Backyard porch design tips with beautiful flowers and plants that keep bugs away. Create your dream oasis for summer without the bites!
Creating a comfortable, bug-free porch can turn your outdoor space into a haven for relaxation and enjoyment. Here are some practical and decorative ideas to help you achieve just that..
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Backyard Porch Ideas for Summer
One of the best things about summer is spending more time outside. With our new home and outdoor living spaces, we are outside ALL THE TIME.
In fact, we never spent this much time outside at our former home. I mean, we had a lot of great outdoor living spaces there too, but there are more covered spaces here like the front and backyard porch.
So it was important to us to make them feel comfortable, cozy, and welcoming. We’ve spent some time on the front porch here on the blog; so today, I’m sharing some decorating ideas for your backyard porch that include my outdoor planter ideas that keeps bugs away. Learn how to create a beautiful and cozy outdoor living space with these simple tips.
Cleaning and Preparing the Porch
Before decorating, start by thoroughly cleaning your porch. Sweep away dirt and debris, wash the furniture, and clean any windows or railings.
Arranging comfortable outdoor furniture is key to creating a welcoming space. Choose pieces that are weather-resistant and easy to maintain. Adding cushions and throw pillows can enhance comfort and style while creating a cozy aesthetic. In essence, decorate it like you would any other room inside the home. Anchor outdoor living spaces with an outdoor area rug.
Adding Seasonal Decor
Seasonal decor can keep your porch looking fresh and inviting throughout the year. In spring and summer, use vibrant colors and light fabrics. In fall, switch to warm tones and heavier materials. Rugs, throw pillows, and other decor items can easily be swapped to reflect the season.
Lighting for Ambiance
Proper lighting is essential for creating a cozy atmosphere, especially in the evenings. Consider using string lights, lanterns, or fairy lights to add a warm glow to your porch. Solar-powered lights are an eco-friendly option that can be placed around the perimeter or in planters for added charm.
Add Plants and Flowers
But most importantly, add plants and flowers to breathe life into your outdoor living spaces. Even if the backyard porch is covered, pot up some pretty container gardens with annual or perennial flowers.
Summer houseplants outdoors but keep them out of direct sunlight so the leaves don’t scorch. Whether you are a gardener or not, just adding one or two potted plants will liven up your outdoor living spaces.
Did you know that you can also pot up plants and flowers to keep the bugs away?
Using Planters to Repel Bugs
Planters not only add beauty to your porch but can also help keep bugs away. Here’s how to create effective bug-repelling planters:
- Choose Your Plants: Select plants known for their insect-repelling properties.
- Planting Tips: Ensure each plant has enough space plus the right light and soil conditions.
- Placement: Arrange planters around seating areas and entry points to maximize their effectiveness.
Benefits of Bug-Repelling Plants
Before I share my backyard porch container gardens, here is a list of plants that keep bugs away. (The list is in no particular order.)
Plant these mosquito-repelling plants around outdoor living spaces to keep bugs away.
- Lemongrass: This plant is a natural mosquito repellent. It’s easy to grow in planters and adds a refreshing scent to your porch.
- Lavender: Lavender repels mosquitoes and flies, offering beautiful purple flowers and a relaxing aroma. I love how it makes my porch feel like a serene retreat.
- Mint: Mint deters mosquitoes, flies, and ants. It’s also great for culinary uses. Be sure to plant it in containers to prevent it from spreading.
- Marigold: These bright flowers deter mosquitoes and aphids. Their vibrant colors add a cheerful touch to any porch.
- Rosemary: Rosemary repels mosquitoes and is a flavorful herb for cooking. Its attractive foliage is a bonus.
- Nepeta (Catnip): Highly effective against mosquitoes, catnip is also a favorite of cats. Its pretty flowers add a touch of whimsy.
- Lemon Balm: This plant repels mosquitoes and has a pleasant lemon scent. It’s also useful in teas and remedies.
- Basil: Basil deters mosquitoes and flies. It’s easy to grow and perfect for adding fresh flavor to your dishes.
