolerates foot traffic, adds gray-green color, soft texture, and a delicate aroma to the patio.

Herbst edged the patio with additional thyme, which sets off beds planted with colorful annuals and masses of azaleas.