35 small garden design ideas

This article has been checked for horticultural accuracy by Oliver Parsons.In a small garden, following a few key principles when planning and planting will help make your garden look bigger and feel less cluttered.Whether you have a tiny garden or a small patio, there are plenty of ways you can improve your space.

Taking time to choose colour schemes, picking plants that will flower for months and using design tricks such as repetition or adding focal points, will all have a big impact.For limited budgets, think about using gravel instead of paving or a lawn. This also provides more space for plants in a tiny space.



Install simple lighting yourself or, if you want a small vegetable garden, sow salad successionally in containers or grow fast-cropping plants like spring radishes and short, fast-growing carrot varieties such as ‘Nantes 2’.One of the simplest ways to give small gardens a boost is to use your vertical space – for tiny gardens use hanging baskets and planters, cover boundaries with climbers, and add height with trees or tall slim plants like alliums and Verbena bonariensis.There are many ways to make a small garden more interesting: here’s a few garden design ideas for small gardens to get you started.

Get the landscaping-planting ratio right[image id="185178" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Decking in a small garden." alt="Decking in a small garden." classes=""] Decking in a small garden.

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

Use cooler colours[image id="185221" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Use cooler colours to make a garden look bigger" alt="Use cooler colours to make a garden look bigger" classes=""] Use cooler colours to make a garden look biggerChoosing the right colours can make your garden look bigger. Colours from the cool side of the colour wheel, such as blue and purple, will seem further away while hot colours like red and orange look like they are closer. Choosing a cooler plant palette will therefore create a feeling that your garden is bigger than it is.

Grow trained fruit trees[image id="223931" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Trained fruits trees. Sarah Cuttle" alt="Trained fruits trees. Sarah Cuttle" classes=""] Trained fruits tree.

Sarah CuttleTrained fruit trees take up less space than standard trees and they can be trained to fit the area you have available. Espaliers and fans are often grown along walls and fences, whereas stepovers are ideal to edge vegetable beds. Cordon apples take up the least area horizontally and maximise the number of varieties that can be grown in a small space.

Trained fruit trees grow best in a sunny spot and require little maintenance apart from pruning.Create height in narrow borders[image id="185222" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Agapanthus in a narrow border" alt="Agapanthus in a narrow border" classes=""] Agapanthus in a narrow borderNarrow borders can feel restrictive and tricky to plant, but using plants with some height makes them feel more substantial. Use tall bulbs such as alliums, agapanthus or lilies that will add height without taking up much ground space.

Obelisks planted with climbers like sweet peas will also add height without growing too wide. Combine seating and storage space[image id="185184" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Using seating for storage" alt="Using seating for storage" classes=""] Using seating for storageSave space in a small back garden by building seating that can double up as storage space, or build seating into your design. Use a corner bench or put seating up against a boundary to save space on a table in the centre of your patio.

Use long-season planting[image id="38622" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Rosa 'Lady of Shalott'" alt="Rosa 'Lady of Shalott'" classes=""] Rosa ‘Lady of Shalott’In a tiny space there isn’t room to have plants that are only interesting for a short part of the year, so choose types with a long flowering season. Good options include repeat-flowering roses, such as Rosa ‘Flower Carpet Amber’, which flowers for eight months. Rosa ‘Lady of Shalott’, a shrub rose, flowers from June to October.

Other long-flowering perennials include Erigeron karvinskianus, Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ and hardy geraniums, many of which flower all summer long. Plant up a hanging planter[image id="185185" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Herbs and salads in a hanging planter" alt="Herbs and salads in a hanging planter" classes=""] Herbs and salads in a hanging planterUsing hanging planters is an inexpensive way to add greenery to a boundary or shed wall. Plant them with bedding, ferns (in shade), trailing alpines or herbs.

Alternatively use them to plant veg with shallow roots, such as salad leaves or spinach. Divide your space[image id="88136" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="A raised bed in a small garden" alt="A raised bed in a small garden" classes=""] A raised bed in a small gardenA small garden will look bigger if you can’t see everything at once. Divide up your garden using flowerbeds, screens or hedges to break up the space.

