16 Restaurant Landscape Design Tips

Spring is in the air, and with it, thoughts of luscious gardens, warm summer night cocktails and maybe a band or two. Or, it’s the dead of winter, depending on when you’re reading this. But regardless, it’s never too early or late to start thinking about restaurant landscape design. Because the reality is it often takes many years of hard work and back-breaking labor to coax a garden into a thriving biosphere that catches customers like Venus fly traps. 

So whether you’ve just bought your first spade or it’s already got some dirt on it, here are a couple of restaurant landscape design tips to get your outdoor space pushing up daffodils instead of daisies. 

Before You Grab the Shovel 

It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of going to your local garden center and buying the flowers and outdoor furniture cushions that look the prettiest. But there’s more to restaurant landscape design than creating a coherent theme. 

You need to consider whether you want to turn tables quickly or for guests to come stay awhile, how much you’re willing to spend and other practical aspects like scalability and feasibility. With that in mind, here are some restaurant landscape design tips to consider before you start breaking ground:

• Tip 1: Consider brand, style and company voice – keeping your clientele in mind when deciding what plants, chairs, yard decorations and lighting will transform your outdoor patio space into the greener pastures that your customers will choose over your competition. 


• Tip 2: Sun exposure and shade – Planting more greenery helps keep temperatures at tolerable levels during peak seasons, especially in cities where the urban island heat effect is working against your dreams of being the next “It” spot of restaurant patio destinations. Unfortunately, you can’t just go around potting plants like a flower girl tossing petals at a wedding. Many plant varieties have their own sun, shade and watering requirements that you should carefully consider before planting.


• Tip 3: Budget – The goal is to marry your vision with the reality of your budget. Shoot for practicality, functionality and guest comfort over aesthetics. At the end of the day, your guests just want a serene place to rest their feet, fill their bellies and soak up the sunshine. 


• Tip 4: Space restrictions – Since plates are dollar signs waiting to ca-ching, it’s easy to get caught up in trying to seat as many guests as will fit in the tiny outdoor restaurant patio space. But if you’re waiters have to turn sideways and tuck in their bellies just to take orders, chances are your guests aren’t too comfortable either. Take into account your patio dimensions and how this could affect noise level, guest’s comfort and waiter maneuverability before submitting your order for outdoor patio furniture so that guests aren’t bumping elbows with other parties.

Restaurant Landscape Design Tips 

After you’ve taken the above points into consideration, it’s time to get into the nitty gritty of restaurant landscape design. What are you aiming for? Low budget and simple? Classy and romantic? Do you want a low-maintenance garden, or are you willing to work to create an upscale dining experience? Don’t lose sight of your vision when reading through the upcoming points:

• Tip 5: Walkways – You want to lead with your best foot forward on the walkway. But you also want to make your delectable food and 3-star dining experience accessible to everyone. Although stepping stones and gravel make a pleasing first impression, practically speaking, it’s not the smoothest journey to make in a wheelchair, and the loose gravel and slick stones could pose a slipping hazard. 


• Tip 6: Seating arrangements – Space on patios are notoriously tight. Long tables and benches or smaller tables with foldable chairs can help you fit in an extra plate or two without making your customers feel like they’re eating on a sardine farm. 


• Tip 7: Tables and chairs – Since tables and chairs will make up the bulk of your outdoor restaurant patio, size, material and color hold the potential to make or break our restaurant patio. Besides aesthetics, you should also take the weather into account. Is your area prone to thunderstorms and strong winds? Then you’ll maybe want to opt for sturdy, metal furniture. What about intense sun or humidity? Lighter colors reflect heat, while synthetic rattan can stand up to the elements.

• Tip 8: Lighting – Low voltage lighting at night can infuse any space with romantic, cozy and welcoming feels. Twinkly lights are a nice touch to string across walls and pergolas or wrap around trees. Line the walkways with lanterns to lure diners in off the street.


• Tip 9: Plants and trees – How much time are you willing to spend on seasonal maintenance? Some plant species need more than others. Groundcovers are great for discouraging weeds, and perennials regrow every spring. Remember that some of your customers will most assuredly be allergic to some of your insectile guests, so be sure to either spray for them or avoid planting flowers or trees that attract them.


• Tip 10: Yard decorations – Lighting and plants aren’t the only ways to attract the eye of passersby. Tasteful statues, stones, fountains, lawn ornaments and even windchimes could be the missing piece that ties everything together.

If you need more ideas on how to spruce up your outdoor restaurant patio, check out this article for industry-proven tips and tricks. 

Maintenance and Upkeep 

Unless you’re going for the homely, wild or untamed look, you’ll probably want to set up regular appointments with your local pest control and gardening services. Although you’ll have to front a little money on things like pest repellent and power washer rentals, preventative maintenance will save you from spending money fixing pest and rodent damage, cracks and fissures caused by overgrown roots and replacing untended plants. 

Not to mention, the pretty sights and alluring smells from a kept garden will attract customers to your establishment as pollen does to bees. Let’s review some more restaurant landscape design and maintenance tips that will keep your garden thriving in the off seasons and on: 

• Tip 11: Trimming and pruning – Throughout the growing season, be sure to trim the bushes and trees to keep them from infringing on walkways, seating areas and windows.


• Tip 12: Power washing – At the start and end of the outdoor eating season or just before and after you put out and take down the tables and chairs, you should power wash the cement. The high-pressure water will blast away any lichen or dirt that’s accumulated during the growing months, leaving your outdoor restaurant patio as white and pristine as the day the concrete was poured. 


• Tip 13: Pest control – Bugs like ants and flies are associated with poor hygiene practices, and although most people have an understanding that it can’t be helped in an outdoor setting, the outdoors does have a way of getting in. Pest control shouldn’t be left until the season turns warm, as eggs and larvae can survive for months after being laid. For continual and unabridged protection, you should spray around your restaurant at least once every three months. 


• Tip 14: Leaf removal – What goes up must come down, and unfortunately, the same rules apply to your garden. When the weather turns, make sure to collect the fallen debris to keep your patio area and walkways clear. This will also prevent leaf litter from snuffing out your slumbering plants during the winter.


• Tip 15: Fertilizing – To make the flowers, shrubs and trees pop with color, you can follow this fertilization guide so you don’t miss the growing window or accidentally overfeed your masterpiece. Demographics, types of plants, seasonal weather patterns and other factors all affect how often and how much to fertilize. 


• Tip 16: Weeding – Weeds certainly add more greenery to your garden, but these unwieldy and aggressive plants eventually choke out the beautiful groundcover you’ve so diligently tended. When you see them, pull them. Otherwise, you can take the initiative by spraying the intruders with a nonselective weed killer. Or, if you want to avoid chemical pesticides, go the route of companion planting.