Patio Garden Plan

By: Garden Gate staff

Create a welcoming spot outside your back door with color, fragrance and flavor with this simple 10-plant patio garden design.

Patio Garden Design Illustration: Illustration by Carlie Hamilton

Upgrade your patio with a garden

Grow a garden around your patio so you can enjoy the colors, fragrance and beauty plants have to offer up close. When you look at the plan below you'll see it's enclosed by the house on two sides and the garange and privacy fence on the other. That provides a lot of protection from the elements and helps hold heat later into the evening so you can sit outdoors on a chilly evening and still be comfortable. Most of this 35×20 foot garden is situated in full sun and the dry-laid stone patio makes it easy to lift, set aside and reset if you need to access pipes or utilities below ground.

Add fragrance to your patio garden

This sheltered backyard is the perfect place to grow fragrant plants. The scent lingers for maximum enjoyment because the breeze is blocked by the house and other structures. Open the windows in summer and you’ll instantly know when the first lily (Lilium hybrid) blooms! Oso Easy Honey Bun shrub rose has a lighter scent but blooms from spring to frost. Pruning is easy, just remove dead branches in early spring.

A a small bed of herbs, such as sage (Salvia officinalis), basil (Ocimum basilcum) and oregano (Origanum spp.), will scent the air when you run your hands through the foliage. Give these plants plenty of sun and you'll have lots of stems to cut what you need for cooking or to share with friends.

You Might Like:
5 Easy Herbs to Grow
Patio Design Ideas
Summer Flowers that Can Take the Heat

Fruits & vegetables — perfect for patios!

Who says vegetables have to be rowed out in big rectangles? Tuck a few around your patio for easy maintenance and easy harvest. Here they're placed along the privacy fence where they’re out of constant view, yet close at hand for whatever recipe you have in mind. Tomatoes, peppers, beans or zucchini can provide a good sized harvest with just a few plants. By late summer you’ll get enough fruit from these columnar apple tree varieies for a pie or two after you enjoy some of the fresh fruit.

Patio garden plan illustration overhead view with lettering for corresponding plants: Illustration by Carlie Hamilton

Meet the plants in this patio garden plan

Check out the lettered plan above and see the corresponding plant information in the slideshow below to find out more about the hard-working, sometimes fragrant, plants in this beautiful patio planting.

A
Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Holmstrup’)

Type Evergreen tree Blooms Soft bright green foliage all year Light Full sun to part shade Size 10 to 12 ft. tall, 3 to 5 ft. wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 7

B
Orienpet lily (Lilium ‘Wassail’)

Type Perennial bulb Blooms Fragrant blooms in summer, sturdy stems rarely need staking Light Full sun Size 3 to 4 ft. tall, 1 to 2 ft. wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8

C
Clematis (Clematis viticella ‘Venosa Violacea’)

Type Vine Blooms Violet and white blooms in early summer Light Full sun Size 8 to 12 ft. tall, 3 to 4 ft. wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9

D
Purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’)

Type Tender perennial (usually grown as an annual) Blooms Burgundy foliage with fuzzy seedheads in late summer Light Full sun Size 3 to 5 ft. tall, 2 to 4 ft. wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 9 to 11

E
Rose (Rosa Oso Easy^® Honey Bun)

Type Shrub Blooms Pale yellow blooms with a blush of pink in late spring until late fall Light Full sun Size 2 to 3 ft. tall and wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9

F
Verbena (Verbena Superbena^® Royale Peachy Keen)

Type Tender perennial (usually grown as an annual) Blooms Peach-colored flowers from early summer until frost Light Full sun Size 6 to 12 in. tall, 18 to 24 in. wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 8 to 11

G
Smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens Invincibelle^® Spirit)

Type Shrub Blooms Pink blooms in summer change to pale brown Light Full sun to part shade Size 3 to 4 ft. tall and wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9

H
Alyssum (Lobularia maritima Snow Princess^®)

Type Tender perennial (usually grown as an annual) Blooms Fragrant white blooms from early spring until hard frost Light Full sun to part shade Size 4 to 6 in. tall, 40 to 48 in. wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 9 to 11

I
Apple (Malus Urban^™ Columnar Series)

Type Tree Blooms Tasty Red^®, Golden Treat^® and Blushing Delight^® all have pale-pink to white flowers in spring Light Full sun Size 8 to 10 ft. tall, 18 to 30 in. wide Hardines Cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9

J
Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis ‘Adams’)

Type Shrub Blooms Clusters of creamy white flowers in spring, edible purple-black fruit in summer Light Full sun to shade Size 6 to 10 ft. tall and wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9