Do you have a small outdoor space that needs some TLC? If so, you’ve come to the right place.
Small gardens require greater attention to detail than acres of land. You’ve got to make every inch of the space work, without allowing it to become too overcrowded or unusable. Luckily, this is simple to do, thanks to the tips mentioned in this guide. Read on to discover how to make your small garden look bigger.
Small Garden Ideas
1. Use Shelves
Surprisingly, some indoor space-saving hacks can be just as useful outdoors. This is particularly true with shelving.
If you have sturdy walls surrounding your garden, install some floating shelves onto them. You can use these shelves to hold any planters in containers, saving up a whole load of room on the ground.
Placing plants on shelves not only looks great; it also makes caring for them ten times easier. Instead of having to crouch down to tend to the plants, you can now water them at your level. Wave goodbye to back pain!
2. Install Window Planters
Similarly to shelves, window planters help to reduce the need for plants on the ground. As the name suggests, you hang these planters onto your windows. Just remember to use smaller plants in your window boxes; otherwise, they may block your view.
3. Paint Fencing White
Many small garden owners utilise white paint and furniture to make the space look bigger. White is an incredibly bright colour; it will help to open up your garden and give the illusion that it’s bigger than it is.
To make the most of this, paint any fencing or walls white and also consider getting white garden furniture. The contrast between your white paint and green plants will look very on-trend.
4. …And Stick To A Colour Theme
Although white is the go-to colour when opening up a space, you don’t have to limit yourself. Colour themes also look great in small gardens, just as long as you don’t exceed two different colours. White compliments most colours, so you won’t have a problem here.
Clashing lots of colours in your garden will make it look loud, and as a result, crowded. Instead, stick to pastel colours and a colour theme for continuity.
5. Take The Less Is More Approach
Garden clutter is often the one thing that makes the space look even smaller. With this in mind, try to take the ‘less is more’ approach whenever possible.
The ‘less is more’ approach focuses on things you can’t live without while cutting out objects that serve no purpose. This is particularly helpful for your garden, as it will make you realise just how much stuff you don’t actually need.
Minimalism is the way forward when it comes to garden design, so avoid cluttering too many plants together and create a space that you can actually move around.
6. Grow Tall Plants, Not Wide
Let’s be real – a garden isn’t a garden without some plants. However, with small gardens, it can be hard to know what to plant while trying to save space! This is where ‘tall plants’ come in to play.
Rather than growing shrubs or building a vegetable patch, focus on growing taller plants and flowers. These plants will grow upwards rather than outwards, saving floor space.
Tall plants include foxgloves, strelitzias and wild irises. However, we also recommend adding climbers to fences, such as:
- Honeysuckles
- Jasmine
- Clematis
Absolutely any garden will benefit from plants; you just have to learn how to tweak them to your advantage!
7. Avoid Raised Beds
If you’re a fan of raised beds, we have some bad news for you. While raised beds are stunning (and fairly easy to maintain), they take up a lot of space. Building raised beds along the edges of your garden will create a huge boarder, reducing the garden’s size even more so.
Instead of using raised beds, opts for window planters and shelving, as mentioned earlier in this guide.
8. Add Levels
Although raised beds might be out of the question, you can still have some fun with levels. If the space and planning permission allows it, consider creating two different levels in your garden. For example, have a decking area on the lower level, and a raised lawn on the higher level. This will create the illusion of a bigger garden while also adding some more interest.
9. Experiment With Garden Walls
If you’re familiar with interior design, you’ll know just how powerful feature walls can be. The idea behind feature walls is that, instead of decorating all four walls, you put decor on just one. This helps to open up a space, while still keeping it interesting.
You can apply the same ‘feature wall method’ to your garden. If you have one side of fencing that’s particularly exposed, use this as your feature wall and decorate it with various plants and decorations. This will help to reduce garden clutter while also making the space look more exciting.
10. Plan Different Zones
If you want to spend as much time as possible in your garden, it needs to be a space that caters to lots of different activities. Creating ‘zones’ will help to guarantee this.
Creating zones is all about dedicating certain areas of your garden to different functions. For example, having one area for BBQ and seating, and another for gardening and plants. By creating distinctive zones, your garden becomes easier to utilise; no matter the size.
11. Build A Multi-Functional Shed
Sheds take up quite a lot of room, but this doesn’t have to be a bad thing if you’re clever about it. Building a multi-functional shed can actually save you some space.
That’s right – sheds don’t just have to be for storage. They can also be made into bars or mini seating areas for the chillier days. Combining all three of these purposes together cuts out the need to take up any space elsewhere!
12. Relax With A Hammock
Hammocks. Every garden needs one, but not every garden has one. Hammocks are a great distraction; near enough everyone gets excited when they see one. With this in mind, hanging one in your garden will distract visitors from its size. And, you’ll have a relaxing spot to reside in; it’s a win-win!
As you can see, there are many tips and tricks that help to make your small garden look bigger. Unleash your creativity and see what you can do!
