Courtyard Planting Lessons from a Hot Climate
Aguest article by Isaac Olson, Director of Nursery Near Me, an online plant nursery based in Queensland, Australia. https://nurserynearme.com.au
Small courtyards are the gardens we plant most. In south east Queensland a courtyard is often the whole garden: four walls, paving, a slice of sky and a summer that runs hot and dry for months. The plants that thrive there have taught us a few things that travel well to a small space in the UK, where the same walls that trap warmth in winter can turn a courtyard into an oven on an August afternoon.
Start with the light, not the plant list
A courtyard has at least three climates. The wall that faces the afternoon sun bakes, the wall opposite it may never see direct light, and the paving in between radiates heat long after sunset. Before buying anything, spend one sunny day noting where the sun falls at nine, at one and at five. The hot wall takes the sun lovers. The shaded wall takes ferns, hostas, hellebores and the woodland plants that would scorch elsewhere. The middle ground, in pots, can be moved as the season turns. Most courtyard failures are a shade plant on the hot wall, or the other way round.
Borrow the Mediterranean palette, lightly
The plants that cope best with reflected heat and dry pots are the ones that evolved for it: olive, bay, rosemary, lavender, cistus, santolina, salvias, thyme, euphorbia, the silver leaved artemisias and the grasses like stipa and pennisetum.
In a UK courtyard they bring a second gift, which is that they look right against stone, brick and render. The trick is restraint. A limited palette of five or six plants, repeated, reads as a designed space; one of everything reads as a nursery bench. We write about this in our small courtyard guide (https://nurserynearme.com.au/blogs/blog/small-courtyard-garden-ideas), and the rule holds at any latitude.
One tree, placed with care
Even a courtyard of four metres by five has room for one small tree, and it changes everything: shade on the paving, a ceiling of leaves, a sense of enclosure that walls alone never give. In hot climates it is usually an olive, a crepe myrtle or a small evergreen; in the UK a multi stemmed amelanchier, a crab apple, a Japanese maple in the shaded corner, or an olive in a large pot against the warm wall. Put it where it shades the seating in the afternoon, not where it blocks the only patch of sun in winter.
Olives in pots are the plant we sell most for this job (https://nurserynearme.com.au/collections/olive-trees), and the same care applies anywhere: a free draining mix, a pot at least sixty centimetres across, and a hard prune in spring to keep the head open.
Pots are the engine of a courtyard, so treat them well
In a space with little or no soil, pots do the work, and pots in a hot courtyard dry faster than any border. Three habits keep them alive. Use the biggest pot the space allows, because a large volume of mix stays cool and moist for days while a small one cooks by lunchtime. Mulch the surface with gravel or crushed stone, which cuts evaporation and looks finished. And group the pots, so they shade each other and you water in one place. Terracotta breathes and dries fastest; glazed and concrete pots hold water longer. A drip line on a tap timer, hidden behind the pots, is the single best investment a courtyard owner can make.
Choose paving and walls that work with the plants
Pale paving reflects light up into the planting and keeps the courtyard cooler; dark paving stores heat and gives it back at night, which suits a cold climate and punishes a hot one. A rendered or painted wall in a warm neutral makes green foliage glow; a white wall in a sunny courtyard glares. Where a wall is unavoidable and hot, a trellis with a climber a few centimetres off the surface shades the wall itself, and the air gap behind it keeps the climber's roots cooler. Star jasmine, trachelospermum, does this job in both climates.
Plan for the heat you did not expect
The lesson the last few summers have taught UK gardeners is one we already knew: the hot days come, and a courtyard magnifies them. Keep a length of shade cloth or an old sail to rig over the tenderest pots during a heatwave. Water deeply in the early morning rather than lightly in the evening. Hold off feeding until the heat breaks. And accept that a few plants will tell you they are in the wrong place; move them in autumn rather than fighting it.
A courtyard that follows its light, keeps to a small palette, holds one well placed tree and treats its pots as the main event will look good in both our climates. The plants differ at the margins. The principles are the same.
About the Author
Isaac Olson is the director of Nursery Near Me, an online plant nursery in Queensland, Australia. nurserynearme.com.au
Inspired to Create Your Own Courtyard Garden?
At Spiritual Gardens, we believe even the smallest outdoor spaces can become beautiful, inspiring places to relax and reconnect with nature.
From Mediterranean-inspired courtyards and statement olive trees to contemporary paving, feature planters and thoughtful planting schemes, we design and build gardens that reflect your lifestyle.
Working throughout Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and surrounding areas, we combine creative garden design with practical landscaping expertise.
Explore our garden design and landscaping services or discover our collection of beautiful garden planters and outdoor features to bring your courtyard ideas to life.
Comments