The 10 best expert-approved plants to cool an al fresco seating area naturally this summer
When selecting the best hot-weather plants to cool your outdoor seating areas, look for generous foliage, height, and dense growth
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When it comes to creating a cooler outdoor seating area, you do not need to rely on parasols or shaded canopies alone. Plants can be an incredibly useful way to reduce heat, filter sunlight, and create the most beautiful oasis that feels more comfortable in summer’s warmth.
When selecting the best hot-weather plants to cool your outdoor seating areas, look for generous foliage, height, and dense growth. Leaves with a large surface area can help to provide shade, whilst climbing plants can reduce the amount of direct sunlight hitting you and your garden furniture. Certain trees and shrubs are also brilliant at improving humidity levels.
If you have a palatial patio or a compact terrace that could use some strategic additions to help make your area more welcoming, these plants are our favourites for creating shelter and that much-needed shade.
The best plants to cool an outdoor seating area
1. Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris)
To create a woodland feel that has instant cooling effects, try an ostrich fern. Its tall, arching fronds unfurl into dramatic fountains of fresh green foliage, forming a soft canopy effect at ground level and bringing a sense of calm to shady seating areas. An ideal climate-resilient plant.
Ostrich ferns thrive in moist, humus-rich soil and partial shade, making it particularly useful for gardens where summer heat dries out exposed areas, whilst the dense clumps help create a cooler, sheltered environment for yourself and any visiting garden wildlife, whilst the texture looks especially beautiful contrasting against the hard landscaping such as stone paving and timber decking.
Growing up to 1.5m tall in ideal conditions, ostrich fern works beautifully planted around the edges of patios, beneath trees, or alongside pathways where its lush foliage can provide a verdant green backdrop.
2. Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
Virginia creeper is one of the most effective climbers for cooling walls, fences, and pergolas. Its vigorous growth creates a wonderfully dense curtain of foliage that shades surfaces from direct sunlight, helping reduce heat build-up on buildings and outdoor structures.
The large, five-lobed leaves provide really excellent coverage throughout summer before turning into the most breathtaking shades of red and orange in autumn. I would suggest this is a brilliant choice if you are searching for a climber to train over a pergola above a seating area (you could also interweave some solar fairy lights from Amazon for an additional sparkle, too!)
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Very fast-growing and incredibly adaptable, Virginia creeper tolerates a range of soils and positions, although it really performs best when it has moisture and room to spread. If privacy is one of your considerations, it’s able to quickly cover large areas, which will also help with shade, too.
3. Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)
Japanese maples are the perfect choice for bringing shade and year-round beauty to seating areas through their layered branches and delicate foliage, which create the most jaw-dropping dappled canopy. This really helps to filter light whilst still providing relief from strong sunshine in the summer months.
If you are looking for small garden ideas, compact varieties of Japanese Maple will really suit containers, or if you have a larger patio area, you can add it near seating areas for visual impact as well as shade.
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Japanese maples prefer shelter from harsh afternoon sun and thrive in rich, moisture-retentive soil. Positioning one near a bench or terrace will create a tranquil, woodland-inspired atmosphere.
4. Bamboo (Fargesia varieties)
Bamboo, notably clump-forming varieties, is fantastic for creating fast-growing screens that provide shade, privacy, and some lovely movement as well. Unlike invasive running bamboos, varieties such as Fargesia will produce dense stems and abundant foliage without taking over your garden.
This leafy growth and dramatic height are dreamy for shielding seating areas from that intense sunlight and also help with cooling and enclosing areas of your garden.
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You can grow bamboo in fertile, moisture-retentive soil, and be sure to water it regularly during these hot summer months, especially when grown in containers where water evaporates more quickly.
5. Tree Fern (Dicksonia antarctica)
If you’re aiming to create a tropical feel to your garden, a tree fern really is a must. They have the most gorgeous textured trunks, and their huge spreading fronds create the impression of a rainforest canopy, making them ideal for sheltered seating areas where you want maximum impact.
A note, they are slower growing, but an established tree fern will produce an impressive umbrella of foliage that provides shade and creates a naturally humid microclimate beneath its fronds, whilst also filtering light.
