Temporary DIY Patio Ideas?

[Saredances]

I'm a military wife and that means moving around a lot. Right now my husband and I are waiting to move into a new home, the yard doesn't have a patio and I'm looking for some temporary inexpensive ideas to make one. I've thought about getting an outdoor rug and sort of sectioning it off with some potted plants. I'm not sure how well that will work though with a small patio table and chairs on it. All ideas are welcome!

[Erinz]

Well the soil in the yard could make a huge difference in what I would do and I don't know what you have

I think an outdoor rug sounds pretty good and cheap (and easy!), but I see them around (inlaws) and it's not exactly pretty with the bumps and lumps that settling dirt bring and the whole synthetic thing on the ground gets moldy/mossy/slippery. Unless you're going coir or something?

What about a truckload of chipped wood? We hooked up with a tree service who agreed to drop a load or 2 (too many) to us for free. All I had to do was wheelbarrow it around. You could always borrow a wheelbarrow from a neighbor or buy one used and re-sell it to get your $ back. YOu could put newspapers under the chips so any grassy stuff would have a harder time springing up but you wouldn't ever be stuck with a puddle out there. Any rocks in rivers or side of the road you could pick up? I used to pick up so many rocks and put them in the trunk of my sedan!! haha! Enough that I eventually built a wall to retain some dirt at my old rental before our real house. We had a lot of landslides that year.. but ykwim. Be creative, see what is around to use. Even craigslist/yardsale pots turned upside down with candles or whatnot on them. I see great things ahead