How to Get a Lush Look on Your Patio With Container Gardens
Find design ideas for containers brimming with bold foliage plants, colorful flowers, trailing vines and more
Lauren Dunec Hoang
June 2, 2021
Houzz Editor; landscape designer and former garden editor for Sunset Magazine and in-house designer for Sunset's Editorial Test Garden. Her garden designs have been featured in the Sunset Western Garden Book of Landscaping, Sunset Western Garden Book of Easy-Care Plantings (cover), Inhabitat, and POPSUGAR.
Houzz Editor; landscape designer and former garden editor for Sunset Magazine and... More
A few well-placed pots filled with exuberant foliage or hanging baskets full of flowers can quickly transform a bare balcony or patio into a lush, welcoming garden.
The following dramatic examples by landscape designers on Houzz showcase what can be achieved with a collection of planted pots and an eye for design. From a rooftop garden in New York City brimming with potted tree ferns to a converted dairy in London where oil drums make for large-scale planters, these diverse spaces offer plenty of ideas for planting and arranging luxuriant container gardens.
The following dramatic examples by landscape designers on Houzz showcase what can be achieved with a collection of planted pots and an eye for design. From a rooftop garden in New York City brimming with potted tree ferns to a converted dairy in London where oil drums make for large-scale planters, these diverse spaces offer plenty of ideas for planting and arranging luxuriant container gardens.
Full-sun containers by McCullough’s Landscape & Nursery filled with silver-leaved Plectranthus argentatus ‘Silver Shield’, purple Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’ and a cascade of lime Illusion Emerald Lace sweet potato vine (Ipomea batatas) and white-flowering Supertunia ‘White Russian’ (petunia hybrid) planted in large wooden apple crates
1. Start With a Rich Potting Soil and a Large Container
To create a lush vignette in a single container, start with a pot that’s at least 12 to 18 inches deep. The larger the soil reservoir, the more plants can thrive in a single pot, even if they’re packed in more tightly than what’s recommended on plant tags. Don’t have a large container? Try grouping smaller pots for a verdant look.
The soil you grow your plants in is just as important — or more so — than the container. “Start with good soil,” says landscape designer Lisa Curtis, owner of Lush Custom Gardening. Curtis makes her own quick-draining, well-amended potting mix for her container gardens, but that’s not a requirement. Supplement the nutrients in store-bought potting soil — which plants will absorb quickly in their early-season growth spurts — with organic amendments at planting time. Fertilizing throughout the warm season will support healthy growth.
Shop for pots and planters on Houzz
1. Start With a Rich Potting Soil and a Large Container
To create a lush vignette in a single container, start with a pot that’s at least 12 to 18 inches deep. The larger the soil reservoir, the more plants can thrive in a single pot, even if they’re packed in more tightly than what’s recommended on plant tags. Don’t have a large container? Try grouping smaller pots for a verdant look.
The soil you grow your plants in is just as important — or more so — than the container. “Start with good soil,” says landscape designer Lisa Curtis, owner of Lush Custom Gardening. Curtis makes her own quick-draining, well-amended potting mix for her container gardens, but that’s not a requirement. Supplement the nutrients in store-bought potting soil — which plants will absorb quickly in their early-season growth spurts — with organic amendments at planting time. Fertilizing throughout the warm season will support healthy growth.
Shop for pots and planters on Houzz
2. Water and Fertilize Consistently Throughout the Season
Plants grown in containers, particularly those packed in tightly, dry out more quickly than plants in the ground and will require consistent water and supplemental fertilizer to look their best. Curtis recommends that homeowners put summer containers on an automatic irrigation system to keep up with watering. “Everyone has the best intentions of keeping pots watered, but life is busy,” she says.
The containers seen here receive small daily amounts of water in summer through a drip irrigation system. Watering is less frequent at other times of the year.
Curtis used a color-packed mix of red-orange and white impatiens, mixed coleus, banana plants, strappy phormium, lime green sweet potato vine (Ipomea ‘Marguerite) and trailing silver dichondra. She fertilizes the containers every three to four weeks throughout the growing season with a high-phosphate fertilizer (best for blooms). The containers receive morning sun and afternoon shade on an east-facing terrace in Boise, Idaho.
Work with a landscape designer near you
Plants grown in containers, particularly those packed in tightly, dry out more quickly than plants in the ground and will require consistent water and supplemental fertilizer to look their best. Curtis recommends that homeowners put summer containers on an automatic irrigation system to keep up with watering. “Everyone has the best intentions of keeping pots watered, but life is busy,” she says.
The containers seen here receive small daily amounts of water in summer through a drip irrigation system. Watering is less frequent at other times of the year.
Curtis used a color-packed mix of red-orange and white impatiens, mixed coleus, banana plants, strappy phormium, lime green sweet potato vine (Ipomea ‘Marguerite) and trailing silver dichondra. She fertilizes the containers every three to four weeks throughout the growing season with a high-phosphate fertilizer (best for blooms). The containers receive morning sun and afternoon shade on an east-facing terrace in Boise, Idaho.