- Sage: Sage repels mosquitoes and has aromatic leaves. It’s a versatile herb for culinary and medicinal uses.
- Scented Geraniums: These plants repel mosquitoes with their fragrant leaves and colorful flowers.
For more plants that repel bugs, read my post here.
How to Create My Backyard Porch Planter that Repels Mosquitos
I started creating porch planters for my outdoor spaces to help keep the bugs away a few years and let me tell you about my experience.
Some plants work better than others. But there’s one plant that I think works THE BEST out of the whole list. And I’m sharing how I incorporated this plant in my backyard porch containers this summer to keep the bugs away.
Depending on the location of your outdoor living space, you may or may not have room to plant mosquito-repelling plants in the ground. If you lack garden space, simply pot them up as I did for the back porch.
As an aside, I prefer using larger planters to smaller ones because they don’t dry out as easily and you can fit more plants in them.
Quick Tip: keep larger planters on the lighter side so they can be moved around if you want to use them in a different location.
Essential Supplies for Planting a Bug-Repellent Garden
Much like planting any other container garden, you’ll need a few supplies to design the planters. While you can choose whatever plants you want, make sure you include a few plants from the list above.
- plants
- container or outdoor planter (unless planting direct in the ground)
- potting soil or garden soil if planting direct in the ground
- gloves
- garden tools
- plant food
- shovel or cup
List of Plants Used in My Backyard Planters
While I designed a few planters, I used mostly the same plants in each one but grouped them differently. You can create a deconstructed look with one type of plant per container, or you can use the thriller, filler, and spiller method of design to group several in one planter.
This season, I gravitated to lots of pretty pink hues, so here’s what I used in my backyard porch planters.
- Petunias ‘bubblegum pink’ and ‘limoncello’
- Colocasia – Elephant Ears
- Bacopa
- Geraniums
- Coleus (several varieties)
- Calibrachoa
- Lemongrass
- Mandevilla Vine
How to Plant a Garden that Repels Bugs: Step-By-Step Directions
Now that we have a list of plants that help repel mosquitos, let’s design our mosquito repellent garden.
Determine the Location
Does the area receive full sun, part sun, or shade? It’s important to understand your light conditions so you choose the right plants.
Because my backyard porch is smaller, I planted mosquito repellent gardens in containers that will be light enough to move around so I can move them closer to the seating area.
So in general, I maintain them near the zen garden’s stone wall where they receive partial sunlight.
Pro-Tip: If you want to grow flowers that need more sun than you get under a covered porch, you can plant sun-loving flowers. However, you’ll need to be proactive about pulling them out so they receive enough sunlight to thrive.
Choosing the Right Plants
When selecting plants for a bug repellent garden, consider the light and water requirements of your porch. For sunny areas, choose sun-loving plants like rosemary and marigold. In shaded spots, opt for plants like mint and lemon balm. Ensuring the right conditions will help your plants thrive and maximize their bug-repelling abilities.
When planting a garden in containers, I consider the colors I want to decorate with. Am I feeling pink and purple hues? Or maybe bright sunny yellows? Maybe I’m hosting a patriotic dinner party, so I’ll gravitate to plants with reds, whites, and blue hues. At any rate, choose your color palette and seek plants that pair with the aesthetic.
Once the location is determined, it’s time to shop for plants. If planting different plants together in the same container, make sure that they each have the same or similar light conditions as well as water conditions.
Don’t make the mistake of buying plants just because you love the look. That’s a surefire way to a garden fail. So trust me when I say, read the plant tags.
Having an understanding of light and water conditions will help you take better care of your plants after the container garden is finished.
How to Design a Bug Repellent Garden
While shopping around the garden nursery, I like to group potential plants together to see how they look together. Are they aesthetically pleasing? Look at foliage, blooms, plant size, and the overall plant habit.
Keep in mind that not every plant in your garden has to be a mosquito repelling plant, but you’ll want to have at least a few so it helps protect your outdoor living space. So don’t box yourself in with that short list of plants – you can mix and match to get the right look that works for your aesthetic AND repels bugs.
