Prioritize functionality when every inch is precious

When I started designing gardens 20 years ago, I was surprised to find that small spaces were more challenging to plan than large ones. In those early years, a small number of clients would come to me with detailed lists of items they must have, and I would struggle to fit everything in. Identifying specific features and details was a major breakthrough. A garden should be the final step in the process, not the first. Since then, every consultation I have with a new client begins with three questions I've nicknamed the "three W's." These prompts help my clients imagine interacting with their redesigned spaces, and while they're useful in remodeling gardens of all sizes, they're especially helpful when space is at a premium. When my husband and I recently moved into a new house with a small backyard, we had the opportunity to use the process for ourselves. Here's what we found.

Three questions to help you prioritize what's most important to your small garden

In designing my new back garden, I asked myself the same three basic questions that have helped countless of my clients figure out how they want to use their outdoor spaces.

1. What do you do in the garden?

For my husband and I, the garden is a refuge and our favorite place to relax. So I began by finding a spot for our lounge chairs that would maximize views of the garden and minimize sight lines towards the unattractive utility pole in the northwest corner of our yard (photo above). I built a patio off the pole big enough to hold our chairs (photo right). We enjoy watching the birds and other Dwarf Butterfly Bush (Budlia 'PDSI-1', Zones 5–9) and California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum, Zones 8–11). Close to attract hummingbirds and other pollinators. Although it may seem unconventional to start here rather than the main patio or paths, it made sense to us because everything flows around our favorite garden activity.

2. When will you be out?

Besides relaxing outside at the end of the work day, we make the most of California's mild weather, regularly having lunch in the garden on the weekends. We call the space I designed for lunch the "'Ladies Who Lunch' Patio" (photo above) because it is placed at the back of the garden to take advantage of the afternoon shade provided by our neighbor's Chinese pistachio trees (Pistasia chinensis). , Zones 6–9).

3. Who will be with you?

Most days it's just the two of us, but we also enjoy entertaining. Making a small space flexible isn't always a function of layout; Decorations also play a role. In our case, we chose a dining table with extendable leaves that can seat up to 10 people (photo below). We don't want it permanently taking up space on our main patio, which is right next to our kitchen door.

The garden designer's home laboratory

This suburban back garden is only 30 feet deep and 60 feet wide, so every feature has to work extra hard to look beautiful from every angle.

1. Lounge chairs

2. Ruined gravel path

3. Lunch schedule

4. Succulent nursery

5. Barbecue grill

6. Expandable dining table

7. Kitchen door

8. Pot fountain

A few basic planting techniques can make a small space less difficult

Once you've finalized your layout, it's time to choose your plants. Don't waste space on one-hit wonders that shine for a month or so. Instead, choose perennials with a long bloom time of at least two seasons. Classics like catmint (Nepeta spp. and cvs., zones 4–8) provide reliable color throughout the season, while 'Tequila Sunrise' kangaroo paw (Anigozanthos 'Tequila Sunrise', zones 9–11, photo right) provides architectural interest and monthly colors. .

In general, plan for most of your seasonal color to come in the spring, summer, and fall, when you'll be in the garden the most, but be sure to have at least one plant that shines through the winter. plant to mark it. To add even more seasonality, I interplant grasses and perennials that should be cut back to the ground in winter with early blooming bulbs like daffodils. By the time the bulbs are spent, the plants around them have grown to fill the space.

Limited space makes the classic approach to succession planting a bit less efficient, but the idea can be reinterpreted as seasonal layers. Spring-blooming perennials and shrubs are planted toward the back of the garden and are visible early in the season. Once the blooms have subsided, it's time to shine for perennials like Roseanne hardy geranium (Geranium 'Kervat', zones 3-10), 'Terracotta' yarrow (Achillea 'Terracotta', zones 3-9), and California fuchsia. .

As you work through the three W's for your own garden, remember that not everything about a small garden is a problem to be solved. Details that might be overlooked in a larger space, such as the finely etched patterns on the glossy leaves of whale's tongue agave (Agave ovatifolia cv., Zones 7B-10), shine in a small garden where everything has its place.

Focal points tie the entire space together

Small spaces benefit from well-chosen focal points to create a cohesive composition. I rely on three different types of focal points that vary depending on what is being accomplished. Focal points of the first type are usually large and placed from the center of the garden to the back, with the aim of guiding your eye through space. One of the frustrating things about a small garden is that you've seen everything you need to see in one quick glance. To address that in my garden, I added a blue accent wall at the back, forcing a pause in contrast to its surroundings and thereby visually arresting the flow of the garden. Small details—half-hidden statues or containers, for example—create a similar invitation to slow down while strolling through the garden.

A second type of focal point connects two functional areas together. The key is to choose something that can be enjoyed from multiple angles. In my garden, a jar fountain located between the dining and lounging patios reinforces that these are two separate "rooms" while also connecting them.

Unlike large landscapes, the details of a small garden are much more visible and easily appreciated from inside your home. Take advantage of this by placing focal points that are immediately visible from inside. In this instance, the fountain doubles as this third type of focal point. Looking out my kitchen window to admire the fountain, often crowded with sparrows and house finches, connects me to its beauty even when I can't be in the garden.

Clever ways to maximize the use of a small space

When designing a garden with a minimal footprint, it can be helpful to rethink the sizes, locations and traditional contours of key elements. Here are some examples of how I did this in my own backyard.

Place a narrow bed against a wall or fence

Tomatoes and herbs are tucked into a custom 2-foot by 8-foot bed against the fence that follows our western property line, and eye-catching annuals fill a similarly sized foundation bed around the corner of the house. A tall garden adds height and helps hide drainage pipes and wires.

Go vertical

The fences and walls of a house offer a wonderful opportunity to expand garden spaces upwards. Succulent containers and mounting art on the wall behind the barbecue grill have transformed an otherwise utilitarian area into an extension of the garden.

Push working areas out of sight

With 15 succulent containers to fill, I need a place to keep a constant supply of these versatile plants on hand. My succulent nursery is located at the side of the house, out of sight of all prime sight lines. It's a convenient, out-of-the-way place for crafting and refurbishing containers.