Small gardens have the obvious benefit of being both wallet-friendly and easy to maintain, and it’s easy to assume that creating a pretty-yet-practical garden design is straightforward enough, too.
After all, limited space limits your options, right?
Well, yes and no.
While it’s true that there are only so many routes you can take with a small garden, finding exactly the right spot for your garden furniture, flower beds, shrubs and the shed – while making sure that everything breathes and flows – is easier said than done.
A small garden layout is like an intricate puzzle that requires both plant knowledge and design expertise to solve.
According to Jo Thompson, an award-winning garden designer and RHS Chelsea Flower Show gold medallist, there’s one thing people commonly get wrong when it comes to compact gardens: going all out.
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“Don’t try to make a massive statement in a small space,” she says.
“People always talk about painting fences. Don’t paint the fences – let fences weather to a neutral color, which then disappears [into the foliage]. Instead use green wherever possible: the verticals, the walls and on the fences. Make it as green as possible and don’t try to get too many things in there.”
As Jo notes, restraint is a small garden designer’s most important virtue. “Restraint on the varieties of plants, restraint as far as the hard materials you use go,” Jo elaborates. “Less is more – and I don’t mean fewer plants, but keep your selection to a small amount.”
The designer’s own go-to plants for a compact space are climbers, low-growing hardy geraniums, tall flowers like Verbena bonariensis and bulbs – a tight selection that covers all bases (and surfaces) while not overwhelming the garden.
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For those new to garden design, Jo advises this: “Really look at the space, look at what’s around you. You can’t screen everything out, but you can distract.” Large objects, like sheds, for example, can easily steal the show in a small garden, but simple tweaks can have a truly transformative effect.
“A lot of people just put sheds at the back of the garden and then have the door facing the window of the house,” Jo says. “If you just turn it 90°, that helps not for it to be so much of a focal point.”
Whatever the intended purpose of the space, small gardens really thrive when approached with moderation and an appreciation for the little changes that can help shift our focus.
More small garden advice from Jo Thompson:
Gardening Must-Haves
Painted Garden Label/Marker
Garden Snips in Leather Pouch
Undercover Personalised Gardening Year Seed Box Organiser
NEW! ‘Sienna’ 2.2m Premium Solid Wood Outdoor Parasol Umbrella
Alex HB Designs Wildlife Friendly Garden Planner
Meridian Greenhouse 6.7ft x 6ft (2.3m x 2m)
Wanda Sachs is the Daily Writer for House Beautiful and Country Living, exploring the latest in interior design, home trends, property news, wellbeing and sustainable living. With a keen eye for style and a passion for storytelling, she previously served as an Associate Editor at The Berliner in Berlin, where she launched and led the magazine’s monthly style vertical, covering emerging fashion trends. Wanda holds a combined BA in English and German from Goethe University Frankfurt.
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