How to Lay Out a Long, Narrow Garden
Create the illusion of width and space with these clever tricks from garden professionals
When you’re confronted with an outdoor plot that’s long and thin, it can be tricky to decide how to lay it out. Where do you locate your flowerbeds and seating areas? How do you make it appear wider?
But a garden like this can have lots of potential. “With imagination and care, it’s possible to create some wonderful spaces,” garden designer Jane Ashley says, provided you avoid a few things, including a narrow border down each side, a straight path from one end to the other, a long lawn, and an uninterrupted view of the rear boundary.
A professional garden designer will be able to create a space that’s perfect for your plot, but to get you started, four experts share some ingenious tips and tricks to help you envision a more effective layout for your long, thin space.
Professional advice from: Simon Orchard of Simon Orchard Garden Design; Georgia Lindsay of Georgia Lindsay Garden Design; Jane Ashley of Jane Ashley Garden Design; Peter Reader of Peter Reader Landscapes
Beginning your garden project? Read How to Start a Garden Redesign
But a garden like this can have lots of potential. “With imagination and care, it’s possible to create some wonderful spaces,” garden designer Jane Ashley says, provided you avoid a few things, including a narrow border down each side, a straight path from one end to the other, a long lawn, and an uninterrupted view of the rear boundary.
A professional garden designer will be able to create a space that’s perfect for your plot, but to get you started, four experts share some ingenious tips and tricks to help you envision a more effective layout for your long, thin space.
Professional advice from: Simon Orchard of Simon Orchard Garden Design; Georgia Lindsay of Georgia Lindsay Garden Design; Jane Ashley of Jane Ashley Garden Design; Peter Reader of Peter Reader Landscapes
Beginning your garden project? Read How to Start a Garden Redesign
2. Play with angles and shapes
Simon recommends setting out the garden at 45 degrees to the long boundary, so you’re taken on a zigzag journey rather than a straight line. “This will help to take the eye off the long view and give the impression the garden’s wider than it is,” he says.
“This form of optical illusion can also be used in any areas of patio paving,” Peter Reader says. Both Peter and Simon recommend laying pavers so the long side runs across the garden and the short side is parallel with the long boundary. “This will visually trick the eye into thinking the garden is wider than it is,” Simon says. “Use plank-shaped paving to enhance this effect.”
Simon says that many stone suppliers will offer plank paving in their range, or may offer a cutting service to cut a standard 900x600mm slab into two plank slabs of 900x300mm.
Read reviews of landscape gardeners and contractors on Houzz today.
Simon recommends setting out the garden at 45 degrees to the long boundary, so you’re taken on a zigzag journey rather than a straight line. “This will help to take the eye off the long view and give the impression the garden’s wider than it is,” he says.
“This form of optical illusion can also be used in any areas of patio paving,” Peter Reader says. Both Peter and Simon recommend laying pavers so the long side runs across the garden and the short side is parallel with the long boundary. “This will visually trick the eye into thinking the garden is wider than it is,” Simon says. “Use plank-shaped paving to enhance this effect.”
Simon says that many stone suppliers will offer plank paving in their range, or may offer a cutting service to cut a standard 900x600mm slab into two plank slabs of 900x300mm.
Read reviews of landscape gardeners and contractors on Houzz today.
3. Position the path to create a journey
The angle of your garden path will also have an effect on how you see the layout.
“A path that snakes back and forth really makes the garden feel wider,” Peter says. “It also tends to draw the eye in patterns across the garden, rather than straight down, which visually makes it feel a bigger space.
“For people who like curves,” he adds, “a carefully meandering curved path is an eye-pleasing way to help make the garden feel a bit wider.”
More: How to Choose the Best Flooring for Your Patio
The angle of your garden path will also have an effect on how you see the layout.
“A path that snakes back and forth really makes the garden feel wider,” Peter says. “It also tends to draw the eye in patterns across the garden, rather than straight down, which visually makes it feel a bigger space.
“For people who like curves,” he adds, “a carefully meandering curved path is an eye-pleasing way to help make the garden feel a bit wider.”
