This Clever Trick Will Make Your Small Garden Feel Bigger
Add a destination to the end of your garden and devise a journey to it to create the illusion of more space
Are you wondering how to add interest to your small garden and give it a more spacious feel? The technique that professionals often use when designing compact plots is to create a leisurely journey through it to a secluded area at the end. This helps to slow you down, adds areas for the eyes to rest on, and brings mystery to the space, all of which can turn a bland little plot into a garden that looks larger than it actually is.
Take a look these five ways professionals on Houzz have added a journey to a small garden to find inspiration for your own outdoor area.
Take a look these five ways professionals on Houzz have added a journey to a small garden to find inspiration for your own outdoor area.
2. Incorporate zones along a route
You can slow down the journey through a garden by adding a few ‘pit stops’ along the way. Decide on the type of areas you’d like to include in your outdoor space first and plan around these.
For example, in this narrow garden, designer Natasha Nuttall has dotted a few smaller seating and dining areas along the route to the larger lounging zone at the end. Each seating zone is hidden with lush planting to add depth and a sense of mystery, all of which increases that all-important feeling of space.
Discover more expert tricks in this lush garden.
You can slow down the journey through a garden by adding a few ‘pit stops’ along the way. Decide on the type of areas you’d like to include in your outdoor space first and plan around these.
For example, in this narrow garden, designer Natasha Nuttall has dotted a few smaller seating and dining areas along the route to the larger lounging zone at the end. Each seating zone is hidden with lush planting to add depth and a sense of mystery, all of which increases that all-important feeling of space.
Discover more expert tricks in this lush garden.
3. Go for a curved path
The best way to ensure a leisurely walk through your garden is to create a route that meanders. So rather than a straight path, consider a curved walkway instead. As well as extending the journey, the path will allow for planting that hides the end of the plot a little, adding a sense of intrigue to your small garden.
In this outdoor space, designer Joanne Bernstein swapped the existing straight path for a curved design, which slowly winds through the garden to the secluded seating area at the back.
Visit the rest of this small, verdant retreat.
Easily find and hire garden designers on Houzz.
The best way to ensure a leisurely walk through your garden is to create a route that meanders. So rather than a straight path, consider a curved walkway instead. As well as extending the journey, the path will allow for planting that hides the end of the plot a little, adding a sense of intrigue to your small garden.
In this outdoor space, designer Joanne Bernstein swapped the existing straight path for a curved design, which slowly winds through the garden to the secluded seating area at the back.
Visit the rest of this small, verdant retreat.
Easily find and hire garden designers on Houzz.
4. Interrupt a paved garden with planting
If you have a completely paved garden, try breaking up the space with areas of planting to create the illusion of a path.
This garden is essentially a paved central zone with borders either side, but it doesn’t look like that at all. The designers at GRDN have sliced into the paving to create lush green areas that break up the hard landscaping and make it look like a meandering route.
Shrubs, perennials and ground cover plants are dotted throughout the area, as well as a water feature, creating a slow, winding journey to the garden room with plenty of places for the eye to rest along the way.
See how this garden was given a layered design.
More: What Happens When You Hire a Garden Designer?
If you have a completely paved garden, try breaking up the space with areas of planting to create the illusion of a path.
This garden is essentially a paved central zone with borders either side, but it doesn’t look like that at all. The designers at GRDN have sliced into the paving to create lush green areas that break up the hard landscaping and make it look like a meandering route.
Shrubs, perennials and ground cover plants are dotted throughout the area, as well as a water feature, creating a slow, winding journey to the garden room with plenty of places for the eye to rest along the way.
See how this garden was given a layered design.
More: What Happens When You Hire a Garden Designer?
5. Add some height to slow you down
If you can’t add curves to your small garden, you could create interest by incorporating different levels. A few steps up or down will give the space depth and encourage a slow walk through the plot to the end destination.
Here, for example, the seating zone at the back of the garden, designed by Viriditas Studio, is reached by climbing a few steps to a raised area. The added level has made the tiny space feel larger and has also allowed depth for a pond to be installed along the route.
Find out more about this wildlife-rich redesign.
Tell us…
Which of these ideas could work in your small garden? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
If you can’t add curves to your small garden, you could create interest by incorporating different levels. A few steps up or down will give the space depth and encourage a slow walk through the plot to the end destination.
Here, for example, the seating zone at the back of the garden, designed by Viriditas Studio, is reached by climbing a few steps to a raised area. The added level has made the tiny space feel larger and has also allowed depth for a pond to be installed along the route.
Find out more about this wildlife-rich redesign.
Tell us…
Which of these ideas could work in your small garden? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
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To create a journey through your garden, you’ll need to add a destination. So before you begin planning the layout, focus your attention on the back of the plot. What could you add that would encourage you to go there? A seating or dining area might be a good option, or perhaps a garden room or vegetable patch.
In this scheme by Jane Ashley Garden Design, a pond has been installed at the rear of the space. The water is surrounded by planting, which blurs the boundary and adds more depth to the area. There’s also a seat nearby, so the owner can walk to the end of her garden and enjoy observing the wildlife in the pond.
See more of this small wildlife haven.