Design A Small Courtyard Garden

We recently went on holiday to York and stayed in a beautiful townhouse just outside the City Walls. The garden was very small but it showed how a small garden can still be cleverly designed to create a lush green space where you can relax. Here are a few tips on how to design a small courtyard garden.

Seating area

As with all gardens, you will need somewhere to relax and enjoy the space around you. With a small garden it’s extra important that this space is well designed so that it’s not too small and you can’t fit furniture on it properly but equally not too big and taking over the whole space and not allowing room for anything else.

A carefully selected dining set allows you to eat outdoors.

Work vertically

With limited horizontal space, make sure you use the vertical space in whatever way you can. Add climbers, a green wall, tall planting, hanging baskets, trellis. Just max out the space as much as you can.

Add lush planting which adds height and trellis to cover the boundaries

Harmonise materials

Clever use of materials will make the garden feel harmonious and not too busy, allowing you to relax and enjoy the garden.

Brick edging to the patio ties in with the brick boundary wall.

Use mirrors

Mirrors are a great way to make a small garden look bigger and reflect light around a potentially darker space.

Mirrors are great for small gardens

Go large

In a small space it can be easy to think you should just add a few small plants but it’s actually the opposite. Add large plants and lots of plants. The garden will immediately feel lovely and lush. Little tricks such as removing foliage from lower down the plant can create a strong look and help in a smaller space.

Add LOTS of planting and planters and make the space feel lush and green

A great example of how even tiny gardens can be a wonderful oasis in the city.

Vialii