The patio at the back of a Bournemouth garden gets used for a few weeks in June and July and largely ignored the rest of the year, which is a shame because with a small amount of design thought it can work far harder across the seasons. The differences between a patio that gets six weeks of use and one that gets six months are almost all in the design, not the materials.

The first question is where the patio should actually go, and the answer is not always immediately outside the back door. The best patio location gets afternoon and evening sun, has some shelter from prevailing wind, and is close enough to the house to be genuinely convenient. In many Bournemouth gardens, the spot with the best sun is at the far end of the plot rather than right by the kitchen. A well-placed patio away from the house, with a decent path to reach it, gets used more than a badly-placed one right by the back door.

Size matters more than any other single design choice determines whether it feels usable. A four-metre by four-metre patio is often too small once a table and chairs are on it. A six-metre by five-metre patio feels generous. Small patios that seat six people with the chairs pushed all the way back to the edge are irritating to use in practice, and the temptation to keep the patio small so as not to lose garden space is usually a mistake. Better to have a generous patio and a smaller lawn than a large lawn nobody uses because there is nowhere to sit.

Levels are worth thinking about carefully. A patio at the same level as the house threshold means no step down when carrying food out, which is a real advantage. A patio slightly sunken into the garden - with a step or two down from a raised terrace at house level - feels more intimate and offers better wind shelter. A patio raised above the garden with a step up is the least common design and usually only makes sense on a sloping site. Whichever option is chosen, the transition needs to be safe underfoot and lit at night.

Paving choice has a bigger effect on how the patio wears than most homeowners expect. Sandstone is the popular choice in Bournemouth gardens, and it is a good material at the mid to high price point. It handles heat and cold, has a natural warmth in colour, and ages gracefully if properly sealed. Cheap sandstone from unregulated sources is not the same product as reputable Indian sandstone from a proper supplier - the imports from questionable sources tend to be less consistent in thickness, more prone to flaking, and often ethically dubious in their sourcing.

Porcelain paving has become mainstream over the last five years and is increasingly the sensible choice for domestic Patios and paving. It is denser than natural stone, resists staining almost completely, does not need sealing, and comes in finishes that convincingly imitate natural materials without the maintenance. The initial cost is similar to good natural stone but the total cost over ten years is lower because the sealing costs and the replacement of stained slabs are avoided.

Drainage is the invisible detail that separates a good patio from one that puddles for hours after every shower. The paving should fall away from the house at a minimum of one in eighty, ideally one in forty, into a drainage channel or straight onto a permeable area. Water pooling on a patio makes it slippery in winter, encourages algae growth, and can back up against the wall of the house if the falls are wrong. Any Bournemouth garden company laying a patio should be able to explain the drainage design before anyone lifts a stone.

Lighting extends the use of the patio into evenings and shoulder seasons. A patio that can only be used in daylight is a summer amenity; a patio with good ambient and task lighting is used until October. Low-level lighting along path edges and around the seating area is generally more effective than bright overhead floodlights. Solar lighting has improved substantially and now offers a reasonable option for anyone not wanting to run mains cables into the garden.

Shelter and shade makes the patio genuinely usable across more of the year. A pergola with a retractable canopy, a large parasol, or planting positioned to break the wind on the exposed side - any of these lengthens the useful season significantly. The best gardens are not the ones that look best in a photograph in June but the ones that are pleasant to sit in on a cool April evening or a bright October afternoon.