10 Clever Ideas for Tiny Gardens (2024)

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Small can be very beautiful when it comes to gardens, as these compact but bijou outside spaces confirm

Jennifer Louise Ebert28 July, 2014

Houzz contributor and UK-based freelance journalist with more than 5 years experience of writing for interiors and lifestyle publications.

Small gardens need to be planned with as much, if not more attention to detail than larger ones. Every inch of space must work hard, from the seating to the surfaces, and often the key lies in treating the garden as you would a room in your house: decorating it, furnishing it and adding accessories. As there is nowhere to hide in a small garden, the planting should be carefully chosen, too, for its shape, colour and height, but also with a thought for how it will look all year round, as it’s likely to be visible. Luckily, though, space may be limited but often, so too is maintenance, making small gardens easy to enjoy once up and running. Here are 10 great outdoor rooms that show how to make a little go a long way.

Chantel Elshout Studio

Build in garden furniture
Building permanent garden furniture is often the best use of space in a small garden. It also allows you to incorporate storage and planters into your seating structure. A built-in bench in this narrow garden is teamed with colourful chairs, to soften its strong lines.

Jeffrey Erb

Tuck in a tree
You might think that trees and small gardens are incompatible, but it is simply a matter of choosing the right tree variety to fit your space. Small ornamental species, such as acers, olives and crab apples, provide colour and shape to your garden, without growing too huge. Many varieties can even be grown in large planters, so they can also be moved around and always look neat.

SRM Architecture and Interiors

Find inspiration in the East
Traditional Japanese gardens are minimally designed, with just a few shrubs and plenty of open pathways, to create a serene atmosphere. Borrow those ideas for your own petite back yard, keeping the planting restrained and the feel calm.

See gardens inspired by countries all over the world.

Mitchell Berry Architects

Keep it simple
Simple ideas tend to work best in small spaces, so control the number of plants you put in (remember to choose dwarf, slow-growing plants or hardy perennials) and limit the number of features and materials you try to incorporate. In this garden, wood for the deck and painted planters make a calm backdrop. Uniform evergreen planting around the borders and a few climbing plants add soft notes of green while smart wooden seating is the final ingredient of this sleek little garden.

See more ideas for making a small garden feel bigger

Diego Correa Interior Design

Install curvy planters
Including interesting sculptures and ornaments, or something more structural, such as these curvaceous planters, helps to create interest in a small-scale garden, where there is limited room for lush planting.

Beertje Vonk

Squeeze in a shed
Think you can’t build structures such as sheds and storage units in a small garden? Think again! This timber building includes a sheltered space to sit and storage, too. It has been painted in a tonal hue to echo its surroundings rather than stand out and slots in beautifully against the garden fence.

There are hundreds of garden shed designs to choose from, discover more here.

Hampstead Garden Design

Create an outdoor room
Kit out your tiny balcony or modest courtyard as you would a room in your home. Here, simple decking and generous, sofa-style seating turn a small outdoor space into a sociable hub, for you and your friends to enjoy. Add potted plants around the borders to soften the look and provide some natural colour.

See 10 ways to create an indoor/outdoor space

Luxe Interior International

Define your style
There is no room to be scrappy in a small garden, so identify a style you like and roll it out. Think about the aspects that define this style, from the layout, to the colours, materials and plant species. White built-in seating and rendered planters, for example, are often associated with modernist gardens, while richer earth tones bring a Mediterranean feel.

10 Clever Ideas for Tiny Gardens (2024)

Small can be very beautiful when it comes to gardens, as these compact but bijou outside spaces confirm

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