Don’t feel disheartened if you don’t have much space in your garden to add your favourite plants, because there are ways to make the most of any plot you have when you know what plants to use.
From the best cutting flowers to plants that flower nonstop, there’s nothing better than filling your garden with impressive blooms and colour. However, when you’re tight on space, it can be a challenge to fit all your favourite flowers or even find ones that work with the amount of room you have.
We’ve asked experts to recommend the flower species that best suit small spaces – and there’s more than enough to brighten up your garden all year round.
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Our edit of the best flowers for small spaces
Similar to using small garden tips to maximise the potential of your outdoor space, some plants are more than happy to live in smaller plots.
So whether you’re looking to brighten up your balcony or want to utilise vertical space in the garden, these are the flowers that will thrive.
1. Sea Thrift
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Sea thrift is a beloved plant with lots of versatility. It is often recommended to be grown on green roofs thanks to its taller growth pattern.
“Widely grown in rockeries, for edging or as ground cover, armeria maritima is a popular evergreen perennial whose grass-like foliage keeps your garden looking healthy even in winter,” says Lucie Bradley, gardening expert at Easy Garden Irrigation. “From late spring all through summer, it blooms with ‘pom-pom’ flowers on slender, leafless stems which hold them 5 to 30cm above the grassy foliage.”
“These ‘pom-poms’ are dense clusters of tiny, tubular florets, for bright blooms of vibrant red choose ‘Ballerina Red’ or ‘Splendens’ for vivid magenta-pink flowers, whilst for a classic white ‘Abbey White’ excels with a generous display of crisp white blooms,” she adds.
Bud & Bloom
Armeria Maritima Splendens Sea Pink
These bright pink flowers on slender stems above neat grass-like foliage last from early spring through to autumn. Supplied as quality 1 litre containers, ready to fill your garden.
Lucie Bradley
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Gardening Expert at Easy Garden Irrigation
With over 28 years working in the garden industry, Lucie has been fortunate enough to spend every day speaking to both amateur and professional gardeners. Encouraged to garden since she was old enough to walk, she believes that you can never know everything about gardening, as it is constantly evolving.
2. Hardy Geranium
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Geraniums are not only a fragrant plant that makes your house smell good, but they are also ideal if you have a smaller garden and not much time to care for it.
“A low-maintenance, resilient perennial that returns year after year, cranesbill is a great addition to any small space, as they not only produce an abundance of blooms continuously from late spring through to the first frost, but their dense foliage is excellent for covering bare soil, with their attractive leaves suppressing weeds,” explains Lucie.
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“Extremely popular for their ability to thrive in a wide range of positions, from deep shade to full sun, with over 700 varieties to choose from, you can select the ideal ones for your garden based on size, colour and habitat. Choose geranium ‘Rozanne’ for a nearly continuous display of large, saucer-shaped violet blue blooms with white centres, which are complemented by marbled green foliage that turns red or bronze when temperatures fall in the autumn,” she continues.
F1 Hybrid
Thompson & Morgan
Geranium ‘jackpot Mixed’
These weather tolerant, F1 hybrid pelargoniums are the perfect plant to introduce vibrancy to your display throughout summer.
3. Sweet Alyssum
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When you’re limited on space, picking plants for pollinators as well as ones that like compact conditions is an even better way to utilise what you have.
“Easy to sow directly outdoors from April through to May, sweet alyssum is a low maintenance, fast growing annual that rewards you with its intense, honey-like scent and long blooming season as well as being a magnet for pollinators such as bees, hoverflies and butterflies,” starts Lucie.
“The delicate grey-green or silvery-green foliage of sweet alyssum has a lovely soft texture and forms low mounds ranging from 5cm up to 30cm, depending on the variety. From early summer through to autumn, this foliage will be covered in masses of tiny, four-petaled blossoms which almost hide the green leaves,” she explains.
Seeds
Happy Green Shop
Sweet Alyssum Carpet of Snow
Lay a carpet of delicate white flowers with the help of these seeds, 1600 to be more precise – more than enough to establish good ground cover.
