7. Recognize your personal limits
Boundary walls, fences, and hedges might be the largest feature in a tiny garden, thus their appearance matters a lot. While they don’t have to be identical, make an effort to create visual connections between them. For example, you may plant climbers in complementary colors up the same sort of fence. If you can’t alter the fences, consider giving them a coat of whitewash or covering them with trellis or battens. Before doing any work, confirm with your neighbors whose fence it is and get their permission.
The materials you choose are also crucial. Timber stakes, for instance, don’t only have to be used for securing a garden from the neighbors. When strategically placed in a garden, they may be utilized to accentuate borders or pathways, frame sitting areas or plants, and create visual appeal.
The NHS 70 Garden for Addenbrooke’s Hospital, designed by garden landscape business Bowles & Wyer, is an example of a highly creative use. Reclaimed wood posts were positioned at various heights and angles to frame the vista along the meandering route in its center, revealing new facets to guests as they go through.
8. Zoning and screening
Additionally, consider screening off certain sections of your garden to create distinct “rooms.” Use plants to introduce hard landscaping, such as fences or pergolas. Tall bamboo or sturdy rose plants are a great choice, according to Garden Trading CEO Jon Holloway. As an alternative, arrange a row of potted trees.
Although this is an excellent concept for all shapes and sizes of gardens, zone some portions of your garden if you are short on space. “There’s no denying that the garden expands the kitchen and living area,” remarks Vicky Angell, John Lewis & Partners’ buyer for outdoor living. “We’re looking to the outdoors for space to entertain and relax, in part because our homes are, on average, smaller than ever.”
9. Adorn the sixth space
Consider how you might use cozy garden décor and plush furniture to transform your outside area into a tranquil haven. Basically, you want to create the illusion that you are in an outdoor living room, so keep that in mind while you are shopping for accessories and décor.
For an appealing and cozy look, you might, for instance, invest in an outdoor rug (Cuckooland has a nice range of Fab Hab rugs made from recycled plastic) and pair it with lanterns, outdoor cushions, and chunky knit blankets. Invest in a waterproof speaker, use a garden mirror to reflect light around your selected area, use citronella candles to ward off insects, use a patio heater to stay warm at night, and, last but not least, scatter tiny potted plants over the area in a similar manner to how you would with houseplants.
10. Work your decorations in
Nestle garden decorations in with the planting; this is the most crucial guideline to follow. Select carefully since an ornament or water feature that is placed in the middle of an empty area is unlikely to look nice, even if it is fantastic for wildlife. When it comes time to sell, keep in mind that anything too large may overtake the space and seem lost if it is too little. The latter has also been known to lower the value of your house.
If you want the sound of trickling water trickling through your garden but aren’t interested in installing a fountain, consider a simple stone trough with a water spout, such to the one that’s part of Butter Wakefield’s Ribbon Wheel landscape (below). The ancient trough’s design has wall panels suspended above it, as well as antiquated mirrors that reflect the garden beyond and a dark gray paint job that contrasts with the green foliage around it.
11. Construct a garden room
Planning approval is typically not needed for a garden room, which is a terrific way to make the most of and expand your space—whether you want it for a home office or a yoga studio. Whether it’s a sizable shed or summerhouse, it may be the ideal location for hosting visitors in the summer and serve as extra lodging as well. Consider methods to transform your backyard into something more than a space for dining, entertaining, and sunbathing.
12. Living partitions
Living walls are a terrific way to embrace vertical plants and maximize drama in your outdoor area. They are becoming more and more common in garden designs. As with a border, you can place a living wall anyplace as long as you pick the appropriate plants for that area of the garden. Look around to discover the green wall kit or living wall planter that best fits your area; they are widely accessible.
For filling up big areas of wall, you may also invest in high impact living wall systems, which range in price depending on how sophisticated you want it to be.
This London office building’s roof and basement gardens include hydroponic walls designed by John Davies. A combination of perennials and shrubs bearing flowers, like fuschia and buddleia, enhances the evergreen planting structure and adds seasonal color for a year-round impression.
Alternatively, a terrific approach to create an immediate living wall is to use your garden walls for planting, either in pots or with a trellis. Including wall shrubs and climbing plants like wisteria, clematis, roses, or honeysuckle will give your outdoor area a vertical character.
13. Remember to bring the lights.
In relation to lighting, don’t undervalue the significance of establishing ambiance in your garden. The same techniques that you use to layer up interior lighting may also be used to layer up outdoor lighting. Lights4Fun offers an extensive selection of sources, such as fairy lights, festoon lights, wall lights, freestanding lamps, ground lights, and so forth. According to Jon Holloway, “having a fire pit and outdoor lighting allows you to use your space even after the sun sets or when the weather isn’t exactly as planned.”
The lights you pick will add character, ambiance, and mood to your space—whether it’s fairy lights or lanterns scattered along a garden walk (Lights4Fun has a wonderful choice); they are vital for eating outdoors well into the evening.
14. Compact space options
The secret is to plant vertically. Utilize walls and fences by growing vertically to maximize the available area and purchase hanging baskets, which work well in front gardens as well. Make the move to gravel pavement; it’s much less expensive. The most crucial thing to keep in mind is that having a tiny garden doesn’t mean you can’t make the most of it and enjoy it. Buy a deck chair for convenient, immediate sitting and a garden bistro set for style and utility. There are some fantastic, space-saving, folding or stackable table and chair sets that are ideal for small areas.
15. A backyard garden with family
Use your landscaping skills to your advantage and create a family landscape that suits everyone. Adolfo Harrison, for instance, designed a secret playground in an east London garden by incorporating play features into the overall layout so that kids and adults could enjoy the area.
The children can jump from one boulder stepping stone to the next along the length of the garden, monkey bars form a pergola to which swings and slides can be attached, and two moon benches offer a comfortable spot to sit inside a living wall that forms a playful face. A ‘ceiling’ formed by the canopy of long-stemmed bamboos focuses attention inside the area and creates a more intimate feeling; mirrors are employed to make the space appear larger.
Children like playing outside in the garden, but it’s important to zone an area since play equipment may take up a lot of space in small family gardens, leaving little room for other activities. Installing a slide or playhouse would need a large yard, but for smaller areas, sand tables or mud kitchen play sets in a corner can work well and keep youngsters occupied for hours.
16. Remember wildlife
Always keep animals in mind while designing a garden. For instance, grow plants that are beneficial to bees, talk to your neighbors about establishing a hedgehog highway, and purchase bird feeders to hang from tree branches or fences as ways to support bees. Pollinator-friendly flora, compost heaps, wood piles, bee motels, and wildlife ponds will all continue to gain appeal.