The fact that it has different areas or sections will also make your garden more interesting to look at. This division of space works well in tiered gardens too. Use light-coloured landscaping[image id="185186" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Light coloured paving in a small garden" alt="Light coloured paving in a small garden" classes=""] Light-coloured paving in a small gardenUsing light-coloured materials can help to bounce the light around and will make the garden seem more spacious than dark paving or paint colours.

This will also brighten your garden if your outdoor space is on the shady side. Try light paving or gravel, or paint your boundaries in a light colour. Limit your planting palette[image id="185223" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Salvia uglinosa, Hydrangea paniculata and purple moor grass" alt="Salvia uglinosa, Hydrangea paniculata and purple moor grass" classes=""] Salvia uglinosa, Hydrangea paniculata and purple moor grassLimit your planting palette in a small garden.

This will help make your design look cohesive and less bitty than using lots of individual plants. Repeating a limited selection of plants is one way to make your garden look like it’s been professionally designed. Make borders bigger[image id="185198" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="A seating area surrounded by woodland planting" alt="A seating area surrounded by woodland planting" classes=""] A seating area surrounded by woodland plantingTiny beds and borders can make your garden seem smaller.

Reduce the space you have for a lawn or patio and make borders or beds bigger to allow a greater depth of planting. Having generous planting areas rather than lines of plants will make your whole garden feel bigger. Add structural planting[image id="185199" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Topiary and evergreen hedging adds structure" alt="Box balls and birch trees add structure" classes=""] Topiary and birch trees add structureDon’t forget to include structural planting – trees and evergreen shrubs will provide a permanent backbone for the garden and add interest in winter.

This is just as important in a small garden, adding year-round appeal and shape to your borders. Use staging to fit in more plants[image id="185189" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Using staging to fit more containers in a small space" alt="Using staging to fit more containers in a small space" classes=""] Using staging to fit more containers in a small spaceCreate more planting space by putting containers on a planting stand with different levels. This is an easy way to fit in more pots as it saves on ground space.

In a tiny garden, try narrow, ladder-style staging, which takes up even less room than the staging pictured and has more tiers. Make a green roof[image id="175275" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Green roof to enhance a bin store" alt="Green roof to enhance a bin store" classes=""] Green roof to enhance a bin storeYou don’t need a big garden to include a green roof. This is a practical way to use dead space, such a shed roof or bin store roof to fit in extra plants.

Not only will this add greenery to your garden but it will disguise or soften functional features. Plant up a shady corner[image id="185194" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Container for shade with acer and dicentra" alt="Container for shade with acer and dicentra" classes=""] Container for shade with acer and dicentraMake the most of every planting opportunity by transforming shady spots. Perk up a gloomy bed or corner with plants like ferns, hostas, foxgloves and epimediums.

If you don’t have borders, use containers to brighten up your patio. For small north-facing front or back gardens with deep shade try hostas, lilyturf or Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae.

Plant a potager bed[image id="223926" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Kitchen garden. Neil Hepworth" alt="Kitchen garden. Neil Hepworth" classes=""] Kitchen garden.

Neil HepworthIf you’d like to grow vegetables, fruit and flowers in a small space, then a potager or kitchen garden could be the answer. This style of border combines all three types of planting in one place, minimising space requirements and creating a productive and beautiful display. Most fruit and vegetables need around six hours of sunshine a day to produce good crops, so make sure your potager bed is in a sunny area of the garden.

Good for south- and west-facing gardens.Grow scented plants[image id="30951" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Lavender hedge along a path" alt="Lavender hedge along a path" classes=""] Lavender hedge along a pathGrow scented plants along a path or next to a bench to add another dimension to your garden. The fragrance will be all the more noticeable in a small space, especially if you combine several scented plants.

