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Designing the Perfect Small Garden
Small gardens can be just as beautiful and stylish as their larger counterparts. If you have limited space to work with, treat this as a design challenge and not as a disaster. This guide will show you how to make the most of a small garden space.

Make a Collage
It can be useful to assemble a collage or mood board with pictures that take your fancy from plant catalogues and deign magazines. Snip out your favourite pictures and lay them out on a piece of cardboard or an appropriately-size corkboard. Make sure your design fits the rough layout of your garden and don’t forget the areas that will be paved or grassed. Once you’re happy with the arrangement, stick or pin your cut-outs down. You can add material samples as the design process goes on. Using the advice of a garden designer can also be very helpful in the initial planning stages.

Practical Concerns
Is your garden shaped like a corridor? If it provides the main route to your front door, there are practical concerns to be taken into account. A gravel path will wear well and reduce the amount of dirt that enters the home, meaning that your clean carpets won’t suffer. It’s a good idea to choose plants that have fragrance as your small space will always smell pleasant, and plants that grow slowly as they don’t require as much trimming and your path won’t look overgrown.
Try not to overdo it with the amount of garden furniture you have in a small garden as it is easy for the space to look cluttered.

Using Colour
Don’t be afraid to use colour outside. Painting exposed brick, wooden fencing or garden furniture can add individuality and interest to your garden. You can choose much stronger shades outside as natural daylight lightens colour.

Outdoor Fires
For evenings spent making the most of your outdoor area, why not invest in a compact Chimenea, or natural outdoor heater? These can be made from clay, cast iron or steel and the bowl and flume are shaped so that maximum heat can be radiated around the garden.

Planting Trees
A small garden can still include trees, it’s just about finding the right variety to fit your space requirements. Make sure you test for your soil type before choosing a tree and consider a sapling that will emit fragrance, as this is much more noticeable when you’re in a small space.