More: How to Choose the Best Flooring for Your Patio
4. Blur the boundaries to visually widen the space
“A long garden will feel more claustrophobic and hemmed in if the boundary limits the space,” Georgia says. “The parameters should never feel finite, meaning you don’t want to see your fence panels in their entirety, otherwise you’ll be reminded of the limitations of your garden.
“Break up the boundary treatment with planting textures and contrasting materials,” she continues. “This will give the illusion of some of the boundary receding and other parts coming to the fore.”
“The best strategy is often to clothe fences with good climbers, so the fencing nearly disappears and you can’t immediately see clearly where the side boundary is,” Jane says. “In order to get really good plant cover on fences, it’s helpful to have strong tensioned wires or trellis for the climbers to be trained on, and to assiduously train the plants horizontally in their early years.”
Evergreen climbers such as Trachelospermum jasminoides (star jasmine) will work well, but if you have a large span of fence to cover, Solanum crispum ‘Glasnevin’ (potato tree) or some of the vigorous clematis, such as Clematis armandii, which is evergreen, or Clematis montana, which isn’t, are faster growing and can also do an excellent job at covering fences,” she says.
“A long garden will feel more claustrophobic and hemmed in if the boundary limits the space,” Georgia says. “The parameters should never feel finite, meaning you don’t want to see your fence panels in their entirety, otherwise you’ll be reminded of the limitations of your garden.
“Break up the boundary treatment with planting textures and contrasting materials,” she continues. “This will give the illusion of some of the boundary receding and other parts coming to the fore.”
“The best strategy is often to clothe fences with good climbers, so the fencing nearly disappears and you can’t immediately see clearly where the side boundary is,” Jane says. “In order to get really good plant cover on fences, it’s helpful to have strong tensioned wires or trellis for the climbers to be trained on, and to assiduously train the plants horizontally in their early years.”
Evergreen climbers such as Trachelospermum jasminoides (star jasmine) will work well, but if you have a large span of fence to cover, Solanum crispum ‘Glasnevin’ (potato tree) or some of the vigorous clematis, such as Clematis armandii, which is evergreen, or Clematis montana, which isn’t, are faster growing and can also do an excellent job at covering fences,” she says.
5. Choose your fences carefully
While hiding a fence with planting is a good idea, Peter says it’s also worth thinking about the shapes and lines of the fence itself. “A lot of fence panels have vertical slats, but fences with horizontal slats are also available,” he says. “Like the paving trick, horizontal slats exaggerate the width of the space and can help to make the garden feel wider and larger.”
Jane adds a suggestion on the colour of your fences as well. “If for any reason you don’t want to cover the side fences with climbers,” she says, “then as an alternative I would stain them in a light colour, as light colours tend to recede and make the space look wider.”
More: Your Essential Guide to Choosing and Installing a Garden Fence
While hiding a fence with planting is a good idea, Peter says it’s also worth thinking about the shapes and lines of the fence itself. “A lot of fence panels have vertical slats, but fences with horizontal slats are also available,” he says. “Like the paving trick, horizontal slats exaggerate the width of the space and can help to make the garden feel wider and larger.”
Jane adds a suggestion on the colour of your fences as well. “If for any reason you don’t want to cover the side fences with climbers,” she says, “then as an alternative I would stain them in a light colour, as light colours tend to recede and make the space look wider.”
More: Your Essential Guide to Choosing and Installing a Garden Fence
6. Go large with your planting
“As already mentioned, beds reaching out into the middle of the space can break it up, but also, beds that have a good depth (say 1m) are generally advisable,” Peter says.
As well as allowing you to grow taller plants to hide the boundaries of the garden, this will enable you to layer the planting within the bed. “This means having taller plants towards the back of the bed, medium height plants in the middle, and low ground cover to the front. This layering is attractive, breaks up the boundaries more and makes the space feel deeper,” he says.
Georgia recommends growing plants such as grasses and Verbena bonariensis. “Their strong, upright structure creates the feeling of a room boundary, but, by allowing glimpses of the next room through them, they create interest and retain a feeling of space,” she says.
Both Georgia and Peter highlight the importance of adding trees to your garden. “Small trees such as Acer, Amelanchier and some varieties of flowering cherries break up the garden view at a higher level, but also allow you to see through to the next room underneath the canopy,” Peter says. “This illustrates a design technique I describe as ‘transparent height’ that you can employ to create rooms, but with walls you can partly see through.