Work with a landscape designer near you
3. Include Bold Foliage
There’s nothing quite like exuberant, larger-than-life foliage to give a patio container garden an abundant, overgrown feel. When choosing plants, look for those with big leaves in a range of colors, from chartreuse to medium green to purple, to add contrast to container displays.
This verdant rooftop garden in New York City, designed by Harrison Green, features an array of ferns, evergreen boxwoods, potted trees and trailing ivy, but the oversize tree fern fronds are what take it to oasis level. A few other bold foliage ideas to consider: elephant’s ear (Colocasia spp.), bird of paradise (Strelitzia reginae), cannas, caladium and split-leaf philodendron (Monstera deliciosa).
There’s nothing quite like exuberant, larger-than-life foliage to give a patio container garden an abundant, overgrown feel. When choosing plants, look for those with big leaves in a range of colors, from chartreuse to medium green to purple, to add contrast to container displays.
This verdant rooftop garden in New York City, designed by Harrison Green, features an array of ferns, evergreen boxwoods, potted trees and trailing ivy, but the oversize tree fern fronds are what take it to oasis level. A few other bold foliage ideas to consider: elephant’s ear (Colocasia spp.), bird of paradise (Strelitzia reginae), cannas, caladium and split-leaf philodendron (Monstera deliciosa).
4. Choose Billowing Plant Forms
Annuals, perennials, ornamental grasses and flowering shrubs with billowing forms add more volume to containers, resulting in an exuberant garden look.
This sunny rooftop in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, designed by Brook Klausing of Brook Landscape, features numerous billowing plant forms, including lavender-blue catmint (Nepeta sp.), burgundy smoke bush (Cotinus sp.), hydrangeas and feathery ornamental grasses.
Annuals, perennials, ornamental grasses and flowering shrubs with billowing forms add more volume to containers, resulting in an exuberant garden look.
This sunny rooftop in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, designed by Brook Klausing of Brook Landscape, features numerous billowing plant forms, including lavender-blue catmint (Nepeta sp.), burgundy smoke bush (Cotinus sp.), hydrangeas and feathery ornamental grasses.
5. Make Plant Colors Pop
Using a combination of light and dark foliage and varying flower tones creates more depth and dimension in a display. Bright colors attract the eye and visually advance, while darker hues fade into the background.
You can see the impact of this design concept in this full-sun container vignette in Vancouver, by landscape designer Glenna Partridge. Partridge planted chartreuse sweet potato vine (Ipomea batatas) alongside purple heart (Tradescantia pallida ‘Purpurea’), purple-flowering million bells (Calibrachoa sp.), orange ‘Sedona’ coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides ‘Sedona’) and two types of bold, large-leaved cannas. The containers are fertilized weekly to encourage healthy growth.
Using a combination of light and dark foliage and varying flower tones creates more depth and dimension in a display. Bright colors attract the eye and visually advance, while darker hues fade into the background.
You can see the impact of this design concept in this full-sun container vignette in Vancouver, by landscape designer Glenna Partridge. Partridge planted chartreuse sweet potato vine (Ipomea batatas) alongside purple heart (Tradescantia pallida ‘Purpurea’), purple-flowering million bells (Calibrachoa sp.), orange ‘Sedona’ coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides ‘Sedona’) and two types of bold, large-leaved cannas. The containers are fertilized weekly to encourage healthy growth.
6. Grow Plants Up the Walls
Give patios and entryways a lovely look by training container-grown vines up wall trellises or porch posts. In this interior courtyard by Helen Green Design, in London’s Belgravia neighborhood, potted wisteria and fragrant star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) send leafy tendrils skyward, turning the patio into a verdant oasis.
Give patios and entryways a lovely look by training container-grown vines up wall trellises or porch posts. In this interior courtyard by Helen Green Design, in London’s Belgravia neighborhood, potted wisteria and fragrant star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) send leafy tendrils skyward, turning the patio into a verdant oasis.
7. Add Trailers
Instead of planting vines up walls, you can allow trailing plants to cascade out of hanging baskets, window boxes or tall containers for an exuberant container display.
Landscape designer Becky Whitacre of Smalls Landscaping used vines and bold foliage to transform the balcony garden in Ogden Dunes, Indiana, seen here into a tropical paradise. Plants include elephant’s ear (Colocasia sp.), fuchsia, petunias, lantanas, pink-flowering mandevilla vines and a waterfall of sweet potato vine (Ipomea batatas). The containers receive filtered light and daily drip irrigation.
Instead of planting vines up walls, you can allow trailing plants to cascade out of hanging baskets, window boxes or tall containers for an exuberant container display.
Landscape designer Becky Whitacre of Smalls Landscaping used vines and bold foliage to transform the balcony garden in Ogden Dunes, Indiana, seen here into a tropical paradise. Plants include elephant’s ear (Colocasia sp.), fuchsia, petunias, lantanas, pink-flowering mandevilla vines and a waterfall of sweet potato vine (Ipomea batatas). The containers receive filtered light and daily drip irrigation.
