First, define how you will use the garden. Think about your lifestyle. As many
of us work longer hours, the time we spend in our gardens has shifted to
later in the evening (on the few days a year when the British climate
allows) and weekends.
So, ask yourself, will you actually dine outside in the evenings? Are you more
likely to sit indoors, reading the paper on a Sunday morning? If you have
children you will probably want to incorporate a play space within the
scheme or an area for cooking and entertaining. Or perhaps you are a keen
vegetable grower and want to include raised beds for cultivating salads or
vegetables.
You may prefer a low maintenance garden that looks good all year round but is
not used very much – possibly incorporating some storage and well-chosen
evergreen planting.
These decisions may seem banal, but defining the use of such a small plot is
extremely helpful – as too much clutter will result in the loss of overall
spaciousness.
Whatever your requirements, once you have a wish list you can start to look at
transferring it into the garden. (Usually at this point you will have
eliminated the more unrealistic asks: ponds, swimming pools, pergolas and
gazebos.) It’s all about balance. Although it is quite amazing how much can
be shoehorned into relatively little space, there does have to be room to
move around comfortably.
There are a few clever design tricks that can be utilised to make the most of
any small garden. Large-format hard landscaping is very effective; unified
boundaries and simple clean lines are a must, while grouping planters and
pots together creates an appealing and less claustrophobic overall impact.
Current fashions in garden furniture have resulted in the appearance of
supersized tables, chairs and outdoor sofas – surprisingly good at creating
the illusion of space. Hammocks or swing seats can also work. But whatever
you settle on, choose an all-weather option – preferably with waterproof
cushions that can be left out and mean the garden will look dressed and be
usable at a moment’s notice.
Further to how you use your small garden is the choice of how it actually
looks. The main surface will be the hard landscaping – such as paths,
sleepers or rockeries – and this needs to be selected carefully. You want
materials that can tolerate the vagaries of the British weather and will
look good with as little ongoing maintenance as possible.
Of course, there’s only so much you can do to defy nature. But if you select
low-maintenance materials, your upkeep will be minimal – making the garden
easier to look after and your enjoyment of it greater. Realistically, most
stone and wood will gradually collect algae, so maintenance will be
required. Accept the need now for some light maintenance – rather than none
at all – and you’ll achieve a happy balance.
Luckily, many natural stones come in a range of light hues and, since light
colours make a small space look much larger, this is probably the way to go.
They are also available in sizes up to 900x600mm off the shelf, which is a
good-sized stone and will help the space to look much roomier. Large-format
pavers tend to open the area up, because the eye picks up the stone itself
and not the jointing pattern.
It is a bold decision to opt for a large paver in a small garden, but it
always pays off. Limestone or sandstone look fantastic, but these need
regular cleaning – so the effort involved has to be offset against the
visual effect. Man-made stones are often easier to look after, but don’t
have the life expectancy of natural stone. And, while many people are phobic
about decking, a good hardwood can last for years and has the benefit of
slim, long-length boards that stretch the eye, making a space feel longer or
wider – depending on how it is laid.
If the garden is particularly small (and in London, where I live, it’s not
unusual to be presented with a space just a few yards square) another trick
is to rotate the design by 45 degrees. This will make the space feel larger
and creates a more interesting area by opening the eye up to the longest
boundary along a diagonal line. The garden will feel more dynamic. The same
goes for different levels; changes of floor height in a small garden can
seem quite daunting – as initially it seems like a way of limiting space. In
fact, the opposite is true.
A change of level adds interest, defines an area, can make a garden feel
bigger and will be more interesting to look at, even when the garden is not
in use. Gentle and regular steps of between six and seven inches high are
ideal – not too high to be uncomfortable and not too low to be a trip
hazard. Walls and raised beds can then be worked up in multiples of these
heights – for example, on a raised bed of 18 inches, steps of around six
inches look perfectly in proportion and act as an impromptu seat or ledge on
which to sit, garden or relax.
You may find this hard to picture but try drawing it out on paper. You will
quickly see that this method serves to create larger planting areas in the
corners of the garden, which can be populated with evergreen shrubs or
climbers to conceal problem areas such as unattractive walls or fences.
From a practical point of view, this is also beneficial to plants, which have
room to grow as they would naturally and take less ongoing maintenance. A
restricted palette is also good in a small space, as there are fewer
distractions to draw the eye. In houses where much of the rear elevation is
glass (in the form of doors or windows), this palette should have a high
percentage of evergreen plants – there’s no point in getting the design
right if the branches are bare for half the year.
Downsizing often results in limited access, which can impact the garden build.
If you don’t have a side gate, thought must be given to the materials.
Everything will have to be carried through the house and, no matter how
carefully handled, planting materials are by their nature rather messy. Yes
they can be bagged – but this process will extend the build time and its
cost.
The large area of usable ground in a garden is the usually the lawn. But in a
small plot is it worth the space it takes up? Will you need a shed for a
mower which takes up more room? More and more people in small gardens are
turning to high quality AstroTurf, which provides a dry, usable and pretty
much maintenance free area that can be used all year.
This really defines a small garden; form and function, give and take.
Gardens in the real world and those that live for just a week – like the one
I’ve built at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show – should all apply these basic
design principles. The use of a garden is vitally important to me and with
every Chelsea garden I have built – as with every private one – the space
has to be practical. So, this year there are places to sit, different
levels, wide steps and walkways which allow easy routes through and link
hard landscaping. This is mainly concrete and contrasts with more
complicated areas of “crazy paving”, which add texture and colour.
The plot is 33ftx33ft (10mx10m) and by digging down to create different levels
and sending the layout off at different angles, I hope to demonstrate that
even small spaces can look dynamic, interesting and ultimately larger than
they really are. Some of this is smoke and mirrors; much is clever compact
design, using the tricks described here.
The point is, with a bit of magic and know-how, every small space can become a
private oasis.
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