Make the most of your garden’s footprint

Grow climbers to cover boundaries and invest in dual-purpose seats and storage

Gardens are 3D spaces that include a third dimension – the vertical space. When you don’t have a lot of ground space, it’s important to exploit every available surface. Have climbers, such as clematis and roses, scramble over fences and walls for seasonal flowers at eye level, and add obelisks too. Not only will this maximise your planting potential, but also it uses a trick that designers have employed for centuries – borrowing from the landscape beyond. For example, planting an evergreen climber on a wall or fence near a neighbour’s tree blurs the garden’s boundaries, giving the impression that the tree is also part of your garden. Another clever trick is to choose design elements that play a dual role. Steps or raised beds can double up as seating areas and planting outbuildings with a green roof allows them to blend in with the rest of the planting. Plan storage for bins and garden tools to hide them away, and choose furniture that can remain outside all year. Lawns in small gardens tend not to work. In urban gardens they seldom get enough light, so become more moss than grass, plus you’ll need to find somewhere to store the mower. So, if you can bring yourself to dig up the turf and lay gravel instead, you’ll make life easier and free up space for more plants. EXPLOIT THE VERTICAL (clockwise from above left) Turn a sunny spot into a private dining area with raised beds and plants in pots if you have no soil; green roofs help outbuildings to blend in to the planting; clothe walls and fences with climbers and choose durable furniture that can stay outside all year round; turn your wheelie bin store into a feature

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