Try the climber Trachelospermum jasminoides, lavender for containers or nicotiana for evening scent. Grow a multi-season tree[image id="86685" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Spring-flowering Amelanchier lamarckii" alt="Spring-flowering Amelanchier lamarckii" classes=""] Spring-flowering Amelanchier lamarckiiIf you can fit in a tree, choose a small variety that offers more than one season of interest. The spring-flowering Amelanchier lamarkii also has black berries in summer and autumn leaf colour.

Prunus autumnalis flowers from late autumn to winter and has beautiful autumn leaf colour. Hawthorn and crab apples bear spring blossom, fruit in summer to autumn and have glorious autumn leaf colour. Install a green wall[image id="57772" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="designed by Peter Cowell and Monty Richardson Green" alt="Green wall including herbs.

designed by Peter Cowell and Monty Richardson Green" classes=""] Green wall designed by Peter Cowell and Monty Richardson GreenThere are plenty of easy-to-install DIY green walls that will enable you to fit more greenery into your garden. These can be fixed to garden walls or fences to transform a boundary. Fill them with herbs, bedding plants or salad leaves for a colourful vertical display.

Make a container display[image id="85801" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Geum and phlox container display" alt="Geum and phlox container display" classes=""] Geum and phlox container displayA collection of small pots can create a cluttered look. On a small patio, try planting up one big container instead. It will have instant impact and create a focal point.

Choose plants that will last for more than one season or one central plant that will last year-round, and then switch the underplanting with the seasons. Plant a hanging basket[image id="21830" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Hanging basket planted with orange flowers for full sun" alt="Hanging basket planted with orange flowers for full sun" classes=""] Hanging basket planted with orange flowers for full sunA hanging basket is perfect for very small gardens, taking up no ground space but providing months of colour. Try plants like begonias, argyranthemum, calibrachoa, lobelia, bacopa, pelargoniums and nemesia for a long season of colour.

For budget options, buy packs of bedding plants from the garden centre in spring and grow them on before planting up your basket. Grow veg vertically[image id="84744" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="2048x1365-Climbers-from-seed-Parham_Annual_Climber_Trial_140818_CFB_Blauhilde_a1" alt="Climbing French bean 'Blauhilde'" classes=""] Climbing French bean ‘Blauhilde’If you lack ground space, choose climbing veg varieties that can be grown up trellis like runner beans, French beans such as ‘Blauhilde’, ‘Algarve’ or ‘Cobra’, or squash ‘Tromboncino’. These will provide plenty of crops but take up little room.

Sow salad successionally[image id="185187" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Sow salad successionally to save money" alt="Sow salad successionally to save money" classes=""] Sow salad successionally to save moneySave money on shop-bought salads by growing your own. In a small vegetable garden, you can enjoy a continuous salad supply by sowing seed in two containers (sowing the second container two weeks after the first). If you have room only for one pot, sow a second batch of salad in a seed tray and then move baby salad plants into your container when the first crop starts to go over.

Sow a square metre veg bed[image id="57488" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Square metre veg bed" alt="Square metre veg bed" classes=""] Square metre veg bedSowing a square metre veg bed is a great way to get a big yield from a small area. The idea is to sow closer than you would normally and replace each crop with another as soon as it’s finished cropping. Good plants to grow in this way include beetroot, rocket, spring onions and chard.

Choose compact veg varieties[image id="21253" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Grow spring onions in small spaces" alt="Grow spring onions in small spaces" classes=""] Grow spring onions in small spacesAvoid growing vegetables like pumpkins and maincrop potatoes that take up a lot of space and focus instead on varieties that are fast growing, can be grown in pots or take up little room. Spring onions can be harvested in eight weeks, and spring radishes take four weeks to reach maturity, while fast-growing salad leaves and carrot varieties are perfect for containers. Work with your garden’s shape[image id="185606" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Circular paving in a square garden" alt="Circular paving in a square garden" classes=""] Circular paving in a square gardenIn a small square or rectangular garden there are a few ways to make it look bigger or more interesting.

Add in circular paving to break up the linear look of the layout, divide the garden with a border or screen, or add curved borders to draw the eye away from the boundaries and contrast with the straight lines. Another idea is to cover your fence or wall with climbers to disguise the edges of your garden and soften the boundaries.Grow fruit trees in pots[image id="223928" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Apple trees in pots.

