Planting Ideas for Summer Decks

Want to transform your outdoor living space into a summer paradise? Discover these summer deck planting ideas to make your deck the ideal relaxing spot in hot weather.

If your deck has only a few lounge chairs and a table, it is time to consider a makeover. As summer comes, everyone wants to spend more time outside. Plants are one of the beautiful elements of designing a summer deck. You can increase your outdoor space's aesthetic appeal, comfort, and value by investing in the right deck planters that can tolerate hot temperatures. Excellent deck planting should be on your summer to-do list if you want a comfortable seating space in hot weather that beautifully blends into your backyard.

8 Best Summer Deck Planting Ideas

Planting on a deck requires careful consideration because it is often a high-traffic outdoor area with much sun exposure. Here are the wonderful deck planting ideas of 2024 to inspire your summer deck design.

1. Make a Statement with Stylish Metal Deck Planters

Planters are a wonderful way to enhance the value of your outdoor space. When filled with gorgeous plants and flowers, they provide beauty and bring life to an area. Combining different sizes, shapes, and colors of planters allows you to create a unique look that will impress everyone. Metal planters and raised beds are durable and provide a modern touch to the deck. Fill these beds with a mixture of annuals and perennials to form a bold display throughout the summer.

Choose planters that match the color of your deck boards. Whether you're looking for something vibrant or simple and elegant, DripWorks has a perfect collection of stylish metal planters in multiple sizes to suit your deck needs.

2.Edge the Deck with Flowers

Create a bed at the edge of the deck to plant flowers in the foreground and enjoy the view across the yard. Plant scented blooms to benefit from both the color and shape of the deck planting. Create small beds in the deck's structure to create living borders in bright colors. You can choose a single flower or plant different-colored plants for a charming look.

3. Choose the Patio Plants that Match the Landscape

Choose the plants for your deck that match the landscape and align with your region's hardiness zone because some plants need shade, some are drought-resistant, while others grow well in direct sunlight. Tree ferns are the best planting options for summer decks due to their thick trunk and wonderful spreading fronds. Build a bed of patio plants around it or place it alongside. You can plant many trees and shrubs to add coziness to the area.

Tree ferns grow slowly, so opt for plants whose height suits the deck design unless you want to wait years for them to create an eye-catching display in your deck garden. Some other beautiful patio plants include croton, caladium, coleus, herbs, and succulents.

4. Use Grass Around the Edges of the Deck

Decks are naturally hard surfaces with hard edges. Line the deck with fountain grass to turn your deck into an enchanting outdoor space. Fountain grass is deer-resistant and grows best in full sun. Once established, it is also drought tolerant. Grass will soften the edges of the patio and surrounding architecture. Moreover, ornamental grasses look dreamy alongside a raised deck. Use deep planters filled with tall grasses to filter the wind and provide a sense of enclosure when sitting.

5. Grow a Living Wall

If you have limited space and can't build raised beds or even put containers, growing a living wall is a great deck planting idea. A plant wall is a vertical garden growing on a wall or fence. This is a fantastic method to transform a boring, empty wall into the focal point of your outdoor area without intruding on the deck. You can choose annuals, perennials, or herbs for the living wall design.

Use wall-mounted or floor-standing planters for a living wall. The former allows plants to cascade down, while the latter allows plants to grow upwards. Both methods are best for growing plants vertically. Choose compact plants that won't be stressed out if you prune them often to keep the wall in shape.

6. Bring Color to Your Deck Garden

Containers and pots filled with colorful flowers are a lovely planting idea for a summer deck and an excellent way to bring color to the outdoors. Choose flowers that complement your house, outdoor furniture, and deck. Choose flowers like orange marigolds, sunflowers, Lara star shine, and red verbena for a vibrant color palette. For a more subdued look, plant flowers with cooler colors like blue salvia, lavender, white bacopa, pelargonium, and licorice plants.

7. Attach Planter Boxes with Trellis

This is an excellent deck planting idea for a location where you want to create a privacy screen and let in breeze and light. Privacy screens can make a secluded space on a deck. Adorn the trellis with climbing plants or flowery vines. Attach trellises to the planter boxes and place deck planters along the area you want to screen.

The lush foliage, flowers, and plants will add a natural screen, making the outdoor space feel private and protected from the outside. Adorned trellises create an enchanted ambiance in your deck, shielding the area from prying eyes and enhancing its appeal.

Related Post: Choosing Trellises for Climbing Plants: Top Tips for Every Gardener

8. Group Multiple Containers for Big Effect

One small container can feel a little lonely on a deck. Instead, plant multiple containers of different sizes to add a stunning pop of color to your patio. Plant attractive, easy-to-care annuals like bacopa, lantana, hibiscus, and petunias. These annuals offer lush green foliage and beautiful flowers all summer long. Group small, medium, and tall containers to create a visually appealing focal point for your summer deck. The pots and containers filled with brilliant flowers draw lines, highlight steps and layers, create groups, and add vital splashes of bold color to your garden.

The Bottom Line

Creating a pleasant seating or dining space will allow you to enjoy the outdoors and host gatherings in the summer. With these deck planting ideas for summer, you can provide a welcoming first impression and create an outdoor space you will love spending time in. A deck or patio is everyone's favorite spot to spend time with friends and family, so why not surround it with many cool plants and beautiful blooms? A little landscaping can make your space more pleasant to relax and entertain. So, try out these ideas, transform your outdoor space, and enjoy the beauty of summer from the comfort of your deck.

Lastly, use a water-efficient drip irrigation system to irrigate your deck plants. DripWorks offers three sizes of complete deck garden irrigation kits to bring drip irrigation to your deck. Each kit includes a 1/4 soaker dripline to irrigate large containers and Pot Dripper emitters in small containers. Our deck garden kits and raised bed kits are designed for containers of all sizes, deck planters, raised garden beds, and window boxes. Explore our drip irrigation kits collection and choose the size that meets your deck garden needs!