Design Tips: If you are designing a container garden, consider using the thriller, filler, and spiller method of planter design. If planting directly in the ground, work in layers and groups of odd numbers.
How to Plant a Container Garden that Repels Mosquitos
- Gather supplies.
- Add potting soil to the container with a hand trowel so the plants have some soil to sit in.
- Check the planting depth by adding your plants while still in their plastic nursery pots. You want the soil line to match up with about an inch down from the top of the container. If more soil is needed to get the right depth, add more.
- Before planting, arrange plants using the thriller, filler and spiller method.
- Remove plants from plastic pots and fan out the roots before setting them in the container. This encourages the roots to grow out into the potting soil.
- Backfill with potting soil, tamping it down as you go to remove the air pockets.
- Add a slow-release fertilizer to the container, water, and enjoy!
How Close Should Mosquito Repellent Plants Be to an Outdoor Living Space?
If you want to ensure bugs are not an issue, plant mosquito-repellent plants in close proximity to where you’ll be hanging outdoors.
That said, I have a few planters potted up with my lemongrass out in the zen garden and we have not had a bug problem on the back porch AT ALL!
And I can say that because bugs are pretty active up in the backyard garden as well as just outside our beautiful green garden fence that leads to the formal garden. Before potting these planters up, we had lots of gnats and mosquitos, but not anymore!
My Top Bug Repelling Plant
You’d be surprised to know that I only featured one plant from the mosquito repellent list above. And it works SO WELL that only one is needed.
Can you guess what plant I featured this season? Lemongrass. And let me tell you…this one worked the best out of any other plant I’ve used.
Lemongrass plant is a lemon-scented herb that helps repel mosquitos and other bugs. The leaves and oils are commonly used in food, beverages, and medicines.
Because the lemongrass plant has a grassy appearance, I made that the feature (or thriller) plant in my container gardens near the back porch.
Additional Tips for a Bug-Free Porch
- Using Fans: Placing fans around your seating area can help keep bugs at bay. The breeze makes it difficult for insects to fly.
- Maintaining Cleanliness: Regularly clean your porch and planters to prevent bug infestations. Remove standing water and dead plant material.
- Personal Experiences: I’ve found that a combination of fans and bug-repelling plants works best. Keeping the porch clean also makes a significant difference.
Final Thoughts About Decorating Your Backyard Porch and Planting a Bug Repellent Garden
Creating a well-decorated, bug-free porch is achievable with the right plants and decor. Not only will your porch look beautiful, but it will also be a more enjoyable place to relax. Try these ideas and share your experiences. Your porch can become your favorite spot for unwinding and entertaining.
I hope this post inspires you to create a cozy, inviting, and bug-free porch that you’ll love spending time on. Thanks so much for hanging out with me today! If you make these planters, let me know how they work for you.
Have you ever planted mosquito-repelling plants before to keep them away from your outdoor living spaces? What worked best for you? Did you think it helped keep them at bay? I would love to know more in the comments below.
For more information about repelling bugs with plants, read this article from the Iowa State University Extension Service.
To drill down on more beginner gardening techniques and tips, please read these posts:
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear! And feel free to share this post with anyone you think would find it helpful too.
Thank you so much for following along.
Enjoy a beautiful day! xo
A backyard porch is an outdoor living space that is an extension of the home’s interior. It’s a great spot to relax and enjoy the soothing sounds of nature.
Do you have one?
We do now that we moved and it is so enjoyable to hang outside.
At our former home, we enjoyed a multi-tiered deck that we loved. But we didn’t use it year-round because it was not covered.
We had a gazebo that we added, but it did not stay up year round, so we used it more May through October.
But here at the new house?
We are loving both the front and backyard porch because we have used them year round since move in day. It’s been awesome!
I bought some cozy outdoor furniture so we could linger and have been slowly decorating each space.
Are you looking for ways to use your porch more this summer?
