Patio garden design and ideas
Patio garden design means planning the paving and the planting as one: a patio sized for the table and chairs you have, borders that soften its edges, and a path that ties it into the rest of the garden.
Design my garden
First 3 designs free · No card
Block paving round an oval lawn, edged with lavender, lady's mantle and clipped balls
Get this garden →Real patio garden ideas
Patio ideas from real gardens redesigned with the app, from a block paved backyard to a bare stone terrace below the steps. Tap Before to see how each started, or Get this garden to try the look on yours.
Paved backyard ideas
Patio design ideas in stone, brick and block paving, softened with borders, a small lawn or a rose arch. 8 gardens
Block paving round an oval lawn, edged with lavender, lady's mantle and clipped balls
Get this garden →
A new patio by a gable end, with a curving lawn and borders of salvias
Get this garden →
A stone patio with borders of delphiniums, and a lawn out to raised beds and a greenhouse
Get this garden →
Patio and small lawn with cottage borders
Get this garden →
Herringbone brick path and cottage borders
Get this garden →
Brick path under a rose arch
Get this garden →
A weedy brick patio planted round with birches, ferns and white flowers
Get this garden →Patio steps ideas
A bare stone patio below a flight of steps, softened with a border of hot colours along the fence, pots of orange and red flowers on the paving and an island bed round a bird bath. 1 garden
Paved steps with orange and red flowers
Get this garden →Gravel and paving ideas
Paving softened with gravel, lavender, silver plants and a small pond. 4 gardens
Lavender and gravel garden
Get this garden →
White gravel, pale slabs and a pergola
Get this garden →
Silver and blue gravel bed
Get this garden →
Raised beds, gravel and a small pond
Get this garden →Small patio and deck ideas
Small patios, decks and roof terraces, from a deck with a sofa to a shady courtyard. 5 gardens
Timber deck, outdoor sofa and an olive
Get this garden →
Roof terrace of pots, grasses and an acer
Get this garden →
Seen from upstairs: a long deck and a narrow pond leading to a garden room
Get this garden →
Shady side passage
Get this garden →
Small shady courtyard
Get this garden →How to design a patio garden
The few ideas behind the gardens above, and how to plan a patio garden of your own from them.
What makes a good patio garden
A patio garden is paving and planting planned together. The paving gives you somewhere level for a table, chairs and pots, and the planting stops it reading as a hard yard: a border along its edges, a bed breaking into it, flowers in pots on the stone. Good designs decide where you sit first, then plant around it.
Size, shape and where it goes
Measure the table and chairs you have, add room to pull the chairs out and walk round, and make the patio that size rather than paving the whole garden. Put it where the sun is when you sit out, which is not always next to the house. A curved edge softens a square plot; a straight one suits a modern house.
Planting round the edges
A border along at least one edge does most of the work: shrubs and taller flowers at the back, and low plants like catmint and hardy geraniums spilling onto the stone at the front. Creeping thyme and Mexican fleabane will grow in the joints between slabs, and lifting two or three slabs makes room for a small bed.
Pots, steps and small patios
Pots let you plant where there is no soil at all. Group three or five of different heights by the door or at the top of the steps, keeping the treads clear, and change the flowers with the seasons. On a small patio, one tree in a big pot and a border along the fence do more than lots of little pots.
See it on your own garden first
Garden Design App designs your garden from a photo. It reads a picture of your garden, keeps the house, the steps and the boundaries where they are, and redesigns the planting round your patio with plants you could genuinely grow.
From an idea to a plan you can plant
When one of the designs clicks, the Pro and Max plans turn it into a planting plan: every plant named, how big each grows and where each goes, with a month by month flowering calendar so the garden has something in flower from spring to autumn.
12 plants for a patio garden
Plants chosen to be seen close up from the table: for the edges, the joints between slabs, pots and the wall behind the seat.
- Lavender
- Catmint
- Hardy geraniums
- Lady's mantle
- Creeping thyme
- Mexican fleabane
- Agapanthus
- Japanese maple
- Olive tree
- Star jasmine
- Japanese forest grass
- Clipped evergreen balls
More patio garden ideas
A lawn gone brown between a wall and a fence becomes slabs floating in pebbles round a fire pit, in our paved garden ideas makeover.
A narrow strip of artificial grass under a spiral staircase becomes a curved path of herringbone paving through grasses and perennials.
A patchy lawn under a wisteria pergola gains deep borders for bees and a stone terrace beside the lawn, in our sandstone patio ideas makeover.
Patio garden design questions
How do I set up a patio garden?
Decide where you will sit, in the sun at the time you sit out, and size the patio for your table and chairs with room to walk round. Then plant along its edges, deepest where you see it from the house, and add pots by the door or the steps.
What are some creative ideas for a patio garden?
Break up the paving with a planted bed or a bird bath, let creeping thyme grow in the joints, group pots at the top of the steps, and run a border of tall flowers along the fence so the patio feels enclosed. A curved edge to the paving softens a square plot.
What plants are best for a patio?
Plants that look good close up for a long season: lavender and catmint along the edge, creeping thyme between the slabs, agapanthus and a Japanese maple in pots, star jasmine on the wall behind the seat, and clipped evergreen balls to keep the shape in winter.
Should a patio be next to the house?
Not always. Put it where the sun is when you sit out: in a north facing garden that is often at the far end. A path of paving or stepping stones then joins it to the house, and a small terrace by the back door can still hold a few pots.
Can I see a patio garden idea on my own garden?
Yes. Add a photo of your garden, choose a style, and see it redesigned in about a minute. Your house, steps and boundaries stay.
Are the plants real, and can I buy them?
Yes. With the Pro and Max plans every design names its plants: garden centre favourites and RHS Award of Garden Merit winners, chosen by a professional gardener, with how big each grows and where each goes.
Is it free?
Your first 3 designs are free, with no card needed. The Pro plan is £29 and the Max plan is £49, paid once, with nothing to cancel.
Can I try more than one patio garden idea?
Yes. Make different designs and compare them on your own garden. Your first 3 are free, and Pro, one payment of £29, gives you 20 designs over 14 days, two at a time, so you can see several looks side by side.
Why does my redesign look like high summer?
We show your garden at its peak, in full flower, so you can see how full it can look. It is an artist's impression: your real garden changes through the seasons. Every paid design comes with a flowering calendar, so you know what flowers each month, and evergreen shapes help it look good in winter.
Soften your patio with flowers.
Try any of these patio garden ideas on your own garden in about a minute. Your first 3 designs are free.
Design my garden