Just because your garden is small, it doesn't mean it can't be beautiful, interesting and even different, if that's the feel you're after. You can achieve any look you want, as long as you plan carefully.
Kate Gould is an award-winning garden designer with more than a decade’s hands-on experience transforming gardens of all sizes. A regular exhibitor at the Chelsea Flower Show, here she passes on her tips for designing small gardens.
Kate Gould is an award-winning garden designer with more than a decade’s hands-on experience transforming gardens of all sizes. A regular exhibitor at the Chelsea Flower Show, here she passes on her tips for designing small gardens.
Kate Gould transformed this little London garden into a tranquil outdoor room
Most small gardens, and particularly town gardens, have to be practical, as well as visually appealing. The garden pictured here for instance, had to accommodate four children and a large dog, so base plants were kept to a minimum and seating maximised.
Often the only private area you can relax in, it may serve as a ‘room outside’ as well as a garden and, therefore, needs to work extra hard to provide year round interest.
Often the only private area you can relax in, it may serve as a ‘room outside’ as well as a garden and, therefore, needs to work extra hard to provide year round interest.
Here mirrors create the illusion of space in the garden and raised plants create a screen of privacy
This ‘all season interest’ encompasses both the hard landscaping, which realises the design and the soft landscaping, which should always be designed with plants that span the seasons. Nandina domestica and Heuchera provide the all year round effect here.
The hard landscaping often needs to be a material that can tolerate the shade, although it is asking a lot of a stone or wood not to naturally turn green with algae in areas of low light. The power of nature can only be defied so far, but with careful selection of products the ongoing maintenance of the scheme can be minimised. Think low maintenance, rather than no maintenance and a happy balance will be achieved.
To find out more about Kate’s work and how to contact her visit found at www.kategouldgardens.com
The hard landscaping often needs to be a material that can tolerate the shade, although it is asking a lot of a stone or wood not to naturally turn green with algae in areas of low light. The power of nature can only be defied so far, but with careful selection of products the ongoing maintenance of the scheme can be minimised. Think low maintenance, rather than no maintenance and a happy balance will be achieved.
To find out more about Kate’s work and how to contact her visit found at www.kategouldgardens.com
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