8. Layer Plants
Using the well-known design rule for container gardens of including a “thriller,” a “filler” and a “spiller” can result in a rich-looking container garden, even with dry-garden plants.
Landscape designer Susanna Pagan used this technique to create a sumptuous all-succulent container in Southern California. Plants include yellow-green Aeonium ‘Kiwi’, string of bananas (Senecio radicans) and multiple “fillers” in the forms of Echeveria ‘Purple Pearl’ and elephant bush (Portulacaria afra ‘Variegata’).
“Combining low-water succulents with plenty of texture and several complementary colors that play off each other creates the maximum impact,” Pagan says. In this vignette the yellow, lime and purple colors nicely complement and contrast one another. The designer adds that while the succulents in the container receive low water and thrive in full sun in this coastal area, they would need partial shade in hotter regions.
Using the well-known design rule for container gardens of including a “thriller,” a “filler” and a “spiller” can result in a rich-looking container garden, even with dry-garden plants.
Landscape designer Susanna Pagan used this technique to create a sumptuous all-succulent container in Southern California. Plants include yellow-green Aeonium ‘Kiwi’, string of bananas (Senecio radicans) and multiple “fillers” in the forms of Echeveria ‘Purple Pearl’ and elephant bush (Portulacaria afra ‘Variegata’).
“Combining low-water succulents with plenty of texture and several complementary colors that play off each other creates the maximum impact,” Pagan says. In this vignette the yellow, lime and purple colors nicely complement and contrast one another. The designer adds that while the succulents in the container receive low water and thrive in full sun in this coastal area, they would need partial shade in hotter regions.
9. Border a Seating Area
Smart positioning of potted plants can be key in creating the feeling of an overgrown garden on a small patio or balcony. One technique that works well on balconies and smaller city patios is to arrange containers around the edge of the space, using the plants to screen surrounding buildings.
On this sunny balcony in Paris, designer Nicolas Bertaudière of Garden Trotter positioned a collection of charcoal gray containers around the edge of the seating area and planted them with foliage-heavy plants and ornamental grasses.
Plants include (from left to right): oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Snow Queen’), ‘Edward Goucher’ abelia (Abelia ‘Edward Goucher’), variegated New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax ‘Variegatum’), kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) underplanted with lilyturf (Liriope muscari ‘Big Blue’), ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’), kōhūhū (Pittosporum tenuifolium) and a Japanese anemone hybrid (Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’).
Smart positioning of potted plants can be key in creating the feeling of an overgrown garden on a small patio or balcony. One technique that works well on balconies and smaller city patios is to arrange containers around the edge of the space, using the plants to screen surrounding buildings.
On this sunny balcony in Paris, designer Nicolas Bertaudière of Garden Trotter positioned a collection of charcoal gray containers around the edge of the seating area and planted them with foliage-heavy plants and ornamental grasses.
Plants include (from left to right): oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Snow Queen’), ‘Edward Goucher’ abelia (Abelia ‘Edward Goucher’), variegated New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax ‘Variegatum’), kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) underplanted with lilyturf (Liriope muscari ‘Big Blue’), ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’), kōhūhū (Pittosporum tenuifolium) and a Japanese anemone hybrid (Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’).
10. Group Containers
In larger courtyards, arranging containers into groups of three, five or more can help create high-impact vignettes. With clustered containers, designer Beth Dadswell of Imperfect Interiors transformed this site of a former London dairy into an inviting courtyard garden.
Dadswell used a combination of purchased and recycled containers, including oil drums painted glossy black for the trees. “We layered cardboard around the insides,” the designer says. Plants include a cherry tree, hydrangeas, ferns, two types of jasmine, evergreen clematis (Clematis armandii), evergreen boxwood, ornamental grasses and a deciduous serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.).
In larger courtyards, arranging containers into groups of three, five or more can help create high-impact vignettes. With clustered containers, designer Beth Dadswell of Imperfect Interiors transformed this site of a former London dairy into an inviting courtyard garden.
Dadswell used a combination of purchased and recycled containers, including oil drums painted glossy black for the trees. “We layered cardboard around the insides,” the designer says. Plants include a cherry tree, hydrangeas, ferns, two types of jasmine, evergreen clematis (Clematis armandii), evergreen boxwood, ornamental grasses and a deciduous serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.).
The designer shares that the containers on the covered courtyard receive plenty of bright light and are watered with drip irrigation every two days (20 minutes in summer and 10 minutes in winter).
Tour this London home and courtyard
Tour this London home and courtyard
Your turn: How do you create a lush look on a patio or balcony? Do you have any go-to plants or arrangements? Tell or show us in the Comments!
More on Houzz
Read more container gardening guides
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More on Houzz
Read more container gardening guides
Find a landscape designer near you
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What happens when winter comes?
Most can stay outside, some are annuals and they get taken out, a very few come inside by a window. But most survive, after cutting back outside. Sometimes in winter I add some water into the pots if weather is mild.
Connie Peternell — nothing happens if you live in Cali! 😉
That’s the one thing we have going for us