Small Garden Design Ideas

One of the challenges of small garden design is of course space Unlike large gardens, you must be much more disciplined in your approach. While experimentation is easier in the smaller garden, you will want to spend some time planning. You will need to be satisfied with fewer types of plants. Instead of buying a new plant spur of the moment, you will want to spend a little more time thinking about the potential new plant's fit in terms of spread, height, color and texture.

With the smaller garden design ideas, it is not as easy to do things like hidden turns and garden rooms. But this does not mean you need to throw away the elements of contemporary garden design. You have opportunities to do similar things on a smaller scale. Imagine you have a small garden space towards the back of your yard. It is on your right as you walk towards it. You can start with a low boxwood-type hedge, or in my case a rock about 12" high with a sharpish edge on the top. My rock is about 3 feet long. I laid the rock perpendicular to and touching my garage wall, forming a border shaped like a mountain range. As you walk further back, the area at first obscured by the rock reveals itself. I tried to make this more dramatic by using multicolored peonies planted very tightly against the side of the rock near the garage wall. This way, you see a small explosion of color that remains hidden until you have come completely to the level of the rock. This is my version of the hidden turn.

Space shouldn't be the deciding factor for a garden. Rather, the idea of implementation should be. If you're implementing any garden ideas for small gardens, you need to decide the reason behind building the garden. Some use it for relaxation, others to increase the beauty of their house and a few to enhance their surrounding area. Depending on the purpose, the type of plants to be used and the features for the garden can be decided. For every small garden, the boundary will be very crucial and hence it has to be defined carefully. If you decide to put up a fence, proper creepers should be planted near it.

Adding furniture to a garden can also hold a few of the best garden ideas for small gardens. This can beautify the garden's look. It's not necessary to use new furniture. Just using furniture made of wood can add an antique effect to the garden. A small table surrounded by a couple of chairs makes the garden a perfect reading spot. This can also facilitate small parties in the garden, giving you a natural camping effect. You can also use some small modifications like ponds with fish in your landscaping. Installing a small water fountain in the middle of the garden with night lighting brings out the garden's natural beauty.

It might also be a great idea to place colored sculptures, vases and pots around the garden. These can be circled by small plants and flowers to create an overgrown effect. But care must be taken not to add too many things because this will take away from the garden's natural beauty. And no matter what we may do with garden landscaping for small gardens, nothing can beat the lush and catching effect of green grass. Using grass for flooring just pleases the senses. But this will be a little harder to maintain as grass tends to grow very fast. Proper trimming using a lawn mower helps in this aspect.