Big ideas for small gardens, Kate Gould

Kate Gould Gardens Ltd The Garden Design Studio, 26 Aldenham Road, Radle;, Her=ordshire, WD7 8AX t. w. e.

01923 839 733 kategouldgardens.com enquiries@kategouldgardens.com

BIG ideas for

small spaces

1. What are the elements that turn an ordinary small space into a successful small garden that can be used by its owners all year round?

If this is your starOng point, where do you go from here to create a space that feels generous and inviOng?

BE BOLD, use materials that contrast each other -­‐ old and new can and do work together.

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ADD LAYERS OF PLANTING -­‐ here the water feature is dressed with Calla lilies later in the season and Agapanthus add texture and colour aFer the Alliums have gone over.

Don’t just think about the garden as one enAty. Spring, summer, autumn and winter have to be catered for -­‐ these gardens have to work hard.

Consider lighAng as a ‘must have item’ and also think about taking the inside, outside.

Most people with small gardens live in the city and work long hours. Their garden should be a haven to come home to, no maJer what Ame of day or night.

BURN IT -­‐ this gas fire is used all year round, from weekend winter breakfasts to summer evening entertaining.

IS MAINTENANCE PART OF THE GREATER PLAN? -­‐ busy lives either mean a regular gardener who tends your grass for you or as in this case, use arRficial!

2. ‘Think outside of the box’ -­‐ not everything has to be as it first appears.

BOLD & MASCULINE -­‐ a basement garden realised at the 2007 Chelsea Flower Show where the garden provided privacy from overhead viewing with a canopy of tree ferns.

An outdoor bed added a touch of glamour and luxury.

Dry stone walling?

In a basement garden where all materials have to be carried through the property?

No way, and not over cream carpets or against expensive wallpaper!

IS IT REAL? -­‐ The ‘fake wall’, a photo of a dry stone wall printed onto a Perspex panel.

THE REAL THING -­‐ the ‘real wall’ in situ in HerZordshire, just north of London.

When using solid and staAc materials is is always worth bearing in mind other surfaces that will reflect and contrast.

Water is the obvious soluAon to many a landscaping design problem.

ReflecRons go a long way to lighten a scheme.

As does textured planRng which compliments water beauRfully.

Do not be afraid of colour.

Yes, dark colours will pull a space in but someAmes that is a good thing. If the effect you are going for is private and inviAng then use red and greens to create a warm space that looks as good in the morning as it does in the evening.

WHO NEEDS FLOWERS? -­‐ without so much as a single bloom in site this garden is sRll packed with colour and interest.

3. Use, repeat and reap the rewards.

FOR THE CLIENT WHO DOES NOT WANT THEIR GARDEN TO CHANGE -­‐ topiary is so oFen the answer.

Green is a colour too.

There are a mulAtude of greens; bright, dull, acid and yellow, to name but a few.

There is a shade of green to suit all tastes and combined with clipped forms makes for a garden that is not threatening for clients who want a garden but do not necessarily do not want to garden themselves.

REFLECTIVE MATERIALS AND MOVING WATER -­‐ these gently moving surfaces compliment the staRc surfaces of topiary and evergreen climbers.

REPETITION -­‐ using bold pots in contemporary forms and repeaRng them reinforces the design and for a client that does not want to garden is a quietly comforRng approach, especially when planted with structured forms .

4. Recycle, renovate and re-­‐new.

GREENING THE CITY -­‐ structured forms can be combined with soFer planRng against a backdrop of harder salvaged items.

Think about what you can use, how and when. Not everything has to be new in a contemporary scheme.

Greening the city involves not just horizontal but verAcal plains too.

SCAFFOLD BOARDS -­‐ these make wonderful horizontal screening especially when combined with open mesh canopies which cast fabulous shadows.

USE ALL THE AVAILABLE SPACE YOU CAN – plant appropriately under benches with shade tolerant Dicentra, Epimedium and ferns.

LIGHTING -­‐ usually best as a warm white light, someRmes the inclusion of colour works too.

5. Storage -­‐ build it in, along with other things.

In small gardens everything has to work hard; storage underneath, sculpture and planAng on top.

Make the space work for you.

HOW MUCH CAN BE SQUEEZED INTO A SMALL SPACE? -­‐ 7x5m; sofas, fireplace, water feature, storage, sculpture and planRng, not to menRon two sets of steps and a soFly planted floor.

Materials react differently in small spaces. Glass magnifies and replicates -­‐ the glass sided fireplace here appears to make the sculpture repeat.

Clear water reflects and refracts making light bounce around and appears to magnify the space. PlanRng blurs the boundaries between hard and soF.

6. And for something totally different…

Not every small garden has to be a chic minimal space.

Heavily planted and with secret spaces to escape to -­‐ a gardeners garden also makes great small haven.

PLANTING ENVELOPES THE SPACE -­‐ this creates privacy and secret places to retreat where you cannot be overlooked.

COMFORTABLE SEATING – if you garden hard then you always need somewhere comfortable to sit, relax and look over what you have achieved.

Rooms are created using clipped shapes which form the bones of the garden.

This makes the winter garden interesRng too.

IN A GARDNEERS GARDEN IT IS THE PLANTS THAT ARE THE STARS -­‐ this allows a much broader range of plants to be grown with the garden allowed to lie fallow at down Rmes of the year.

7. The things that work, but shouldn’t.

‘Clean, clear landscaping opens up a space…’

‘Simple planAng makes a space feel larger…’

SomeAmes it is good to go against the trend -­‐ you might be pleasantly surprised.

COMPLICATED/ BUSY FLOORING ARE ARE FROWNED UPON IN SMALL SPACES -­‐ this design is saved by a bold swathe of Lavender and generous furniture.

A green wall darkens this small courtyard but it is viewed more from the house so its applicaRon was for greening the glass walled room not the garden.

In order to add brightness to the wall at the dullest Rme of year a selecRon of Cyclamen were planted through it which add a light touch when there is very lihle else to look at.

SomeAmes a garden is so much the personality of a client that you just have to run with it.

It may not be your taste or it might not be what you would have first suggested if given free reign but if at the end of it your client is happy then you cannot ask for more than that.

And someAmes you have to accommodate all manner of oddiAes…

This is ‘Ellie’, the only elephant I have ever had to design a garden around.

She has a personality all of her own. There is no point in holding a conversaRon with her owner if you have not said good morning to Ellie first. Ellie is the star of the show and she knows it!