The right planting ideas can enhance any garden patio, turning it into a more welcoming, calmer space. In this guide, we will walk you through some patio planting ideas to inspire you to increase biodiversity and plant more in your garden.
1. Place Small Pots Around Your Patio
For UK gardeners, one of the simplest and most straightforward patio planting ideas is to place small pots strategically around your patio. Choose a variety of plants suitable for containers, such as herbs, dwarf shrubs, or seasonal flowers.
Mix and match different colours, textures, and heights to create visual interest. Consider adding trailing plants for added dimension. This not only adds beauty and greenery to your patio but also maximizes space and allows for easy maintenance and flexibility in plant selection.
2. Embrace Container Planting With Impactful Planters
Embrace container planting by using impactful planters on your patio. Opt for large, eye-catching containers made of materials like ceramic, terracotta, or decorative metal. Fill them with a variety of plants, such as ornamental grasses, flowering perennials, or evergreen shrubs, or even dwarf fruit trees to create a focal point.
Choose plants that complement each other in colour, texture, and height. This approach not only adds visual appeal to your patio but also allows for easy rearrangement and seasonal changes in plant selection.
3. Add a Trellis for Height and Definition
Enhance your patio’s height and definition by adding a trellis. This might be installed against a wall or fence or a free-standing structure to partition the space from the rest of your garden. Train climbing plants like jasmine, clematis, or honeysuckle to grow vertically up your trellis.
This adds greenery, fragrance, and visual interest to your patio while maximizing space. Choose a trellis that complements your patio’s style, whether it’s rustic wood, sleek metal, or decorative wrought iron. The trellis provides a vertical element, creating a cozy and inviting atmosphere in your outdoor space.
4. Fix a Hanging Basket to the Outside Wall
Elevate your patio’s charm by fixing a hanging basket to the outside wall above it. Choose a sturdy hook or bracket that can support the weight of the basket and its contents.
Plant cascading flowers like petunias, lobelia, or trailing geraniums for a stunning display that spills over the edges of the basket, or consider edible trailing plants like tumbling tomatoes for a sunny site. Or, if the basket is in shade, consider different, more shade-tolerant hanging basket plants.
5. Add Climbers and Vines to Fences, Walls and Pergolas
Even if you do not add a trellis to your patio you might still enhance existing structures with climbers and vines.
Where space allows, choose vigorous climbers like climbing roses, wisteria, or ivy to cover vertical surfaces with lush foliage and colourful blooms. This not only adds privacy and shade but also creates a picturesque backdrop for your outdoor space. Where there is less space, choose less vigorous climbers suited to the environmental conditions that you can provide.
6. Affix a Green Wall or Vertical Garden
Elevate your patio’s aesthetics with a green wall or vertical garden. Affix modular planting panels or create DIY planters on a trellis or wall-mounted frame. Plant a variety of trailing vines, herbs, or succulents to create a lush, living tapestry.
This space-saving solution adds greenery, texture, and natural beauty to your patio while improving air quality and providing insulation. Customize the design to suit your style, whether modern and minimalist or lush and verdant, for a stunning outdoor oasis.
7. Create Planting Towers
Enhance your patio’s appeal by creating planting towers. Use stacked planters or tiered shelving, create DIY structures or purchase a planting tower to create vertical displays of flowers, herbs, or vegetables. This innovative approach also maximizes space and adds visual interest to your patio.
Mix and match different plant varieties for a vibrant and dynamic look. Consider incorporating trailing plants to add dimension and soften the edges of the towers. Planting towers not only beautify your patio but also provide convenient access to fresh herbs and vegetables for cooking, perhaps very close to your kitchen door.
8. Incorporate Multi-Functional Garden Furniture With Space for Plants
Upgrade your patio with multi-functional garden furniture that includes space for plants. Choose or even create DIY benches, tables, or seating with built-in planters or shelves. This allows you to integrate greenery seamlessly into your outdoor living space while maximizing functionality.
By incorporating plants into your furniture, you can create a cohesive and inviting patio ambiance while making the most of limited space.
9. Include Calming Plant-filled Ponds or Water Features
Create a serene atmosphere on or beside your patio by including calming plant-filled ponds or water features. Install a small pond or fountain adorned with aquatic plants like compact water lilies, or water hyacinths.
The gentle sound of flowing water and lush greenery create a tranquil oasis, perfect for relaxation and unwinding. Surround the water feature with seating or lounging areas to enjoy the soothing sights and sounds of nature, enhancing the ambiance of your patio retreat.
10. Plant Between Pavers of a New Patio
If you are creating a patio from scratch then one exciting patio planting idea involves making space for groundcover plants between the pavers. Choose low-growing plants like creeping thyme, moss, or sedum that can tolerate foot traffic and thrive in the cracks.
This creative landscaping technique softens the hardscape, adds texture, and introduces pops of colour to your patio. Opt for plants with a spreading habit to fill in the spaces over time, creating a charming and naturalistic look.
