I live in a Victorian terrace garden in London. I’m lucky to have a garden at all! But, it is small and with two children, it has to do a lot for us. When we first bought the house, I spent hours online searching for ideas for a small garden and ways I could make it work for us as a family.
Our garden backs onto a railway line, which some people find very inconvenient. However, it does mean we are not overlooked from the back of the garden, which when you live in a small terraced house is a massive bonus! Also, the train line isn’t that busy and there are only about 3 trains on a Sunday, so we’ve learned to get by with them!
Over the past 3 years I’ve been arranging and then rearranging our garden so that it just feels right and works for us. Here are some things I’ve learned about having a small garden that I hope will help you, if you’re looking for some garden design inspiration yourself.
CREATE ZONES
Our small garden has to cater for every member of the family. We needed a place to sit and relax, a place for storage, a place for growing beautiful flowers and a place for the children to play in. So we created different zones, or ‘rooms’ within the space.
Even the smallest of gardens can create this and it’s such a great way of making the most out of a small space.
We made pallets furniture at the very back of the garden which gets the most sun. This made the perfect place for chilling out and relaxing in. There is a yellow shed for storage, which adds colour and fun to the back of the garden even in the winter months. We have a lawn for the children to play on and lots of borders and custom build planters to grow in.
The space between the lawn and the seating area is divided using trellis and an archway. It feels secluded and relaxing at the back of the garden thanks to the cottage garden planting and beautiful prunus tree.
USE PLANTING TO CREATE INTEREST
Planting cannot be overlooked in a small garden. It’s tempting to put a load of small plants into a small space, but actually this can make the garden appear smaller than it really is.
Instead, try to think of planting as a way of drawing the eye to certain parts of the garden and taking you on a bit of a journey. I have one very shade side and one very sunny side to my garden, so I also have to choose plants that work in each environment.
I have a huge buddleia and a couple fo trees (a prunus and an apple tree). There are lots of trees that work in a small garden. I also built a huge planter in front of the shed so I could create instant height to the space.
My garden is still growing, but should be positively blooming in a few years time!
USE THE SURROUNDING ENVIRONMENT
The good thing about having a small garden in an urban location is that there is plenty of neighbouring plants already established that you can use as part of your own garden!
As we have a railway just behind our garden, we are surrounded by beautiful trees and when the trains aren’t running, all you can hear is bird song!
Our neighbours also have a gorgeous white rose bush that covers our side of the fence, giving height to my very young flower border! I love it when the petals fall onto our side as it almost looks like snow!
CREATE TEXTURE
This was something I was insistent that we have in our garden. I wanted to have lots of different textures in the garden to create as much interest as I could within the small space.
When you walk up the garden, you step on wooden steps, then onto the soft lawn. Next you go through the archway onto small stones and eventually end up on the warm concrete patio. It feels so nice to be walking through so many different textures to get to the end of the garden and it really helps to elongate the space, giving the sense of a journey.
GO BOLD WITH COLOUR
Smaller gardens can often feel a little uninspired. I love using colour to really make the garden pop and draw your eye through the entire space. The shed at the end of the garden is bright yellow. it immediately draws your eye to the end of the garden, making it feel longer than it actually is.
The colour also serves as a great backdrop to the pink planting scheme, creating instant vibrancy to the garden and enticing you to walk through it.
DIG IT UP AGAIN
The downfall of having a small garden for me, is that I have so many ideas and things I want to create within it, that I often find myself running out of space! So I just dig it up again. I’m no longer afraid of changing my garden when I come up with new ideas.
Gardens are not permanent features. They are living, breathing eco systems, constantly evolving and changing depending on an array of factors, least of all my and my shovel! I don’t believe that we should be treating our gardens as ‘finished’ spaces. The idea that a garden can ever be finished is strange to me.
So I dig it up. I rearrange and I create new spaces for us all to enjoy.
I hope these ideas for a small garden help to inspire you to get creative and design the garden of your dreams. Not everyone can be lucky enough to own a huge garden, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create something really beautiful and enjoy the space.
Happy gardening!
