How to Get the Most Out of Smaller Gardens

Small terraced garden

One of the most frequent comments we hear from people is that because their garden is tiny, they can’t do much with it. Almost that it’s not worth doing anything with, and we love to show them just what can be done with our smaller gardens. A small garden isn’t a problem – it’s an opportunity to get creative in a different way and one we love. The transformation you can achieve is fantastic, and it’s always great for us to see how surprised our customers are at what can be achieved with a little creativity.

It all begins with a little exploration – looking at how our customers use their outdoor space. If you have a smaller garden, some great questions to start with are…

  • What do you need from your garden?
  • When do you use it most?
  • What type of garden would you have if space wasn’t an issue?

Once you have a clearer idea of these aspects, it gives great insight on how you’d enjoy the garden once you’ve created it with all of that in mind.

Create a Connection

A significant part of landscape design is the aesthetic – the overall result you want people to see when they are in the garden. A garden’s design and beauty are an invitation for you to enjoy it, and you’ll be amazed at how different your garden can look with a few perception-altering features.

Drawing the eye to certain parts of the garden, and playing with perspective can make even the tiniest of gardens irresistible. If people enjoy how a garden looks, they’ll want to use it more and that’s when they then enjoy it how it feels too.

Look at how you’ll use your garden and what would make you really enjoy being in it? This is where smaller gardens work beautifully – they have a more personal feel that you can really connect with and enjoy, which is much harder to achieve with more vast areas.

In the picture above, you can see a garden we transformed. It was actually an alley that served as a garden so we needed to keep the thoroughfare clear, whilst creating a space you’d happily stop and enjoy too instead of just walking through it.

Creating Additional Height

If the area you have is small, a fantastic way of adding appeal is to add interesting aspects into the garden to create additional height. In the garden above, we added mirrors to reflect light and give the impression of additional space. Because the mirrors were opposite the house which was white, that white reflection gave a more open feel so instantly added perceived space to the area.

As the alley was also their ‘garden’, we added artificial foliage to warm the space up and give it a less sterile feeling. Many people with small gardens want a low maintenance garden, so they opt for no plants, but this artificial wall ticks both of those boxes by giving a lovely natural feel whilst being maintenance-free.

Adding pleach trees or plants growing on trellises can also transform the smallest of spaces by bringing gorgeous foliage into the garden without taking up any valuable ground space.

Create Focal Points

With an empty small space, the eye is drawn to the ground which emphasises the limited ground area. Creating features that stand out in their own right, or work as part of a theme brings the walls and whole area into the garden experience.

If the walls surrounding the garden are used well like the garden above, you’ll hardly notice how small it is – the whole feel of the garden comes together really nicely so you barely notice that it’s a small space.

Make a feature out of practical solutions – in the image above you can see that adding wooden chunky seating that is part of the garden creates a contrast to the bricks surrounding it, whilst providing a permanent seating provision that people can enjoy.

Own a smaller garden and need to utilise the space as bets you can? We’re here to help. Call our design team today on 0116 210 0760.

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