4. Lavender
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Knowing how to care for a lavender plant is not the most challenging thing in the world, but it comes with many benefits, its relaxing scent being just one.
“Lavender is good for growing in small spaces, as there are compact and dwarf varieties well suited to this. It grows well in pots if your garden has limited planting space. Still, larger lavender varieties will need to be grown in larger containers, so check the expected size of the plant before buying,” says Richard Barker, Commercial Director and horticulture expert at LBS Horticulture.
English Lavender Hidcote Blue
Large Lavendula Angustifolia Hidcote
Richard Barker
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Horticulture expert and Commercial Director
With 4 years in the industry, Richard is an expert in horticulture and the commercial director at LBS Horticulture. He is keen to share his knowledge with both experienced and beginner gardeners, and prides himself in keeping up to date in the latest horticultural trends.
5. French Marigolds
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Not only are marigolds the common flower that can help repel pests, but they’re also great at living in smaller pots and flower beds.
“Marigolds are excellent for growing in small spaces, with French marigolds being the best variety as they are more compact. A single French marigold can thrive in a six-inch pot if space is very limited, but avoid planting African marigolds as they can grow to be over a metre,” explains Richard.
Pot marigold
Waitrose
Calendula Officinalis ‘Orange King’
Easy to grow from seed this vibrant, hardy annual produces enormous, double orange flowers between May and September.
FAQsWhat flowers can I plant in a very narrow space?
Even when you’ve avoided all the common mistakes that make your garden look smaller, narrow spaces are incredibly hard to work with sometimes.
“If you are working with a narrow space, the best approach is to plant flowers that grow vertically, such as wisteria or jasmine, and you can even go a step further by pairing them with trellises or a simple wire for added support,” says Alex Biggart, brand manager and gardening expert at 123 Flowers.
“If a vertical flower isn’t an option, consider flowers that don’t spread too far outward when flowering – some great examples of this are alyssum or dwarf dianthus!” he adds.
“Should the space be extremely tight, container planting may be the best bet. Planters or wall-mounted containers allow you to have control over the growth whilst still benefiting from the flower’s beauty. Overall, the key is choosing flowers that grow up rather than out,” continues Alex.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
What are the best perennials for small spaces?
Perennials are great additions to your garden, especially if you want that second summer flush of floral colours.
“Ideal for narrow or small spaces, astrantia has a compact, clump-forming habit whose tall, upright stems hold exquisite, intricate, star-shaped flowers up to a metre high,” starts Lucie.
“One of the longest-blooming perennials, they will start flowering in late spring and, with deadheading, will continue flowering into early autumn. Their flowers are rich in nectar, making them magnets to beneficial pollinators like bees, hoverflies and butterflies,” she adds.
“Low maintenance and pest resistant, astrantia will thrive in moist, rich soil and partial shade. For large, deep red flowers and dominant, dark-red tipped bracts, I’d recommend ‘Gill Richardson’ which has a compact spread making it perfect for small spaces,” Lucie finishes.
Perennials are also great if you’re looking for plants for wet gardens, especially if they’re the hardy type.
Shop planting essentials
Recommended Gloves
RHS
Comfortable Leather Gardening Gloves
These Gold Leaf RHS collections Chelsea Ladies Comfortable Leather Gardening Gloves are perfect for any job you need to tackle in your garden, especially planting.
Hand trowel
Greenman
Multipurpose Hand trowel
This hand trowel does it all, from cutting through root balls to up-lifting your root-bound plant. There’s even a twine-cutting notch that doubles up as a bottle opener, perfect for a mid-gardening beer.
Planting essentials
Pelle & Sol
60L Multi Purpose Compost
Whether you’re repotting an established plant or adding some pots to your balcony, it’s always useful to have some good-quality compost to hand.
There are many ways you can make a small garden look bigger, but finding the right plants and flowers for your space is a great first step.
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