Just because your garden is on the slightly smaller side doesn’t mean that you can’t create a beautiful and captivating space outside, one that all the family loves to spend time in.  Shakespeare said it best when he said of Hermia, “though she be but little, she is fierce” - and this is something you should certainly bear in mind when it comes to designing gardens of diminutive stature, as well. Size truly doesn’t matter and, in fact, all gardens have potential to be beautiful, no matter how big or small they are.

Where To Begin

First of all, you need to think about the functionality of the space and how you intend to use it. If you love having family and friends over, work out how many people you can accommodate in the space, as this will help you work out other design decisions. Alternatively you could be looking to create a private oasis in a compact city garden space, somewhere to escape the concrete jungle! Or perhaps you want to start growing your own food, so deciding what to plant early on is a wise idea, as well - and don’t forget that you can always use containers to grow herbs, veggies and plants if you’re short on in-ground planting space.

Play With Height and Depth

Use your planting skills to great effect to create a feeling of space and depth in your garden, by introducing shrubs, bushes and plants at different heights. A good trick to elongate a space is planting upwards, for example, where tall plants can help lead the eye further around the space. You can change the perspective of your garden by creating different levels, perhaps by raising your flower beds or building a raised lawn.

Elevating your furniture by using great modern fashionable garden products like hanging chairs will help to create the illusion of more floor space in a small garden. Mirrors have become a popular garden accessory in recent times and can be used to great effect by installing them on a back wall, which will make a garden seem much longer than it actually is.

Zone Your Garden

Dividing your garden up can make it seem bigger and more multifunctional, and this is easy to achieve by using different types of flooring to signify the various parts of the space. For dining, a paved patio would work well, while you could use timber elsewhere and patches of grass to help you give different parts of the garden their own textures and styles.

Use Optical Illusions

Tricking the eye is another way of making a small garden seem bigger than it actually is - and you could have a lot of fun coming up with different ways to use optical illusions outside. What about laying your concrete paving slabs diagonally instead of square? This can make the garden as a whole look a lot bigger - and opt for lighter colours for the slabs to make it feel more open and airy. Or you could paint horizontal stripes along your garden fence to make it seem wider, or vertical ones if it’s a sense of height you’re after.

If you’d like any further hints or tips, get in touch with the Gardenstone team today.