Most small gardens and particularly town gardens have to be practical as well as visually appealing. The garden featured for instance had to accommodate four children and a large dog, so base plants were kept to a minimum and seating maximized.
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Often the only private area a client has to 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. This ‘all season interest’ encompasses both the hard landscaping which realizes 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 minimized. Think low maintenance, rather than no maintenance and a happy balance will be achieved.
In towns it is rare for a garden not to be overlooked on two or three sides by other properties which not only raise issues of how to create privacy but can also shade the garden and limit the planting palette. 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 results on paving. An area of loose aggregate or dense shrub planting under something like this would be worth considering. Silver Birch are the only plants of merit in this small garden, retained in planters of similar size helping to create the natural barrier and privacy.
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. In this instance it also serves as storage for the cushions.
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 found at kategouldgardens.com