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National Gardening Association Landscaping : Small is beautiful

Small Gardens

Tips for gardeners without much garden

Just because your yard is small doesn't mean you have to give up dreams of a truly satisfying garden. In fact, if you've ever lingered in a small garden that is well-planned and carefully put together, you've probably noticed it has a sense of intimacy and enclosure that most large, sprawling landscapes lack.

Smallness need not dictate the style of garden you create or the type of gardening you do. Whether you are aiming for a serene Japanese-style meditation garden or the country charm of an English cottage garden, the basic techniques for successful small-space gardening are the same.

Since every inch of available space is critical in small gardens and every element is seen close up, it's doubly important to start with a cohesive plan. Here are tips and techniques to help you on your way.

Simple pleasures

A small garden feels most spacious and harmonious when the design is simple and all the elements work together. Choose a single style or theme for your garden and use it to connect all the parts, from paving to plants and structures to ornaments.

To help keep things simple and avoid a hodgepodge, repeat garden elements. For example, rather than planting a wide assortment, use a few types of plants repeatedly in different areas of the garden. Rely on just two or three that best express the garden's mood. Choose one or two types of paving for walkways and use those same materials throughout the garden to create a visual, as well as physical, connection.

Details make the difference

In a little garden, everything shows. Each plant, ornament, structure, and surface becomes an integral part of the whole. One goal of small-garden design is to create interest and intrigue without adding extraneous stuff.

One of the advantages of smallness is that it encourages you to focus on quality rather than quantity. Just a few carefully chosen and well-placed plants or ornaments can transform an otherwise bland plot into an evocative haven. Consider using the following lures (and invent some of your own) to attract attention and keep the viewer from taking in your entire garden at a glance:

A bent willow chair flanked by a large pot of tulips

A wall-mounted fountain (saves more space than a freestanding one)

An ornamental water spout protruding from a wall and flowing onto a pebble surface below

Illusions of grandeur

Visual trickery lies at the very heart of successful small-space gardening. Employ the following strategies to help defy garden boundaries and make your small space feel larger.

Use plants to blur walls and fences. Doing so ensures that your eye doesn't abruptly stop at the garden's boundaries.

Construct gently curving paths. By curving paths you can make them "disappear" at the garden's edge (perhaps at a false gate in a fence) to suggest that more lies beyond.

Vary levels. Add vertical elements to the garden by using berms, steps, or a terrace. Changes in levels add dimension and lengthen the route through the garden, which makes the space feel bigger. Level changes also divert the eye from the garden's boundaries and add an element of surprise as you move through the garden.

Create depth. Layer plants at the garden's periphery. Put light-colored or variegated plants in front of taller, darker green ones. Or place shrubs or small trees in front of a vine-covered wall or fence.

Position cool colors. Use cool colors, such as blue and violet, toward the farthest edges of the garden. These colors tend to recede and give an impression of distance.

Install a wall-mounted mirror. Such a mirror can reflect an intriguing view.

Draw attention inward and downward. Use decorative paving or an eye- catching living ground cover.

Borrow a view. Expand the boundaries of your garden visually to incorporate a view beyond your property line into your garden design. If, for example, your neighbor has a gorgeous flowering shade tree, situate a bench in your yard to take advantage of the view.

Outer-space exploration

There's no such thing as having no space to garden. Take a cue from dandelions: They make room for themselves in the cracks of asphalt- surfaced parking lots. If you feel as though you have no growing space, then create some - on walls and overhead, in containers and window boxes, between pavers and in raised beds. Here's how.

Plant in gaps. Gardening in the crevices between bricks or stone not only gives you more growing space but also softens the hard look of these surfaces. And plants within paving create a visual link, connecting the hard surfaces with adjacent flower beds or other plantings.

Create window boxes. These mini-gardens provide a view from inside and outside your window. Mix in a few sweet-scented plants and enjoy the wafting fragrance as well. Buy a high-quality box that is built to last. And make sure it is very well secured, because boxes complete with moist soil and plants are very heavy.

Build raised beds. When space is at a premium, squeeze in a few raised beds spilling with annuals, perennials or even vegetables. You can easily control soil quality and drainage by filling them with a planting mix of your choice.

Cover up with climbers. Save valuable ground space by growing plants vertically. Use annual or perennial climbers or shrubs to transform a stark brick or concrete expanse into a curtain of color or foliage.

Plant overhead. Encourage vining plants to grow up and over arbors and arches to create a cool, green ceiling or a dramatic canopy of blooms that doesn't require extra ground space. Deciduous plants provide welcome filtered shade in summer and let the warming sun shine through in winter.

Copyright NGA

Reprinted with permission HouseNet, Inc.

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