Courtyards serve many functional purposes including cooking, sleeping, and being a place to keep animals. Today, the space has evolved from that and turned into a place primarily for relaxing and experiencing a bit of the outdoor world.
One of the most popular elements of a courtyard design is plants. If you’re looking for small courtyard design inspiration, look no further. Here are 4 plants to include in your courtyard design.
Japanese aralia (Fatsia japonica)
This is a tropical plant that makes an excellent addition to a small courtyard design. The trademark of this plant is that it has a huge leaf that’s almost a foot long. It has a white flower that blooms in the fall. It makes for the perfect neutral plant amongst colorful flowers.
Flame Vine (Pyrostegia venusta)
All courtyard designs need a boundary wall. Adding a creeper plant to this wall will help make it less ‘building’ and more ‘outdoorsy’. The flame vine is a flamboyant way to decorate the boundary wall. It has bright orange flowers that grow in clusters. It needs at least partial sun and is highly drought resistant.
Forest Pansy (Cercis canadensis)
Forest Pansy is an ornamental tree that is very low maintenance. It has distinct purple leaves which change to red-orange in the fall season. It is a flower-bearing tree with pink blossoms that bloom before spring. It is an adaptable tree that you can grow in a large container. It can be included as part of your courtyard architecture if the space is fairly big.
Yuletide Camellia (Camellia sasanqua)
This is the most common plant that is included in every courtyard design. It blooms red flowers in the winter season. Yuletides are compact plants that can be included in a small interior courtyard design. Since it doesn’t need full sunlight, the plant can thrive in semi-shade as well.
Courtyards give designers a wonderful opportunity to extend the interior space into the outside. Homes with enclosed courtyards have been popular throughout history all over the world. Courtyards add more than just an aesthetic space to your homes. All you need is one of these live plants to elevate the vibe of your courtyard.
