Transform your small patio into a private oasis that functions as a true outdoor room. These versatile ideas will bring you closer to nature and make the most of the space.
Gardeners always desire more space to relax and grow, but a small patio is full of potential. Embrace the coziness and create an intimate outdoor room to enjoy the fragrance and textures of thoughtfully chosen plants.
Whether you aim to grow low-maintenance patio plants, cultivate vegetables in containers, or design a beautiful landscaping scheme, all this is possible in a small space.
If your goal is to make your patio feel larger, clever design tricks can maximize the available space—from built-in seating to movable planters. Or, design an immersive experience with a green wall or planted privacy screen.
1. Add a Potted Tree
Even in a small yard, you can find space for a tree by choosing dwarf varieties suitable for pots. Potted trees are flexible, allowing them to be enjoyed close to the house while providing shade and vertical interest. Consider potting up dwarf conifers, flanking a doorway with ball-shaped boxwoods, growing a container orchard, or making a stunning feature with a dwarf Japanese maple.
Container trees need the same light and soil considerations as those grown in the ground. Always check the mature size of the tree and choose a generous container, as potted trees require more frequent watering.
2. Build In Seating to Maximize Space
Maximize your patio by building custom seating at the edge of the space. This timber design complements the slatted fence behind it and features an integrated raised bed to create an immersive oasis. If you’re handy, a simple design like this is straightforward to build, or you can hire a local carpenter.
Add outdoor seat cushions and a fire pit to cozy up when the temperature drops.
3. Use Rolling Raised Beds for Flexibility
Incorporating unique raised bed ideas into a small patio design can add flexibility. Rolling raised beds on wheels allow you to move plants out of high summer heat or to a sheltered spot in winter, and create more space when entertaining. Traditional raised beds offer numerous benefits, including easier access for weeding, pruning, and harvesting, and quicker soil warming in spring.
Vego’s range of rolling planters, available in the Gardening Know How Shop, are self-watering and offer a flexible, low-maintenance solution for small patios.
4. Boost Privacy with Flowering Plants
Enhance your patio’s sense of seclusion by including flowering plants for privacy. While structures can provide cover, plants offer a softer, natural way to separate areas. Flowering shrubs like bougainvillea, hibiscus, and rosemary create a vibrant and fragrant barrier.
If you need winter coverage, choose evergreen shrubs like camellia, cherry laurel, and California lilac. For quick privacy, fast-growing flowering shrubs are ideal.
5. Grow Overhead for an Immersive Effect
Add a pergola or archway to your patio to allow vining and climbing plants to grow overhead. This creates an immersive experience, adding shade and privacy. Ideal pergola plants include climbing roses, grapevines, clematis, honeysuckle, jasmine, and wisteria. You can even grow vining vegetables such as beans, squash, and tomatoes.
Twining and tendril vines naturally grow up a pergola without additional support, while other climbers need to be tied in as they grow.
6. Go Big with Containers
Container gardening is essential for any patio. Instead of numerous small pots, opt for a few large statement containers. Large containers not only look better but also give more planting flexibility and require less frequent watering.
Crescent Garden’s Orinoco double-walled bowl planter, available in the Gardening Know How Shop, comes in three sizes and can be stacked for a tiered effect. Its lightweight, chip-resistant, weather-proof design ensures durability and plant protection.
7. Increase the Illusion of Space with Mirrors
Mirrors cleverly make a space feel larger and lighter, creating the illusion of extending planting beyond the patio. Position climbing plants around the frame to give the impression of a doorway or window to a secret garden.
Mount mirrors on a house wall, boundary wall, or fence, ensuring they have a water-resistant backing. Consider the mirror’s angle to reflect light where needed and enhance attractive features rather than garden visitors or trash cans.
8. Add Drama with a Plant Theater
Plant theaters, or auricula theaters, showcase small plants like geraniums and primula auricula. These decorative displays look stunning on a small patio, with terracotta pots lined up on shelves. The stand itself can be modern or rustic.
When installing plant shelves, consider the weight of the potted plants. An ornamental plant stand in a patio corner is a charming alternative.
9. Grow a Vertical Edible Garden
Embrace vertical growing by adding a wall planter filled with herbs and salad crops. A patio herb wall adds fragrance and flavor close to the house and attracts pollinators like butterflies. Alternatively, grow leafy salads out of reach of many pests.
Purchase pocket wall kits for easy installation or upcycle a wooden pallet to make your own wall planter.
10. Plant a Textural Feast with Ornamental Grass
Ornamental grass adds color and texture to a garden, softening the hardness of paving materials and contrasting with more compact plants. Use cool-season grasses to fill gaps left by other plants in the fall and add winter interest, or warm-season grasses to follow spring bulbs and early flowering perennials.
Dwarf varieties make excellent patio edging plants, while taller varieties add height and structure and can even be featured in containers.
By incorporating these ideas, you can transform your small patio into a versatile and inviting space that maximizes its potential and brings you closer to nature.
