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Small gardening design ideas



In a small garden, following a few key principles when planning and planting can help your garden feel larger and less cluttered.


Whether you have a small garden or a small patio, there are many ways to improve your space. Taking the time to choose color schemes, picking plants that bloom for months and using design tricks like repeating or adding focal points can make a big impact. For limited budgets, consider using gravel instead of paving or lawn. It provides more space for plants in a small space. Install simple lights yourself or, if you want a small vegetable garden, sow lettuce in containers or grow fast-growing plants like spring radishes and short, fast-growing carrot varieties like 'Nantes 2'.


1. Get the landscaping-planting ratio right



When planning your patio garden, get a balance of planting and landscaping to make your small garden look beautiful. Garden designs for small gardens should aim for a ratio of about 50 percent planting and furniture to 50 percent paving or decking. This will help create a patio that is easy on the eye without being too crowded.


2. Use cool colors


Choosing the right colors can make your garden look great. Colors from the cool side of the color wheel, such as blue and purple, appear to be closer to warm colors such as red and orange. Choosing a cool planter palette will make your garden feel bigger than it is.


3. Build height in short ranges



Narrow borders can feel cramped and tricky to plant, but using plants of some height can make them more substantial. Use tall bulbs like alliums, agapanthus or lilies, which add height without taking up too much floor space. Climbers such as sweet peas can also add height without growing too wide.


4. Combine seating and storage space


Save space in a small back garden that can double as storage or create seating in your design. To save space for a table in the center of your patio, use a corner bench or set up seating against the border.


5. Use long term planting



In a small space, there is no room to keep interesting plants only for a short time of the year, so choose varieties with a long flowering season. Good options include repeat-blooming roses such as Rosa 'Flower Carpet Amber', which blooms for eight months. Rosa 'Lady of Shallot', a shrub rose, flowers from June to October. Other long-blooming perennials include Erigeron garwinskianus, Eryssimum 'Bowl's Mow' and hardy geraniums, many of which bloom all summer.


6. Plant a hanging plant


Using hanging plants is an inexpensive way to add greenery to a border or shed wall. Plant them with bedding, ferns (in shade), alpines or herbs. Alternatively, use them to plant shallow-rooted vegetables such as salad leaves or spinach.


7. Divide your space



A small garden can be large if you can't see it all at once. Divide your garden by using planters, screens or hedges to break up the space. Having different areas or sections can make your garden more interesting to look at.


8. Use light-colored landscaping


Using light colored materials will help bounce light around and make the garden feel more spacious than dark paving or paint colors. It will also brighten up your garden if your outdoor space is on the shady side. Try light paving or gravel, or paint your borders in a light color.


9. Limit your planting trays



Limit your planting trays to a small garden. This will help your design look more cohesive and minimalistic than using individual plants. Repeating a certain amount of plants is one way to make your garden look professionally designed.


10. Expand the horizons


Small beds and borders can make your garden look smaller. Reduce space for a lawn or patio and enlarge borders or beds to allow more depth for planting. Having generous planting areas rather than rows of plants will make your entire garden feel larger.


11. Add structural planting



Don't forget to add structural plantings – trees and evergreen shrubs will provide a permanent backbone to the garden and add winter interest. This is especially important in a small garden, adding year-round appeal and form to your borders.


12. Use the platform to mount on more plants


Create more planting space by placing containers in a planter stand with different levels. This is an easy way to fit more tanks as it saves floor space. For a small garden, try narrow, ladder-style staging, which takes up less room than shown and has more tiers.

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