Small gardens, particularly in built-up areas, tend to be overlooked on two or three sides by other properties. This means you often have little privacy and too much shade. Award-winning garden designer Kate Gould reveals how to make the most of a teeny outdoor space. Kate Gould has used different levels and hard landscaping to turn this city garden into an attractive outdoor room Adjacent trees and overgrown shrubs can have invasive roots that in time render even the best laid paving uneven, so defining the extent of hard landscaping in the garden in relation to the surrounding planting is very important. Some shrubs with extremely fleshy and juicy fruit can permanently stain natural stone and Laurel, in particular, with its blue-black fruit causes violent purple marks on paving. An area of loose aggregate or dense shrub planting under something like this would be worth considering. Silver Birch are amazing options and have merit in small gardens, retained in planters of similar size, helping to create a natural barrier and enhancing your privacy.  All weather sofas help to blur the distinction between the inside and the out Choosing furniture and creating attractive storage outside can contribute hugely towards making your garden a truly unique space and one that lends itself to use all year round. Although a high maintenance piece, in small gardens mirrored surfaces are hugely beneficial in bouncing light round the garden and making the space feel far larger than it actually is.
Terraces with outdoor sofas and generous dining tables look fabulous when they are dressed with cushions, lit with candles and filled with friends and family. 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, Kate’s work can be viewed at www.kategouldgardens.com
1 Comment
|