Planning tips for inner city courtyard and small space gardens | Garden Design | Gardening Australia

Jane talks us through some of the considerations and concessions, failures and favourites that come with creating and maintaining a comfortable courtyard. Subscribe 🔔 http://ab.co/GA-subscribe

For many of us, inner-city living has seen the once sprawling backyard, shrink considerably. Whether it be a patio, balcony, front yard or courtyard, small spaces can be just as functional, practical and beautiful as any bigger block. Jane gives us some tips and hints on how to turn a small space into an urban oasis.

Function:
When first planning to plant out a smaller space like this, it’s important to set some guidelines. The first thing to ask is ‘What do you want out of the space’. Will it be a space to entertain, are you wanting to plant to attract wildlife, do you intend to grow edibles, is colour important, do you prefer a lush, green backdrop, or does a blend of many elements suit you best. Making these decisions early on, regardless of the size of the space, can go a long way to ensuring you get what you want out of your garden. Jane’s courtyard is a mix of many elements.

Light:
In almost every small space situation, light can be a determining factor in relation to what works, and what doesn’t. Before planting anything, gardeners should understand how light works and how much streams into the small space, and remember that it can change considerably throughout the day, and the year. Selecting plants that work with light conditions is a big tip – plants in the right place are generally happier, healthier and more productive.

Pots:
Pots are a fantastic option in any garden, but really come into their own in a small space. Pots of different sizes, shapes, colours and materials are abundant in Janes courtyard, adding colour and movement to the space, regardless of the planting. Jane groups pots together, which not only creates real interest and “planted clusters’ on her bricks, it also helps the pots to retain moisture, protecting them from drying wind and sun. Pots dry out faster than plants in a garden bed, so Jane recommends a good quality potting mix, keeping the water up and adding both compost and worm castings to the soil to help with moisture retention.

Green Waste in a Small Space:
Although Jane’s space is small, she has a working compost bin and worm farm, which helps manage prunings, clippings, green and kitchen waste and provides her with loads of free fertiliser. Positioning these in a shady patch of the garden means they fill a spot that may have been tricky to plant in, and the shade provides the bins some protection from the hot, summer sun. When planning a garden of any size, consider what you will do with the inevitable garden waste. There is a compost or worm farm solution to suit just about any space, including balconies.

Vertical Accents:
Whether it’s a wall, a tree trunk, a gazebo or a fence, don’t forget about the vertical space. It may be a collection of hanging baskets, espaliered fruit trees or, as it is in Jane’s case, lattice panels around the boundary fence supporting climbers. Jane grows Jasmine, but there are many other options depending on your garden style, including passionfruit, formal ficus, and habitat-forming hardenbergia. Climbers are great in small gardens because they can be pruned and trained quite flat, meaning more plants in less space.

Colour:
Colour in any garden is paramount, and can be achieved through mixes of foliage and flowers, as Jane has done. A ripper tip for new gardeners craving some colour – don’t buy all your plants at once. Heading to the local nursery at different times of the year will show you what is in flower throughout the seasons, allowing you to select for year-round colour. And while Jane’s courtyard is certainly colourful, there is one plant that she cannot go past at the moment – Tropaeolum tricolor, the Chilean Nasturtium.

Featured Plants:
CHILEAN NASTURTIUM – Tropaeolum tricolor
PINK JASMINE – Jasminum polyanthum*
CREPE MYRTLE – Lagerstroemia cv.
*Check before planting: this may be an environmental weed in your area

Filmed on Boon Wurrung, Bunurong & Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country | Melbourne, Vic
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