What landscaping should I do with a small back yard?

Sharon Pardos
by Sharon Pardos
I have a small back yard with a nice patio. I want to plant some trees or bushes or something to look at from my nice patio. The back yard is so bare and has a wood fence around it. The pictures were taken from my patio at night.
  9 answers
  • Janet Janet on Mar 13, 2018

    I would plant some nice pernials native to your area and perhaps some nice hydrangea bushes as well

  • Annie's creations Annie's creations on Mar 13, 2018

    I would start with climbers to clothe your fence and particularly if you include scented climbers like honeysuckle, jasmine, clematis or ivies in layers or bamboo. These will also give privacy, scent and interest, when your sitting and enjoying your patio. You can add shrubs or palms afterwards. Good luck it's an exciting project.

  • Joy30150932 Joy30150932 on Mar 13, 2018

    Hydrangeas or Wiegala would look nice in the corner. Wiegala bloom all summer and fall while hydrangeas start in late July or early August. Hydrangeas can grow to a height of 6 feet or more while Wiegala grow a little shorter. You could do some annual plants in front to bring instant color.

  • Joanne lueke Joanne lueke on Mar 13, 2018

    Honeysuckle is very invasive, as is clematis, English ivy and especially bamboo. I made the mistake of planting honeysuckle along a fence and soon had a neighbor knocking on my door pleading with me to dig it up (which I did). Bamboo is even worse. You need to first figure out how much sun these areas will get and plan from there. I live in central Oklahoma and my house faces west and my front yard receives full sun and high temps all afternoon. Most bushes and plants need at least 6 hours of sun a day so plan in advance based on that criteria. Crepe Myrtle grows well here, and daylilies are one of my favorites. I also love Lantana. Do some research for your area and planting zone and go for it.

  • Geew Geew on Mar 13, 2018

    I don't advise "climbing" plants unless you plan on constantly maintaining them from taking over the fence and spreading.

    Hostas, Ferns & Caladiums make a nice border plant (not full sun).

    Full sun flowers: Tiger Lilies, Birds of Paradise, Iris' and the list goes on.

  • Geew Geew on Mar 13, 2018

    You have so many optiions, have fun with it!

  • Geew Geew on Mar 13, 2018

    One more thing, unless you have a huge field to plant bamboo in, they will spread like wildfire, and no way to control them. The only way to get rid of it, it to spend days upon days digging all the roots out to kill them.

  • Marnie King Marnie King on Mar 13, 2018

    My favorite bushes for small places and year around look are 1) Gold dust Aucuba (green with yellow dots on leaves like paint spatter). Leaves are 6-8" long, look like rhododendron in shape. Plant grows slowly to 6-10', in low water conditions, shade or sun, can be cut and rooted in water to make more plants, is not deciduous. 2) Red twig dogwood...it has flowers in spring, stays small, in winter has red brush-like branches that look nice in snow or gray day of winter. It comes dwarf size too, I think. If it is a sunny area: 3) Flaming Winged Euonymus which is a small tree, has a 2" smooth oval green leaf in summer, but in fall it blazes fire reddish pink (the more sun the brighter the red), is deciduous. As it grows, the older twigs develop "wing" ridges that are very interesting in the winter, twigs look great cut to use in arrangements. Have fun!

  • Shore grandmom Shore grandmom on Mar 13, 2018

    I think a small water feature with some of the bushes and flowers. It will also give you a peaceful sound to relax by. I like butterfly bushes that bloom all summer and I like evergreen shrubs. My go to annual are Vinca flowers (not the vine) and they grow really well on the coast of New Jersey. Go to your local nursery and ask for help in finding shrubs that grow well in your area.