PLAN YOUR PLOT

What do you want to get from your small garden. Is it a space for entertaining? A living larder of herbs and vegetables? A continuation of your interior? Giving it an identity and style will help focus the mind so you get the garden you really want.

BE PREPARED TO EDIT

Choose a planting style – cottage, jungle, edible, wildlife, minimalist – then write a wish list of plants appropriate to your garden conditions. Edit using the following criteria; stick to your shortlist for maximum impact.

RIGHT PLANT, RIGHT PLACE

Get to know your garden. Observe how the sun moves around the space over the course of a day to find the sunniest spots and its shadiest corners. Dig a core of earth from the border to assess the soil and select suitable plants. Research how tall plants will grow and how much care they will need.

YEAR-ROUND INTEREST

Make sure your garden has something to offer in every season by using evergreens and plants with year-round impact. For winter, have Christmas rose (Helleborus x hybridus ‘Metallic Blue Lady’) or winterscented sweet box (Sarcococca hookeriana var digyna) close to the house, leaving the beds further away for summer displays.

PLAY WITH YOUR LAYOUT

Dig plant beds across the garden space rather than as a strip around the boundary and you’ll see more of your plants from the house. Rotate them to 45° to create the illusion of space and dynamic pockets in corners for larger plant specimens.

BE CLEVER WITH COLOUR

Make the garden seem bigger by planting brighter blooms closer to the house, and more muted, pastel tones further away.

CHOOSE BULBS

Perfect for adding drama to borders or pots while taking up minimal space, bulbs will add colour early or late in the season when little else is in flower. Try sarahraven.com for gorgeous ready-made selections.

PRIVACY

Urban gardens are often overlooked on two or even three sides, with buildings creating a lot of shade. Screen them out with pleached (aerial hedges on trunks) or small trees.