Autumn gardens
It will take more than a bench table and umbrella to meet the smoking ban challenge but one positive effect of the legislation has, at least, been to encourage pubs to pay extra attention to their outdoor areas.
The government guidelines that, among other things, define what constitutes an enclosed space, will, once analysed, give the green light to many operators planning garden refurbs.
But it's also true that the beer garden has grown more sophisticated in recent years as garden makeover TV shows have coincided with a need on the part of licensees to extend their trading areas and meet demand from customers who have got a taste for eating and drinking outdoors on holidays abroad.
The question in many minds must be, though whether a publican facing the unpredictability of the British weather can make such an investment pay.
So alongside more attractive gardens and more comfortable furniture has come a desire to extend summer days, both into the evening and into the spring and autumn.
If you've been enjoying the fruits of the current hot spell, now's the time to think about squeezing out extra hours of outdoor trade as the nights draw in.
That means thinking about patio heaters fuelled by both gas and electricity. It means considering creating shelters to keep the warmth in, and it means, in a general way, making sure your garden is a nice place for your customers to want to be, even if it does turn a bit chilly.
Over the next few pages we take a look at the kind of investment licensees are already making in their gardens, and some of the newer ideas out there that move your al fresco business upmarket, from classy decking to thatched gazebos.
From "dump" to dream garden
Yesterday it was "an absolute dump" but in August the garden of the White Lion at Yate, near Bristol, will reopen as a spectacular al fresco space thanks to tenants Ann and Gary Gammage.
Having already earned a reputation for turning around run-down pubs, the Gammages took over the Enterprise Inns pub two-and-a half years ago, and the new garden represents the halfway mark in their five-year plan to transform the business.
"We have set ourselves the target of completing one project each year," explains Ann. "After we had tidied the place up and built up a the trade we opened nine letting bedrooms last year. This year it's the outdoors."
In fact, the White Lion has two gardens. The grassed area at the front was first developed as a family garden with play equipment leaving the back yard, which left the back yard as a kind of rubbish dump with its "three broken-down old shed ands a scraggy tree in the middle".
"It was Gary who had the vision for it," says Ann. "A year ago he said it would make a fabulous garden. I couldn't see it myself, but I took on the job of making it happen."
The rubbish that had accumulated was enough to keep a bonfire for three weeks. Plans were drawn up featuring a gazebo with decking as a centrepiece - but the quotes they had from garden companies were too high for the Gammages.
"There would have been nothing left for us to do anything else," says Ann. "We could have asked Enterprise to help us but it would only have slapped extra on then rent. We're great believers in paying for things ourselves and reaping the benefits - the bedrooms paid for themselves within a year."
So the plans were shelved - until the White Lion's play equipment supplier came to the rescue.
Timberline specialises in top quality wooden playgrounds but, with the smoking ban on its way, it decided to branch out into garden furniture.
As a newcomer it was willing to listen to what the Gammages had in mind and give them exactly what they wanted, adapting the pavilion in its catalogue to make the centrepiece gazebo with the thatched roof they preferred.
Around the pavilion, which has seven removable tables with chairs, were installed three matching thatched "solandas" plus eight-seat octagonal bench tables with wheelchair access plus various pots and planters. With the smoking ban in mind, the windowboxes on the outside of the pavilion have been converted to giant ashtrays.
Regular customers have had a sneak preview of the new garden in advance of the official opening and by their verdict it looks like the Gammages are onto a winner.
"They are over the moon," says Ann. "One said there's no need for them to go on holiday now - it's like being on the Mediterranean!"
Now the Gammages are applying for a licence to carry out weddings at the pub, believing the garden will prove an asset when it comes to hosting receptions, and will be looking at enhancing the al fresco experience for their customers with table service and infrared heaters.
"The thatch is already a great insulator," says Ann. "In the hot weather it's been 10 degrees cooler under there, so we should be able to use the gardens in the cooler evenings too."
Lure of the waterside
We do like to be beside the seaside, and, for that matter, beside any stretch of water. There is a primitive urge of some sort that draws us toward oceans, lakes and rivers, to the merest trickle of of a brook or bourne, the smallest pond - especially when we are eating or drinking.
Pubs lucky enough to find themselves by water have a natural edge over the competition, and waterside sites are prime targets for new-build pubs.
One of the latest is Young's aptly-named The Riverside, which opened at the end of June. The bar-restaurant makes the most of is location in the middle of St George Wharf, a development of luxury flats on the South bank of the Thames at Vauxhall.
The building itself, which cost "in excess of £1m" is light and airy with a broad glass frontage looking out onto an expansive riverside terrace with high quality garden furniture providing seating for 80 people.
Hot weather in the few weeks the Riverside has been open plus spectacular views along the Thames past Vauxhall Bridge to the London Eye have got the new venue off to a good start.
According to manager Craig Edney the location is proving to be a big draw for the City's office workers and local residents alike.
"In fact I'm surprised at how quickly people have found us," he says. "We're a bit hidden away here but word has got around fast.
"Being able to sit right on the river is a very strong proposition. People are booking the outdoor tables three or four days in advance for meals."
With trade split equally between food and drink, Sunday brunch, served until 1pm, has proved especially popular with the locals, and live jazz into the afternoon keeps the venue busy. Weekday lunches have attracted workers from across the river and on Saturday nights the pub becomes more of a restaurant.
Among the issues thrown up by a big outdoor area are service and health and safety. Getting that right has its price, of course, and Craig heads an enlarged team of 35 that enables him to provide table service outdoors, although customers can still go to the bar for drinks to keep the informal pub feel of the place.
And so far there have been no problems at all in keeping order in such an extended outside area.
With the al fresco operation being so important to the Riverside's success, Craig isn't settling for a seasonal business, though. He believes people can be attracted to the terrace all year round thanks to jumbrellas, powerful electric heaters and the whole way the operation is designed.
The Riverside is built with winter as well as summer in mind, and Craig thinks the warm feel of the interior will be carried into the outdoors as the weather turns chilly.
Decking solutions
It wasn't so long ago that decking was reserved for ships. But television's Ground Force seems to have changed all that. In the last few years decking has become all the rage - and pubs are no exception with increasing numbers of licensees upgrading their gardens with a timber floor.
"More publicans are
