When it comes to patios, we usually dress them with outdoor furniture and BBQs. These can make a fantastic statement, but for true visual impact under your patio, nothing compares to potted plants. They can truly add another dimension that draws the eyes of all.
If you are an avid watcher of The Block on Channel 9 then you may have seen the terraces that were completed this week. The visual impact of the potted plants used to finish the spaces of these outdoor rooms was nothing short of stunning.
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What Are the Best Potted Plants to Keep Under Your Patio?
To help answer this question, Great Aussie Patios spoke to Vanessa in the gardening section at Bunnings Warehouse, Maddington.
Vanessa was more than happy to walk us through some of the plants we should be looking at to make that visual impact for our patios.
Some great recommendations of plants under your patio include:
- Golden cane palm
- Dwarf date palm
- Ponytails
- Ficus
- Ferns
- Bromeliads
What Are Golden Cane Palms?
The golden cane palm loves to be in a big pot and looks lush and green all year round when undercover. They do struggle a little in cold temperatures under 10 degrees so keep an eye on their leaves if they drop from being their traditional plain green to start withering during the cold weather.
If you want a bit more of a visual impact, try different size pots and group them together. Alternatively, pair them up in the same design pot and place either side of the patio to create a type of frame.
What Are Dwarf Date Palms?
One of the dwarf varieties of the date palm, this plant, when fully grown, provides a beautiful base with lush green foliage. The base has a wonderful pattern that leads up to the base of the branches. It is pretty cold hardy to cold climates and can survive up to -10 degrees.
However, Vanessa did provide a word of warning:
"This dwarf date palm does have spikes on the branches which can be quite nasty if you get pricked while trimming away dead foliage.
I have one of these dwarf date palms and I can vouch for the spikes, not the best feeling when you cop one in the finger."
However those aside it is a beautiful-looking
palm and certainly provides a tropical feel under my patio.
What Are Ponytails?
This palm gets its name from the masses of foliage that comes from the base of the bulb that looks similar to that of a ponytail, they are a great addition to a small garden design.
This is best suited to a large pot with well-drained soil and as it gets larger so does the bulb at the base of the palm. This will eventually spawn smaller ponytails from the base which if left can add depth to the pot. These look great when placed in a corner in a large round pot as the foliage spreads out. You can then add smaller pots under and around to enhance the height. This plant likes sun and we recommend putting it in full sun or partial shade on a sunny windowsill. Water deeply but rarely in the warm weather summer long and switch to little to no watering in the cool weather over the winter months.
Vanessa also mentioned that “these are great water-saving plants, as the bulb at the base holds a lot of water to ensure it never gets to dry.”
What Are Ficus'?
Getting away from the palms another plant that is well suited to life under a patio is the ficus. They are available in a variety of names that all produce stunning leaf colouring that is also green all year round. Keep in mind they do need to be kept in full shade in your patio area.
These are also well suited to pots and are easy to maintain to whatever height you want them to grow at, including from hanging baskets. You can add different varieties of ficus to give you a real depth of colour and again with the ability to create height with various pot sizes.
What Are Ferns?
Ferns are a great filler to an empty space, or if grouped together can make a large visual impact on their own such as what was used by Chris and Kim on The Block.
Given the large selection of ferns available, they can be used to fill large, tall pots that look bare especially like those of say a palm.
They make a great hanging basket as they can be made to look plump and full of green foliage.
Many species of fern prefer full shade but depending on the type of fern you go for it may be looking to thrive in part shade or partial sun.
Placed above, around or in other patio plants the varieties of ferns add a real depth of greenery and depth thanks to their evergreen foliage.
What Are Bromeliads?
These plants provide you with a bit of the exotic - these are gorgeous plants that have even better flowers. These flowers range in a variety of bright colours, such as a beautiful red orange, deep red and stunning gold. They are great in shallow pots which are great if you are trying to group different pots together or use patio containers. They typically thrive in nature under bigger trees and the partial shade that comes with that.
Water every couple of weeks (making sure to include watering the centre) but don’t overwater. You don’t have to stress too much about underwatering as Bromeliads are decently drought tolerant.
These particular plants produce smaller growths known as pups. These pups can be removed and cared for ready to be planted into their own pot.
Vanessa gave us this advice on the Bromeliads:
“These will often begin to die off after a couple of years, however if you have taken the pups and placed them in pots these can take the place of the original bromeliad from which they came.”
One Last Word
Vanessa also gave us this great advice:
“All these plants are great for those of us that are kept to busy or pushed for time, they tend to look after themselves quite well with little to no attention. All of these plants provide lush green foliage all year round and all will happily live under your patio and don’t forget to use different pots to provide that visual impact in or around your patio.”
Great Aussie Patios would like to Thank Vanessa and Bunnings Warehouse in Maddington for their help and advice on these plants.
My Plant of Choice
I thought I would add one more to the list of plants that will live happily under your patio and one that you may have never thought of.
A pineapple is a great plant for your patio as it will grow just about anywhere, with direct sunlight or even indoors, which means pots.
They are ridiculously easy to grow and don’t take much care. They have a long thin leaf and will grow in very shallow pots also.
This is because the fruit (the pineapple) grows above the plant itself.
I have anywhere to five or six pineapples growing at the moment and if I can find space I’ll keep growing more.
When they are ready to fruit the flower is spectacular and then you will begin to see that beautiful fruit take shape right before your eyes.
They only fruit once in their lifetime and then begin to die, however before they do they produce baby plants from the crown which then have the ability to spawn their own fruit.
You may struggle to find this one around garden centres but don't fret, you can just buy a pineapple from the local shops with the crown still on it, just simply cut this off with a bit of the pineapple and plant it in the ground or the pot and that's it. Its ease and beauty makes this an easy favourite for my pick for the best patio plants.
I have anywhere to five or six pineapples growing at the moment and if I can find space I’ll keep growing more.
When they are ready to fruit the flower is spectacular and then you will begin to see that beautiful fruit take shape right before your eyes.
They only fruit once in their lifetime then begin to die, however before they do they produce baby plants from the crown which then have the ability to spawn their own fruit.
If you buy a pineapple from the local shops with the crown still on it, just simply cut this off with a bit of the pineapple and plant it in the ground or the pot and that's it.
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