Small Space Success
Not every garden is a sprawling 12 acre site, some are small, secluded and intimate.
This is a prime example of how clever design can bring to life a forgotten outside space. Putting into play the three principles of good garden design – Purpose, Place and Plants.
Purpose:
To install a patio in which can be used as a seating area, with a pathway to the garage, to create a good route from the sliding doors of the house to the garage door at the end of the garden.
Place:
To ensure a place for effective planting, where to position this area and where to locate other seating areas in the garden
Plants:
To effectively choose shade tolerant planting on one side of the garden, and latterly in the summer drought tolerant planting for the summer months.
Essentially, this is a garden of two halves, shade and sun. This winter we were tackling the patio seating area which was installed as standard, then planting up a built raised bed with shade tolerant evergreen, easy to manage planting.
A garden isn’t a garden without good planting, and this planting is easy to manage and should thrive in this shaded spot. Viburnum Tinus, Hellebore, Hydrangea, Jasmine, Hebe and Euonymous and ferns should all cope well with these conditions.
We made this frankly derelict garden into a space that is usable, attractive and ultimately beautiful, because small gardens matter – they matter to the people that own them, and to me, who loves creating superb outside spaces.