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Tree ferns prefer sheltered, shady positions with protection from drying winds and benefit from regular watering during the hot summers. Their intriguing and distinctive look makes a breathtaking feature plant for contemporary garden designs.
6. Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla and Hydrangea paniculata)
They may be famous for their spectacular large flower heads, but some of the best varieties of Hydrangeas are also excellent choices for lush planting around seating spaces. Their large leaves provide dense coverage, while their long-lasting flower heads add colour through summer and into autumn.
Mature plants create a rounded canopy effect, helping soften patios and terraces while providing valuable shade at the edge of seating areas. They are best planted in moisture-retentive soil and appreciate protection from intense afternoon sun.
You can combine hydrangeas with ferns, hostas, and woodland plants to create a layered, leafy planting scheme that will dazzle and cool down your garden area.
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This fabulous variety flowers on both new and old wood, which means a wonderfully long flowering period between June and October. It will suit an informal hedge and thrives in moderately fertile, moist, well-drained soil.
7. Hostas
With their large leaves, hostas are some of the most desirable foliage plants for creating a cool, shaded garden atmosphere, catching light, and creating a lush carpet beneath taller plants that create a canopy above.
What’s brilliant about hostas is that they are available in a wide range of sizes and colours, from miniature varieties to giant forms with leaves several feet wide, so you can find one to suit your garden landscape to soften paving, pepper in borders, or surround a seating area.
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Hostas typically prefer shade or partial shade and moisture-retentive soil, and their eye-catching foliage works particularly well alongside ferns, especially tree ferns.
8. Magnolia
I’ll confess, I look forward to the spring mainly for the delight of when my magnolia bursts into bloom. They provide both shade and seasonal interest. Their broad leaves create a generous canopy, helping to cool seating areas while offering structure throughout summer. Wondrous.
Compact varieties such as star magnolia are suitable for smaller gardens, while larger types can become impressive shade trees. Once the fleeting flowers die, the distinctive foliage will take over as the main feature.
You can plant magnolias in a sheltered position with fertile, slightly acidic soil for the best results.
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If you have a small garden space, this is the ideal magnolia for you. The flowers often appear early, before the leaves, and eventually cover the shrub for several weeks, which is very welcome for the often fleeting magnolia.
9. Grape Vine (Vitis vinifera)
Grape vines are a productive way of keeping patios cool because you can also benefit from their delicious fruits. I have one that I harvest every year and use the grapes to make my own wine. The mature canopy of the vine blocks harsh overhead sun rays from hitting your patio furniture, flooring, and, of course, your guests. Through a process called transpiration, there is an evaporative cooling effect that occurs when leaves release moisture into the air, which naturally lowers the surrounding temperature.
Because grape vines are deciduous, they grow a thick leaf canopy to cool your space in the summer, but drop their leaves in the winter to let sunlight back through, so it really is excellent all-round. A grape vine is perfect for a pergola as its vines will quickly establish across the frame and provide useful shade.
Favoured for its dramatic foliage, Vitis vinifera ‘Purpurea’ is a vigorous deciduous climber that brings spectacular colour to walls, fences, and pergolas. Its beautiful, three- to five-lobed leaves emerge soft grey in spring before deepening to rich plum-purple and finally glowing dark purple when autumn arrives.
10. Dutchman’s pipe (Aristolochia macrophylla)
A vine like Dutchman’s pipe doesn’t actively cool the air in the way an air conditioner does, but it can make a seating area feel noticeably cooler through three clever mechanisms, the first being that it blocks solar radiation because its large leaves create a dense canopy that intercepts direct sunlight before it reaches people, furniture, and paving.
Evapotranspiration also helps because water vapour is released through its leaves, and when it evaporates, it absorbs heat.
Sitting under a leafy canopy means you’re surrounded by cooler leaves instead of hot paving, walls, or roofing materials that radiate heat back at you. This reduction in radiant heat can significantly improve thermal comfort even if the measured air temperature changes very little, making the striking Aristolochia macrophylla a brilliant choice.
If the heat really is getting you down and you need something to provide immediate relief, the Shark outdoor fan with outdoor misting action is a worthy investment for long summer days, so you can prolong your time outdoors comfortably.
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