How To Maximise Space In A Small Garden

How To Maximise Space In A Small Garden

Not everyone has or wants a large sprawling garden. Many homeowners have smaller gardens, either because they live in a city where space is at a premium or simply by choice because a busy lifestyle or other circumstances make large garden maintenance feel like a chore.

In this blog, we will share our top tips on how to maximise space in a small garden so you can enjoy the outdoors all year round.

Why Should You Love Having A Small Garden?

While owning a small garden comes with challenges, there are also many benefits!

A small outdoor space can create an extraordinary passion, even for former 'non-gardeners'! It's all about manageability, creativity and imaginative thinking. Small spaces are often more satisfying than larger plots because a gardener can manipulate, engineer and nurture every square centimetre of space to their liking. This would be an impossible aspiration in a large garden without an army of regular helpers and a tree that grows money! In a small garden, maintaining the space on a weekend can be feasible.

For example, a spare half an hour, put to good use, will make a big impact, whereas the same amount of time in a large plot will go almost, if not completely, unnoticed.

However, most homeowners also desire a practical garden with plenty of space to sit, entertain, and dine al fresco. And even more, they most likely want their garden to be beautiful and embrace nature, with plenty of flowers, plants, and other blooms. So let’s get right into it!

How to Maximise Space Using Vertical Structures

When designing a small garden with limited square footage, it is time to think about up rather than out.

Vertical garden structures for small gardens are the perfect way to bring all the elements you want into your space and still have room to move around! The following small garden structure ideas will help you design and create your dream garden where you can sit and relax with dedicated places for your beautiful plants and flowers.

Add A Pergola To Create Shade & Seating

Pergolas are outdoor vertical garden structures that feature a framework of vertical posts or pillars, supporting crossbeams or lattice overhead. A pergola’s purpose is often to create a partially shaded area, used as an extension of a building or as a standalone feature in a garden or patio.

Pergolas offer a visual appeal that caters to different tastes using wood, metal, or vinyl materials. The pillars can support climbing plants, such as vines or flowers, which can grow along the structure and provide additional shade and visual appeal. Let’s look at some of our best-selling pergolas for more inspiration.

Forest Dining Pergola - Pressure Treated

A small sitting and dining area may be a straightforward addition to smaller gardens, but they don’t have to be mundane or unimaginative! Our Forest Dining Pergola can define a great spot for relaxing and entertaining, with a footprint of 8x10 feet (or approximately 2.5x3 metres).

Forest Modular Pergola With 3 Side Panels - Pressure Treated

Privacy could be a concern if your small garden or patio is overlooked or your garden border needs a 6ft tall fence or wall. However, our Forest Modular Pergola is a neat solution with three side panels that offer you the privacy you desire, where even the smallest of gardens can enjoy a dedicated seating area for reading or enjoying a cup of tea!

Use A Trellis For Climbing Plants

A garden trellis is a framework and vertical gardening structure consisting of open latticework or interwoven wood, metal, or plastic pieces.

Primarily, it is used for landscaping to support and train climbing plants, like vines, roses, or vegetables, which grow vertically. Trellises can be freestanding or attached to walls or fences, providing an upright surface for plants to cling to as they grow. They are available in various shapes and sizes to add visual interest to gardens and help optimise space utilisation, creating privacy wherever wanted. Let’s look at some of our best-selling trellises in greater detail.

1ft High Forest Rosemore Lattice Trellis - Pressure Treated

This 1ft Forest Rosemore Lattice Trellis is an excellent way to grow a climbing plant where only a narrow wall, fence, or other space exists. However, if you have more wall space, you can let your creativity go wild and add a row of two, three, four or more! A pair of these also works well on either side of windows and doors.

3ft High Forest Rosemore Lattice Trellis - Pressure Treated

If you have your eye on a climbing plant that spreads out across more width, such as jasmine or climbing hydrangeas, then our 3ft High Forest Rosemore Lattice Trellis is an excellent choice. The smooth planed finish is a delight on its own, even before your climbing plant, vine, vegetable, or roses intertwine!

Place Planters For Growing Flowers & Vegetables

Planters are specifically designed containers for holding and displaying plants, flowers, or other vegetation. Wooden planters have various shapes and sizes, offering a natural visual appeal and allowing you to cultivate plants in areas where direct planting in the ground may not be possible or desirable, such as where a small garden space is a paved patio.

They often feature drainage holes to prevent water accumulation and can be placed on the ground, hung from hooks or brackets, or even mounted on walls or railings to create green spaces in gardens and urban environments. Check out our top functional planters below!

Forest York Hexagonal Planter - Set Of 3

This beautiful Set Of 3 Forest York Hexagonal Planters adds interest with their hexagonal form and three different heights. You can easily add colour to your garden by planting your favourite blooms, or how about adding an amazing aroma with herbs, with the added benefit of having fresh ingredients on hand for your kitchen?

Forest Wooden Garden Living Wall Planter

Our Forest Wooden Garden Living Wall Planter is ideal for placing against a wall in a small garden. It is also perfect for garden screening wall planters and is a central attraction with a flexible trellis and a premium timber construction that will deliver many years of visual delight.

Final Thoughts

We hope our ideas for a small garden design will help you build the garden of your dreams in no time! As we’ve shown, a small outdoor space does not always have to limit your outdoor enjoyment.

Just embrace vertical garden structures and enjoy the benefits of low maintenance, function, and all of nature’s beauty right at your doorstep! Do you want to complement our garden structures with more elements to enhance your small garden space? Then look at our wide range of landscaping products, garden furniture, and grow your own range for more great ideas and inspiration!