Rewrite your plot

IF YOU’RE SHORT ON SPACE OUTDOORS, NOW’S THE TIME FOR A REFRESH, WHATEVER YOUR STYLE

a project.

This could be to re-do your garden – how exciting!

So this week, in acknowledgement of the period when the nation’s gardeners arm themselves with spades, shovels and forks in order to make an advance on their territory, I say, hang on a minute, boil the kettle, brew a cuppa and consider how your small plot could look better.

Gardens are smaller than ever before but it doesn’t mean they need to be any less beautiful, intriguing, restful or productive.

So if your plot is a little on the bijou side, here are my tips for making the most of it.

Firstly, utilise the vertical space and reach for the skies with tall, thin columnar planting or living green walls. These are all the rage and extend the possibilities of using all available surfaces for planting, creating extra habitats for wildlife while insulating buildings during winter and framing windows with foliage.

If you favour traditional styles, a formal garden, well planned, with a strong evergreen skeleton such as a low hedge of evergreen box can be very striking and often plays well in a limited courtyard space. However, try and allow for some seasonal colour in the planting, even if it’s confined to urns and terracotta pots.

Where garden space is at a premium, greed isn’t good. Don’t try to use too many ideas, features or plants to achieve too much – and don’t go crazy with different materials.

Edit your ideas allowing room for the plants and features you love. Less can be more!

Make the link between house and garden more immediate by opening up your ground floor with French or folding doors. Try and link colours or materials used inside with those outside.

Repeat planting unifies a garden – it’s not necessary to buy every plant in the garden centre. So, maybe limit your palette, plant in groups of five, or seven and then, further down the garden repeat the same arrangement.

Use illusions to have some fun by playing tricks with space, light and perspective. Use painted murals, mirrors set into a hedge or gates that open to nowhere.

It will lead your visitors up the imagined garden path.

Vertical spreads make good use of your space Statement pieces, such as a mirror or stone feature, can draw the eye or create an illusion of light and space Just because your garden is small, doesn’t mean it can’t be beautiful and functionalhe start of the new gardening year arrives in spring, and it’s often a period when, after a winter of pondering the possibilities, you may decide to tackle

Tall, thin plants draw the eye upwards