| Perfect Designs For A Small Garden | | | | Strong shapes such as circles (arranged diagonally) will |
| The trick to getting the best from a small garden is | | | | make a small garden appear wider and longer. At the |
| planning. Before you begin, you need to narrow your | | | | heart of this garden is an open grassy circle (to give |
| wish-list to your top priorities. In a bigger garden, for | | | | kids room to run about), while the smaller paved |
| example, you might have a barbecue area; in a small | | | | circles are used as seating/dining areas. Stepping |
| garden, you may have to settle for a space for a | | | | stones lead to a tucked-away play area. Children will |
| portable barbecue and devise a storage plan when it's | | | | also love the shape of the allium plant, or ornamental |
| not in use. Small family gardens are hardest to plan as | | | | onion. It flowers in early summer, likes most soils and |
| you'll need to find room for a play area. | | | | is easy to care for. |
| We asked garden designer Katrina Wells of Earth | | | | Will it take much looking after? |
| Designs to come up with three different designs. Our | | | | The lawn will need cutting once a week in the |
| tip is to choose light-reflecting colours and add details | | | | summer, and if you go for low-maintenance plants, |
| you'd find indoors, such as mirrors, to increase the | | | | such as hebes, you'll only need to give it a quick tidy. |
| sense of space. As for budget, we've suggested | | | | Are there any space-stretching tricks I can use? |
| where you can make savings. All you have to do is | | | | Paint walls and fences white to make space appear |
| choose the right plan for you. | | | | bigger, keep planting in borders low to make the |
| Low Maintenance In A Small Garden | | | | garden seem wider, and go for a low-level chest |
| Creating a two-level garden linked by steps and | | | | storage unit instead of a tall shed. |
| flanked by split-level pools fed with waterfalls gives | | | | How can I cut costs? |
| the space more interest. The design is bordered by | | | | This is not an expensive garden to create, but you |
| raised flowerbeds and built-in bench seating, which | | | | can cut down on planting by making the central |
| can seat more guests than garden chairs. A colourful | | | | grassed area larger, or by stretching it into an oval to |
| buddleia is an ideal standard plant for this kind of | | | | fill more of the borders. |
| garden; easy to care for, it will attract lots of bees | | | | Small Secluded Garden |
| and butterflies when it flowers. | | | | Want seclusion? Then this is the garden for you. All |
| Will it take much looking after? Raised beds can be | | | | walls/fences have trellis panels fixed to their fronts |
| much easier to look after than borders and you | | | | and tops so that climbers can be trained up to hide |
| won't need to get on all fours to tend them. The | | | | the space from onlookers. The wide S-shaped path is |
| rest of this garden is given over to paving, which will | | | | cobbled for a relaxed feel, so make sure you choose |
| only need an occasional sweep. | | | | a table and chairs with chunky legs to avoid wobble. |
| Are there any space-stretching tricks I can use? An | | | | Go for low-maintenance exotics, which provide |
| attractive standard plant, urn or statuette at the end | | | | year-round interest, and place large plants, such as |
| of the garden will provide a focal point and draw the | | | | tree ferns and a windmill palm, in the borders, so that |
| eye to the garden's furthest part, tricking you into | | | | the shed can't be seen from indoors and the bench is |
| seeing it as larger than it is. Benches with lift-up lids | | | | hidden from neighbouring houses. Passionflowers |
| give more storage. If you need a play area for | | | | grow quickly, but won't damage fences or brickwork |
| children, swap tiles for decking in the lower part of | | | | if given supports, such as a trellis, to cling to. |
| the garden and sink a hidden sandpit beneath a | | | | Will it take much looking after? Once planted, this |
| section of it? | | | | garden will look after itself -- aside from the odd |
| How can I cut costs? Raised beds look great, but will | | | | pruning of climbers, such as clematis, and the addition |
| cost money to install, so you could opt for | | | | of some bright summer blooms, like lilies or poppies. |
| ground-level planting. Small gardens are more | | | | How can I cut costs? There's an urn water feature |
| interesting if you add extras, like water features, but | | | | here, but you could replace this with an eye-catching |
| you could replace these with more borders and swap | | | | plant, such as zebra grass. Swap the patio cobbles |
| decorative paving for gravel or decking. | | | | for gravel, which is cheaper to buy and easier to lay. |
| Small Family Garden | | | | |