More: 10 Trees That Work in a Small Garden
“As already mentioned, beds reaching out into the middle of the space can break it up, but also, beds that have a good depth (say 1m) are generally advisable,” Peter says.
As well as allowing you to grow taller plants to hide the boundaries of the garden, this will enable you to layer the planting within the bed. “This means having taller plants towards the back of the bed, medium height plants in the middle, and low ground cover to the front. This layering is attractive, breaks up the boundaries more and makes the space feel deeper,” he says.
Georgia recommends growing plants such as grasses and Verbena bonariensis. “Their strong, upright structure creates the feeling of a room boundary, but, by allowing glimpses of the next room through them, they create interest and retain a feeling of space,” she says.
Both Georgia and Peter highlight the importance of adding trees to your garden. “Small trees such as Acer, Amelanchier and some varieties of flowering cherries break up the garden view at a higher level, but also allow you to see through to the next room underneath the canopy,” Peter says. “This illustrates a design technique I describe as ‘transparent height’ that you can employ to create rooms, but with walls you can partly see through.
More: 10 Trees That Work in a Small Garden
7. Use repetition to trick the eye
“Keep your palette of plants relatively small and place multiples of the same plant throughout the beds in such a way that it leads your eye on the longer journey through the space, rather than directly to the bottom of the garden,” Georgia says. “This technique helps to make a space feel wider, and also adds continuity to the planting design overall.”
“Using increasing heights as you move further down the garden gives interest and variety without destroying depth,” Jane says. “Also, using warm colours at the end, with lighter colours nearer the house, helps to create intimacy.”
“If your more distant neighbours’ gardens have trees that you can see, then consider planting similar trees in your garden,” Peter adds. “In a similar way to the repetition in the planting beds, this causes your eye to pass from one tree to another and your mind joins them up as a group. This way you effectively borrow your neighbours’ trees to add to your own garden and this increases the illusion of more space.”
Tell us…
Do you have a long, narrow garden? Did you find these tips useful? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
“Keep your palette of plants relatively small and place multiples of the same plant throughout the beds in such a way that it leads your eye on the longer journey through the space, rather than directly to the bottom of the garden,” Georgia says. “This technique helps to make a space feel wider, and also adds continuity to the planting design overall.”
“Using increasing heights as you move further down the garden gives interest and variety without destroying depth,” Jane says. “Also, using warm colours at the end, with lighter colours nearer the house, helps to create intimacy.”
“If your more distant neighbours’ gardens have trees that you can see, then consider planting similar trees in your garden,” Peter adds. “In a similar way to the repetition in the planting beds, this causes your eye to pass from one tree to another and your mind joins them up as a group. This way you effectively borrow your neighbours’ trees to add to your own garden and this increases the illusion of more space.”
Tell us…
Do you have a long, narrow garden? Did you find these tips useful? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
“The challenge with a long, narrow garden is that it can create a tunnel effect,” garden designer Simon Orchard says. “The eye is drawn immediately to the end of the garden, with the result that you take in the whole garden in one go and are left feeling underwhelmed.”
“What I always think is imperative in all gardens, but particularly narrow ones, is to add a sense of mystery,” Georgia Lindsay says. “Create an unrevealed area to add a destination and avoid seeing the whole garden in one view.”
You can do this by splitting the length of the garden into zones, or ‘rooms’. “The zonal divisions can be based on attractive structures such as archways or trellis, but can sometimes be implemented more simply with planting,” Jane Ashley says. “This may involve suitable hedging or nice borders that jut out into the garden away from the boundary.”
“These ‘walls’ not only generate the rooms, they also prevent you from seeing all of the garden at once,” Peter Reader adds. He explains that zones will also help to make the width and length of the garden appear more equal, while Georgia says they will create a journey through the garden and encourage a slower pace. “Add punctuation points along the journey to encourage a pause to enjoy the garden in stages,” she says.
“Also consider raising or creating sunken areas, which will ‘disrupt’ (in a good way) the long view down the garden,” Simon adds.