Jason Ingram" alt="Apple trees in pots. Jason Ingram" classes=""] Apple trees in pots. Jason IngramIf you don’t have the space to grow fruit trees in the ground, you can still create a mini-orchard.

Choose varieties that thrive in containers, such as Cheery ‘Stella’, Apple ‘Fiesta’ and Plum ‘Opal’, and plant them in a sunny spot. As long as you grow varieties that will pollinate each other or choose self-fertile varieties, you should be harvesting a good crop of fruit within a few years. Growing fruit trees in pots requires a little more work than growing them in the ground, as they will need regular feeding and watering.

Use rectangular paving stones[image id="185425" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Long paving stones placed horizontally across the patio" alt="Long paving stones placed horizontally across the patio" classes=""] Long paving stones placed horizontally across the patioMake your garden look wider by using rectangular paving, horizontally. This makes an interesting alternative to square paving and will create an illusion that your garden is wider than it is. Save on shed space[image id="185607" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Using jam jars for extra storage" alt="Using jam jars for extra storage" classes=""] Using jam jars for extra storageMake use of the underside of shelves in your shed for storage.

Reuse jam jars to keep items such as string and plant labels. Attach the jar lid to the shelf using nails or screws and then screw the jar on. Use repetition[image id="12478" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Lavender in terracotta pots" alt="Lavender in terracotta pots" classes=""] Lavender in terracotta potsWhether you have a windowsill or a small patio, use repetition to create impact.

Repeating an element, whether it’s three identical containers or a line of box balls along a path, draws your eye and creates rhythm in the garden. Spruce up the front gate[image id="23440" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Front garden with white gate and cottage-style planting" alt="Front garden with white gate and cottage-style planting" classes=""] Front garden with white gate and cottage-style plantingGive your gate a makeover to add impact to your front garden. Repainting or sanding down and staining a wooden gate is an easy, budget-friendly job that can make a big difference to an entrance.

Ditch the lawn[image id="185433" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Small gravel garden with grasses and other drought-friendly plants" alt="Small gravel garden with grasses and other drought-friendly plants" classes=""] Small gravel garden with grasses and other drought-friendly plantsHaving a lawn can draw attention to the size of a small garden. Using gravel instead creates more opportunities for creative planting, helps make your space seem larger and it’s great way to add low maintenance planting in place of a lawn. Add lighting[image id="185605" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Lanterns and spot lights highlight trees and grasses" alt="Lanterns and spot lights highlight trees and grasses" classes=""] Lanterns and spot lights highlight trees and grassesAdding lighting to a small garden is simple and doesn’t have to be expensive.

There are solar-powered spotlights available, which you can stick into the ground without having to install mains-powered lighting. Fairy lights or strings of lanterns are another easy, cheap option. When choosing outdoor lights, go for those with more of a yellow light than a bright white light, as this is less harmful to wildlife.

Grow climbers to cover your boundaries[image id="223923" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Tatton Park Flower Show (16th July 2019)" alt="Disguise your boundaries with climbers. Jason Ingram" classes=""] Disguise your boundaries with climbers. Jason IngramYou can make a small garden look nice without spending lots of money by adding just a few plants that will make a big difference to the look of the space.

Planting climbers is a great way to cover vertical surfaces quickly and to make the garden feel bigger by disguising your boundaries. In sunny spots, try a clematis or jasmine. Climbing hydrangea, ivy and chocolate vine are all suitable for growing in shady places and up north-facing walls.

Plant fruit trees on compact rootstocks[image id="223924" size="landscape_thumbnail" title="Tree with a compact rootstock. Paul Debois" alt="Tree with a compact rootstock. Paul Debois" classes=""] Tree on a compact rootstock.

Paul DeboisIf you don’t have enough room for a large fruit tree, choose one on a small rootstock that limits its vigour and growth. For apple trees, rootstocks range from M27 (where the tree only grows to around 1.5m) to MM106 (where the tree reaches 3-4m in height).

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