A Sunny Kitchen Patio Garden

Gallery > Kitchen Patio Garden

I have always wanted a colourful garden to enjoy right outside my kitchen. It is the garden I see every day, the patio we enjoy most in summer and a great place to enjoy my morning cup of coffee.

The first step in ensuring that we would get the most out of our patio garden space was determining what our needs and wishes were. We sat down and made a list of what we wanted in our kitchen garden plan. We needed to incorporate a large BBQ close to the house so we could enjoy cooking outdoors even in the cold of winter. While we eat outdoors occasionally I love to have my morning coffee outside or sit and read a book on a summer afternoon whenever I can. That meant we needed to include both a dining area and a small relaxing sitting area into the plan. We also wanted a large patio that flowed into the remainder of the yard easily. Over the long term some shade from the afternoon sun was desirable but I did not want large trees so close to the house.

Empty beds 2006

In 2004 we started with a reasonable design plan, that is some good basic bed shapes, however the few plants left by the original owners were mostly groundcover (lots of ajuga!) and a few shrubs that were ill placed, too aggressive or would eventually block the views from the house.

By the spring of 2006 we had the patio and walkway's installed and the basic beds cleared of all of the old plants. The patio accesses the yard by three separate walkways -- one to the west which wraps around the house to the driveway and branches off to what would be a future pool; a second walkway of wide steps down to the back yard; and a stepping stone and river stone walkway to the bedroom patio garden.

Acer campestre (Hedge Maple)

For structure and future shade I planted an Acer campestre and a Syringa reticulata 'Ivory Silk' and we kept an existing Magnolia x 'Susan'. Although I wanted some shade, overall I wanted to look out onto a bright sunny garden. All three tree choices were of small to medium sized trees that would provide some shade but not overshadow the patio or become a problem tree so close to the house. Acer campestre, also known as a Hedge Maple, is a small to medium sized tree and is very tolerant of continuous pruning. In fact in England these trees are used to form clipped hedges.

After trees, shrubs form the next basic building blocks or bones of good garden design. As I was hoping for a colourful garden, I chose a lot of blooming shrubs to form the base of the gardens, carefully selecting varieties so I would have continuous blooms throughout the season. Spireas, weigela, peonies and hydrangea all provide abundant colour supported by a backdrop of boxwoods, variegated dogwood, several barberry and a japanese maple 'Bloodgood'.

Spirea Neon Flash Along Steps To Backyard

One of the main pictures in my head was of flowers cascading over the edge of the steps down to the back yard. My personal garden style however is of a more structured, albeit not quite formal, look. To marry these two ideas I chose to line the stairway with Spirea 'Neon Flash'. Neon Flash is a mass of deep pink blooms for about 6 weeks in June-July. After blooming I cut them back hard (about 8 inches), shaping them once again into a rounded hedge and am blessed again with 6 weeks of smaller but just as vibrant blooms in late September and early October. A pruning again in spring (8 to 10 inches) starts the cycle all over again.

Fall In The Kitchen Patio Garden Border

The outer edges of the kitchen patios (along with the Bird Sanctuary Garden) were dramatically changed by the installation of a stone retaining wall in 2009. While it looks spectacular at any time of year, the shrub border definitely comes into its own in fall. Cutleaf stephandra cascade over the stone wall, anchored by Spirea 'Goldmound' and red fall foliage and berries of some burning bush and Roseglow barberry.

For a complete garden design plan and plant list see my Kitchen Patio Garden Design Plan.

Here are some more images from my kitchen patio garden.