11. Replace Broken Pavers with Green Groundcover
You can also consider revitalizing an existing patio that has seen better days without starting from scratch. After a good clean, you might see some pavers that have to go, while others can stay.
You can consider replacing broken pavers with green groundcover. Again, choose low-maintenance options like creeping thyme or moss that can withstand foot traffic and fill in gaps between pavers.
12. Plant Up Patio Borders
One other thing to remember is that in-ground borders will typically be lower maintenance and easier to maintain than planters or potted plants.
Transform your patio borders into vibrant garden beds by planting them up with a variety of colourful flowers, herbs, or shrubs. Choose plants that complement your patio’s style and colour scheme. Incorporate a mix of heights, textures, and bloom times for year-round interest.
Consider using compact varieties to maximize space and minimize maintenance. By planting up your patio borders, you can create a lush and inviting outdoor oasis right at your doorstep.
13. Use Plants to Soften Hard Lines for a More Calm and Relaxing Space
Integrate lush greenery and colourful blooms around the edges of your patio to soften its boundaries and make it feel more connected to the rest of your garden.
Choose plants with a flowing or cascading growth habit to blur the edges and create a seamless transition between your outdoor living area and the surrounding landscape. This natural touch adds warmth and serenity, inviting you to unwind and enjoy your outdoor retreat.
14. Enhance a Patio With Raised Beds
Construct raised beds using wood, stone, or other natural or reclaimed materials to define the patio’s perimeter and create a cohesive look. With larger patios, you might also place raised beds strategically away from the edges to partition or break up the space.
Fill the beds with a variety of flowers, herbs, and vegetables to add colour, texture, and fragrance to your outdoor space, creating polycultures that will not only look good but which will also bring in beneficial wildlife to the space.
15. Plant for Wildlife Attraction, Benefit the Bees
Wherever you choose to plant and whichever plants you select, remember that it is a wonderful idea to attract as much wildlife as possible into your space.
Bees and other pollinators will thrive if you use patio planting areas to grow a range of flowering plants that bloom throughout as much of the year as possible.
16. Give Edible Patio Planting a Go
Planting edible plants around a patio is always a wonderful idea. Edible plants can of course be integrated into many of the ideas listed above and there are plenty of edible plants that you might grow on and around a patio.
From patio fruit trees in pots, to vegetable beds, to herb gardens… there are plenty of ways to use the space on and around a patio to grow some food for yourself and your family.
17. Introduce Topiary to Frame a Patio Space
Topiary adds structure, symmetry, and a touch of formality to your outdoor area, creating a refined ambiance. Additionally, it provides greenery and privacy while maintaining a neat and polished appearance.
Place strategically trimmed bushes or trees around the perimeter to define and enhance the patio’s boundaries. Opt for classic shapes like spheres, cones, or spirals for a sophisticated look. Or break up the formality a little with loose surrounding planting.
18. Use Small Trees to Enhance the Space
Whether in pots on your patio or in a patio border close by, dwarf rootstock fruit trees and other small trees can be wonderful additions to a patio.
Small trees when carefully positioned will not necessarily cast too much shade, and can block sight lines to increase privacy in a seating area or outdoor dining space. Trees might also be trained against a wall or fence in the right patio setting.
19. Add Colour with Patio Planting
Colour is often an important factor in choosing which plants to place on and near a patio. Remember that we can introduce many vibrant shades through foliage and flowers, and that the colours we choose can strongly affect not only the look but also the feel of the space, and how it makes us feel when we spend time in it.
20. Include Delights for All the Senses
Remember, also, when deciding which plants to grow on or around a patio, that the plants you choose can not only delight the eye, but also engage the other senses.
So think about introducing plants that have a pleasing fragrance close to seating areas, have plants that rustle pleasantly in the wind, and perhaps even have some plants nice to touch, and nice to nibble on, as well as ones that look appealing.
FAQs
What is the best plant for a patio?
There is no one best plant for a patio, though there can be the best plant for your specific patio. To decide what that might be, you need to look at sunlight and shade, wind and water – analysing the environmental conditions that you can provide and thinking about how and where precisely you wish to grow the plant, in order to find a plant well-suited to that particular situation.
How do you arrange plants on a patio?
Plants might be placed on a patio in pots, raised beds or other container options, including vertical gardens or green walls, or other innovative planters. Just remember to think about where the sun comes from throughout the day and throughout the year, the prevailing wind direction etc. so you can give the plants the conditions that they require.
How can I make my patio garden look nice?
Incorporating more plants on and around your patio is one of the most important things to do to make it look nice and suit your needs. Select appropriate plants to suit the style and theme of your garden and to blend the patio with your home, and the rest of your outside space.
How do I make my patio nice?
Planting on and around your patio with appropriate plants is one of the best ways to make it an appealing place to be. The right patio planting ideas can increase privacy, improve environmental conditions to make the space more welcoming and comfortable, and provide a feast for all the senses.
Sources
HG. (2020) How to clean a patio? 5 ways of cleaning a concrete patio. [online] Available at: https://hg.eu/uk/tips/how-to-clean-a-patio [accessed 21/05/24]
