Garden design ideas for small spaces

Quite a few of the gardens I design are small spaces, from your average Brussels town garden of around 15mx6m, to tiny city courtyards. The smallest courtyard design so far was a shady basement space, just 3mx2m, pictured above. But with lush planting in deep containers, and carefully chosen furniture, this space became a little green oasis, especially nice and cooling during the recent heatwaves (my client tells me!). Here are a few ways to make the most of small spaces, inspired by the courtyard, balcony and small gardens I saw at Chelsea Flower Show earlier this year.

1 – Add some wall-side seating

I love the simplicity of this timber seating, softened with some cushions and a cosy blanket. I can imagine basking in the sun here, having a nice cup of tea and a good read. Traditional furniture, such as a rectangular dining table with chairs, would take up a lot of room, but by skirting the wall and edges of the courtyard, this design is a really unobtrusive way of getting some seating into a little space.

For even more space-saving, you could use folding furniture that you can tuck away when you aren’t using it.

2 – Build in your containers

Courtyard gardens are often paved, and so to get plants in you need containers. The trouble is, these can really eat into the space, leaving little room for much else. In this Persian-inspired courtyard garden, the designer skillfully integrated the containers into the design, allowing for varying heights and layouts, reflecting the hexagonal floor-tile design and mirror detail. The seating is tucked away between the containers, for a totally immersive experience. It doesn’t have to be this ornate though, you can do the same thing with some simple rectangular planters built into the edges of your garden space, maybe with some simple bench seating connecting them.

In contrast, the stand-alone containers in this charming little tea-ceremony inspired garden take up most of the ground space, making it feel a little more crowded!

3 – Put in some shelves

Can you think of a house that doesn’t have shelves to put things on: books, houseplants, clothes or in the case of our household hundreds of tiny hand-painted Warhammer figures (not mine!)? So why not take this great space-saving measure outside, and add some shelves in for plants?

You can also attach planters to a wall, if you have one. Not quite a shelf, but a similar concept to save ground space while adding greenery. In this design, they have been artfully arranged and simply planted with architectural ferns (repeating the same plant in a series of wall planters looks really good).

4 – Grow up!

Vertical structures add height and interest to a garden, without overwhelming the space. This impressive free-standing timber pergola has planting pockets built into it, what a novel idea! A bit like a green roof, but for smaller structures. This garden aims to show how you can boost biodiversity and help wildlife in even the smallest of spaces. More simply, you can add other vertical elements and train climbers up them: anything from pergola posts, railings, supports and boundary walls.

5 – Use the corners

Courtyards and city gardens are often rectangular or square-shaped, so there are plenty of right angles that can be put to good use. Here for example, they’ve built in a series of raised planters and even found space for a small triangular water feature (see next point!). By keeping the containers relatively narrow and choosing more upright and compact plants such as ornamental grasses, geum, heuchera, herbs and an evergreen jasmine to climb up the sides, this arrangement doesn’t overcrowd the central courtyard space.

6 – Downsize your water feature

You’re not going to fit in Versailles Palace-style marble fountains with water spouting dramatically from the mouths of horses. But there are some lovely ideas for much smaller water features for little spaces. This one hardly takes up any room at all, with water trickling down a chain into a copper bowl. The sound and sight of running water brings a refreshing feeling in these very hot summers we are now experiencing. Any water in the garden is also of great benefit to wildlife, whether that’s insects and birds, or a passing small mammal stopping off for a drink!

7 – Ditch the lawn

This might seem like a brave decision, but believe me you will get so much more from your little space by swapping a horizontal plane of grass with a lush planting scheme that brings in variety, texture and height. That way, you can create paths through the planting that lead to enclosed and private little nooks and seating areas. Lawns do have their place, in bigger spaces, but I’ve seen so many that just become mud-baths in north-facing town gardens in winter and brown baked deserts in hot summers. Like any plant, grass needs to be planted in the right place. In a shadier courtyard, you could instead create a magical little woodland, like this ‘Forgotten Forests’ garden designed by Ashleigh Aylett.

Have you got any clever space-saving tips? Share them with me in the comments!