null

Enhance Your Restaurant Patio with Low Maintenance Plants

Posted by Stephanie Hilliard on Sep 01, 2023

Enhance Your Restaurant Patio with Low Maintenance Plants

Want to make your restaurant’s patio more visually interesting and up your curb appeal? Plants are a great way to do it! Of course, bringing in plants shouldn’t be a burden, so these plants have to be low maintenance and resilient to make them worth your while. 

Check out these plant recommendations that will add some life to your outdoor space and make a big impact. 

Potted Plants 


Add a little green here and there with a potted plant. Using pots or smaller planters, it can be easier to include plant life in designated areas. Spider plants, elephant ears, ferns, and aloe plants can add the perfect amount of green without overtaking your patio. Each of these plants can grow to varying degrees of size, so it’s easy to find just the right scale for your space. You can even let your staff or customers get creative by hosting a “paint a pot” night and infuse your restaurant’s personality in the decor.  

Coverage Plants 

with white parasol outside in Lake Garda, Italian street

If you’re looking for something that will cover more surface area than just a few pots, you may want to check out cover plants like coleus plants, lily-of-the-valley, or lavender for your outdoor space. These plants can improve the landscaping in large planters or in the ground to become a border. Shop for coverage plants based on what sort of sun strength your patio has. For example, coleus and lily-of-the-valley should be in shadier parts of your outdoor space, while lavender needs the full sun to flourish. 

Edible Plants 

Selection of fresh culinary herbs in a old wooden box

Greenery that doubles as ingredients? Give it a go! Lots of restaurants have used some available real estate on their patio to create their own herb gardens. This doesn’t have to super elaborate and can add the perfect amount of green to your space. Herbs like parsley, oregano, basil, and chives are just a few examples of easy to grow plants that not only look great, you can use them in your kitchen too. How cool would it be in your menu descriptions if these fresh ingredients were grown in your outdoor area! 

Flowers 

flower pot with magenta flowers hang on the street

Greenery can certainly put some life in your outdoor space, but why not add some color as well! Beautiful petunias, begonias, geraniums, pansies, and chrysanthemums come in all sorts of colors to liven up your patio and can be kept in baskets, pots, or planted in the ground. These flowers don’t require a lot of maintenance just be sure to keep them watered so the blooms keep coming!  

Plastic Plants 

An empty outdoor restaurant during covid outbreak. Restaurants started serving meals outdoors due to pandemic dining rules.

We said low maintenance, but that doesn’t necessarily mean real. Fake plants can be an easy way to add the green you need, without any work, especially if you have your eye on plants that won’t flourish in your climate. You don’t want to spend an exorbitant amount of money on plants that aren’t going to make it, so it may be easier to combine real and fake or go completely faux in your outdoor space. Plants like boxwood, orchids, or palms can add the green or floral look you want, but it may be more worth your while to keep them fake. There are so many good plant dupes out there that can enhance your patio space just as well as real plants. 
 

Enhancing your restaurant’s patio with plants and increasing curb appeal has the potential to draw in more customers, allowing them to enjoy their meal in a beautiful space. As long as the plants you’re investing in are low maintenance, they’ll be perfect for adding some life to your outdoor space!  

Do you have hardy plants on your restaurant patio? Let us know which ones below! 

Inspiration Preview