Landscaping Around Your Outdoor Kitchen

Whether it consists of a simple grill and table, or an elaborate setup with a refrigerator, sink, lounge area and built-in countertops, your outdoor kitchen is a controlled environment where cooking and eating must take place. The landscaping around your outdoor kitchen should add beauty to the space without encroaching upon it. These landscaping ideas will help you keep your outdoor kitchen clean, beautiful and usable. 

Use Stone Pathways

Controlling mud and dirt in your outdoor kitchen is important for the continued functionality of the space. Stone pathways leading up to and away from your outdoor kitchen will limit the dirt that gets tracked onto the floor of your kitchen, which can help keep the space presentable and pleasant. 

Limit Presence of Vining Plants

Poorly chosen landscaping features can result in a lot of extra organic debris cluttering the space, making it difficult to keep clean and difficult to use. Vining plants are beautiful when they cling to outdoor walls and trellises, but they can also create a lot of extra organic debris. Keep vining plants away from your kitchen's countertops and eating areas. If you do choose to grow vining plants around your outdoor kitchen, speak with a representative from your landscaping service about having the vines regularly trimmed and the debris swept away. Avoid use of fast-growing and aggressive vining plants like morning glories and wisteria. Though beautiful, these plants will need constant pruning in order to be kept under control. 

Potted Plants Add Easy-to-Control Greenery

Use of potted plants around your outdoor kitchen will enhance the greenery of the space while keeping the organic debris at a minimum. Non-flowering plants with a limited number of large, broad leaves, like elephant ear plants, generally produce little waste if well cared for. Flowering plants are beautiful but wasted blossoms need to be cleaned up on a regular basis. 

Lights Make All the Difference

Landscaping lights like globe string lights and Chinese lanterns placed in and around your outdoor kitchen will keep the space usable day and night. Outdoor landscaping lights also add a feeling of warmth and serenity to your outdoor space, making it the kind of place where you'll want to sit, talk and eat for hours on end. 

Plant Trees or Shrubs for Privacy

Strategically planted trees and shrubs can add to the feeling of intimacy and privacy of your outdoor kitchen. Plant a row of privacy plants like cypress trees, holly shrubs or bamboo to add to the sense of personal space in your kitchen. 

For more landscaping ideas and advice, speak with your landscaper like one from Master Landscape.