Big ideas for Small Gardens – Maximise Space

Small gardens need to be planned with even more care than large ones, you really need to think about how you want to use your small garden, taking note of where the sunlight falls to make good seating and plant choices.

Planning Your Small Garden

You also need to think carefully about which features you really need or want to include in your smaller garden. Having a small garden does not mean you can't have an amazing garden space. No matter how small your garden may be, there's plenty of room to exercise your imagination and make the most of every nook and cranny, turning all the negatives of having limited garden space into positives!

When space is at a premium you can try and use the garden height to make the most of your space, walls, fences, the side of the garage or extensions – it can all be used to draw the eye upwards to make your small garden area feel more spacious.

Using wall or fences to grow creeping or and trailing plants that can easily be grown for your high spaces, planting them in baskets, window boxes and wall mangers, will help decorate an otherwise pain wall or fence.

What Materials to Use in a Small Garden

Decorative garden stone helps make it easy to introduce focal points to your small garden. Adding a splash of colour to an otherwise grey looking concreate garden, they also offer drainage to plants that you keep in pots.

Decorative garden stones are perfect for helping blend in hard landscaping into planting areas and bringing in colours in to brighten your small garden.

Using smaller paving products you can create a distinctive and individual patio, even in the smallest spaces. You can also add rockery stones and planters, if space for flower beds is limited.

Even in a small garden you can introduce beautiful water features including fountains, pebble pools, waterfalls and wildlife ponds. Water features are great for encouraging wildlife into a smaller garden.

Create Hidden Spaces

Another design trick to make small spaces seem larger is to create hidden areas by dividing your garden into discrete areas, you can do this by using something like an arch or by carefully planting and clever use of paving and potted plants.

Using colour correctly can also make a space seem larger. Brightly coloured plants and features can make a garden appear bigger, hot colours will generally make a space feel cosier, whereas cool colours like purples and blues recede the field of vision so will make a small space feel larger.

Furniture in a Small Garden

You've put a lot of effort in to planting and making your small garden look great, so you'll want to sit outside more and enjoy the space you have created. Use folding furniture in smaller gardens is ideal, as you can fold them away when storing them.

Small garden storage boxes are ideal for keeping your furniture in and can even double up as seating areas for when you have guest over. If you can't find one that is the right size for your garden, you can contact a local carpenter to custom build one for you.

Smart garden storage solutions will help reduce cluttering and help you enjoy your garden with friends and family too. Then simply fold the chairs away when you are not using them.

You can also keep garden tools stored in your smart storage, similar to what you would keep in a small garden shed.

Adding Privacy to a Small Garden

If privacy is a problem in your garden, often a common problem with small gardens in the city where you have other people looking in on you from neighbouring buildings.

To provide some personal space, so you feel less looked over, you can install arches or pergolas with clematis, honeysuckle or climbing roses to create a beautiful and secluded seating area. You'll not get as much direct sunlight, but you will have a natural looking and shaded areas you will want to spend time in.  

Planting in Pots

Planting in pots or also known as container gardening is a great way to introduce small trees or flowering bedding plants in a small garden space. They are ideal, as you can easily move them around your garden as you need to. Moving pots to the side when you have guests over or you just want a little more space to exercise in your garden.

Growing Vegetables in a Small Garden

Growing vegetables isn't just for large gardens either. Many plants like tomatoes, potatoes and herbs can be grown in pots around your garden. See our post on Easy Grow Vegetables For Any Garden for more ideas on what vegetables you can grow in your garden.