Making the most of your garden: even in a small space

For many of us, it feels as though our garden could always be bigger, and we don’t have enough space to truly make the most of our gardens. Whether your garden is currently unloved, or you’re always trying to make the most of your green-space, we’ve got the solution for you. 

Together with Suttons, our top-tips will make a smaller garden look bigger and at its best this summer, so that you can enjoy garden, even if it’s only you that fits in it!

Onwards and upwards: growing vertically

If your garden is short of space, and you would like to grow more plants, vegetables and flowers, then why not try growing vertically as opposed to along the ground?

Growing food

Squash, beans and varieties of cucumber (not the bush variety) can be planted on a trellis, or for pole beans try using a bean tepee plant supports. Bamboo can be formed together at the top, so that the beans can grow to at least 5 feet tall. Whether you’re using a trellis, or a tepee, be sure to guide the fruit or vegetable carefully as you don’t want to break their stems.

Upside-down planters

Bringing your garden into the 21st century, upside-down planters look as though they are straight from a sci-fi film. By growing your plants upside-down whilst they are hanging, your garden is provided with a futuristic aesthetic that is sure to turn a few heads.

To save on your valuable ground space, try hanging these planters from trees in your garden – or your fence. They can also be used for planting tomatoes, so if you don’t want a trellis to take up too much space, this could be the perfect solution for you! 

Tiered planters

As a quirky alternative to raised flowerbeds that can take up too much room on the ground, tiered planters will usually sit alongside your wall as a feature. 

Tall upright plants such as thrillers create a striking look in your planters, and could be used as a feature against the wall. Or, if you’d like a more traditional look and feel within your garden, why not try spillers, which flow outwards and trail over the sides of your planters – cascading down. If you’d like a mixture of various plants, then why not try fillers, which sit in amongst spillers to make a distinction of colour and texture within your planters when it comes to the blooms and foliage that you choose to use. 

Creating focal points

Even when you’ve got limited amounts of space on the floor of your garden, this doesn’t mean that you can’t create an interesting feature that stands out. A focal point can provide the illusion of space by creating defined areas within your garden and immediately direct the eye towards it. Here are some of the best, quick and easy features to implement:

- A cluster of plants. This may take the form of a collection of all white flowers, such as the Mexican fleabane, or alternatively, lavender could fill this space full of colour and fragrance. 

- Bird baths. A bird bath is a great way of attracting wildlife that you wouldn’t otherwise see in your garden, especially in the summer. Or alternatively, other ornamentation is likely to attract birds that like to perch when resting. 

- A bench. If space is limited, why not try placing a bench in the corner so that you can sit down as part of the garden. Not only will this solve the problem of not being able to move around freely – you’ll always be able to enjoy your garden in comfort. 

Efficient gardening

As you’ve not got a lot of space in your garden, you’re probably already very efficient with the space that you use – finding where to plant new flowers in the available space that you have. 

However, there are little tricks to making sure that you’re making the most of your garden’s available space. First, make sure that you’re attending to your priorities. For example, do you have areas of gravel that could be used for new flowers or other ornamentation that could create a focal point in your garden?

Or, if there’s ornaments that you simply don’t care about anymore, such as garden gnomes, then you should make a habit of getting rid of them; in a small garden, anything that is taking up available space will always make your garden look smaller. Alternatively, when there’s a small gap between ornaments or flower pots, then why not try planting a flower bed in-between, that will help you to save space, but will also direct your eye to somewhere new within the garden. 

These aren’t the only ways of making the most of a small garden. As long as you’re sensible, and you use space effectively, then you’re bound to make your garden look bigger than it actually is. By sticking to our guide, you’re on your way to making sure your garden is as visually and physically spacious as it can be.