Gardening in a small space can be challenging, but not impossible. With a few clever ideas to help maximise the space on offer, you can create a ‘small but perfectly formed’ outside living space. Boundary fences or walls are often in closer proximity to the home with a smaller property, but this can be turned to an advantage if you use them as a support for fragrant, colourful climbing plants.
Climbers
Honeysuckle, Clematis and climbing roses are all ideal for sunny or partially shaded sites. Choose plants with smaller leaves as they will give the impression of more depth.
Dark Background
Painting the wall or fence a dark colour, green or black may sound a bit drastic in a small area, but once it is covered with plants, the darker colour actually makes the fence disappear into the shadows and enhances the plants growing in front of it.
Go Upwards
Also consider using any vertical space for small wall containers and hanging baskets to bring some colour and interest to a blank wall. There are plants to give colour and interest for every season and you can also grow certain fruits and vegetables in hanging baskets too – strawberries and the smaller varieties of tomatoes are easy to grow and also easy to pick when ripe!
Divide the Garden
Long narrow gardens can be given a new lease of life with a few simple ideas to give the impression of a larger space. You can create individual rooms by adding fencing or trellis screens to split the garden into three. You may also wish to use an arch or gateway to walk through each section.
Three Sections
Choose what mood you would like in each of your separate garden rooms. For example you can make the top section a patio area for dining and barbequing, the mid-section a lawn area with planted borders for a touch of tranquillity, and the bottom section for growing organic fruit & veg. These are just examples. You may wish to have one section as a Japanese section, a herb garden or a rose garden. The room sets make more of your narrow space and really add interest by their diversity.
Keep it Simple
The key to making a small garden look good is to keep the design simple. Be minimal with plant choices by having several of the same type of plant rather than a host of different ones which can look cluttered. Consider a circular shaped lawn for a softer look and use paving materials which blend with the home or interior flooring colours to give a feeling of extending the indoors to outside.
Use Mirrors
The use of outdoor mirrors in small spaces helps to reflect back to you the beauty of your plants and flowers, giving the illusion that your space is bigger than it actually is and you have more flowers than you planted as long as you take care that the sun’s reflection doesn’t hit any of your plants. Small paving spaces must be light in colour and can incorporate an integrate design.
Great for small size but BIG impact
