Use these beautiful and functional tips to create a cooling patio to utilize this precious outdoor space even during the hottest summers.
6 Ways to Create a Cooling Patio in 2024
Updated on May 13, 2024
A comfortable outdoor space becomes the heart of the home during warm months when we can’t get enough of being outside. It’s the place we love to have our morning coffee and gather around in the evening to share a meal and stories of the day, as long as we’re not baking in the hot, summer sun.
Thankfully, you can use DIY techniques to create a cool patio space whether you have a flagstone surface or the latest cooling pavers. Ahead, learn from experts with decades of experience enduring hot summers to discover the best ways to make your patio a welcoming space despite the heat.
Cooling Patio Benefits
One of the greatest positive aspects of creating a cooling patio is having a usable space during the summer. If a patio is too hot when you need it the most, say, when entertaining company in the evening, it’s a waste of what could be a special area.
Tips to Cool a Patio
Avoid Facing West
Whenever possible, position your patio to the east or at some level of a north aspect to reduce the full onslaught of the evening sun.
Add Shade
Whether you’re using umbrellas, an awning or trees, add a source of shade on, or around, your patio to keep the space cool.
Keep Things Light
Dark objects, including patio furniture, absorb heat, but lighter objects tend to reflect the sunshine and minimize how hot they become, even when positioned in full sun. Keep this in mind and choose light-colored furniture for your patio.
Provide a Breeze
One of the easiest ways to keep a patio comfortable is to provide a breeze when Mother Nature doesn’t offer one herself. This might be in the form of ceiling fans or even upright models to keep the air moving.
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Choose the Right Trees to Shade the Sun
“For planting around patios, it is so important to clearly understand the desired shade and from what direction this will come,” says Don Eaton, founder of the premium tree and plant company Bower & Branch, which serves homeowners nationwide. “We can plant for morning shade and/or afternoon shade. I always plant for filtered shade beginning around noon and going deeper through the evening when I most enjoy my patio.”
Don recommends, “Japanese maples, non-weeping, are a great choice. Bloodgood Japanese maple is an easy one to grow and a reliable small tree that results in minimal mess,” adding, “I like to include small or slow-growing evergreens, like umbrella pine or Wells-special Hinoki cypress. I also very much like redbuds and dogwoods, which are two (types) of small flowering trees without a mess.”
What We Like About It: Not only do larger specimens provide shade to cool the space, like in this example showing a redbud variety from @BowerandBranch, but they’re so much more interesting than a solid wall or other surface. Adding trees with various leaf types and growing habits brings the space to life.
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Add Plants to Bring Down the Temperature
As much as trees and large shrubs help break up the summer sun, adding plants to the scene also helps keep the area cool.
Situated with full sun a good portion of the day, to reduce the heat radiating from the flagstone in one of my flagstone patio projects, wooly thyme extends onto the stone from spaces I intentionally left open to accommodate them, along with the grapes that grow up the pergola supports. The ancient Virginia creeper is incorporated into the space to provide additional shade. Even the pots are overflowing with geraniums and other summer flowers, bringing a cooling effect to the space.
While I opted for established and hardy plants for our Montana climate, the key to creating a similar effect requires you to use what grows the best in your area. In Ohio, Wisteria grows over my aunt’s pergola into a lush and elegant shade provider, and for Southern regions, Caroline jasmine or Bougainvillea combine beauty and functionality in the same regard.
What We Like About It: A stark, plain patio is a hot patio. Fill the space with plants that grow on the structure, as well as in moveable containers, to bring down the temperature and create a welcoming environment.
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Create Your Own Shade with a Pergola
Even if there are no trees near your patio, you can create your own shade by building a pergola. This might be a small, intimate space or a tall structure, such as the one featured in this photo of my friend’s cooling patio that offers an expansive design. Utilizing a pergola is an extension of your home, akin to an outdoor room during the summer, where comfortable seating is a desired addition to best relax in a cooler area.
What We Like About This: Bold and beautiful, this pergola is open and airy, with plenty of space for a couple of people to sit and enjoy the evening, or the staging area for a backyard party.
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Add an Awning
Adding an awning dramatically improves the comfort level of a pergola or even an open patio by increasing its cooling capacity, even on the hottest days.
“In Colorado, we are very sunny and it gets really hot,” shares Niki O’Brien of Custom Exteriors in Aurora, Colorado. With their back patio baking in the sun, they eventually installed a retractable awning that covers nearly the entire length of the space. She says their awning was simple to install and includes features such as automatically retracting when the wind, which is common in their area, becomes too strong. “It is the perfect fit. I can’t think of a better situation than what we have.”
Another option, particularly for a structure such as a pergola, is a shade cloth pulled over the area, such as the Toja Grid’s Shade Sail by @TojaGrid pictured above. Simple and non-electric, it reduces sun exposure throughout the season, providing a comfortable place to relax.
What We Like About This: During hot days, we naturally gravitate towards shade, and using some type of awning allows us to create our own cooler areas.
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Create Your Own Oasis With Water
In parts of the country where the summers are hot and dry, adding a water feature by the patio creates an oasis-like effect. Even though it doesn’t have the same measurable result as overhead misters, the inclusion of water, whether this is a circulating pond or cascading feature, makes the area feel calm and comfortable.
Jennifer Zuri, manager at Aquascape Inc. in St. Charles, IL, says, “The benefit, whether it’s on the waterfall or just waterfall or fountain is it provides a soothing sound of water in the garden, which is actually the number one reason why people get water features.”
What We Like About This: Having the pond wrap around the edge of this cooling patio landscaped by Aquascape Inc. creates a cool and cozy environment. Even on the hottest days, having water nearby makes the entire space feel less stark and hot.
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Add a Cool Mist to the Area
During particularly toasty days, there’s nothing better than a fine mist from an overhead misting system to bring down the ambient temperature. Even though the overhead misters surround the area, the goal is not to direct them toward the people enjoying the space; instead, the vaporized water cools the surrounding environment.
What we Like About This: Anyone who has walked through the fog knows its cooling nature, and installing overhead misters, like the The Patio Misting System featured above, brings this quality to any space. It doesn’t damper the fun by soaking guests; misters make the hottest days bearable.
About the Experts
Don Eaton is the founder of the landscaping and premium tree and plant company Bower & Branch, which helps homeowners choose the best trees and plants for their projects through professional online landscape design and his access to expert growers. Don’s unique model offers access to professional designers no matter where you live, and his vast network offers access to the largest trees and plants, fresh from the growers.
Jennifer Zuri is the marketing and former project manager at the water feature company Aquascape Inc. Over 20 years with the company, she’s helped countless customers discover the water features that bring life to their landscape.
Niki O’Brien, co-owner of Custom Exteriors who specializes in roofing and siding, is well-versed in how to reduce the intense heat they experience in their Colorado community.
