Choosing the planting for a small garden can often be harder than for a large one, as every centimetre of space needs to work hard.
To help you figure out the best approach, we asked top designers and a design-savvy home gardener for their top pieces of advice for how to fill a tiny plot with beautiful foliage and flowers. Get it right and you can create outdoor interest all year, make your garden look and feel bigger and invite in wildlife.
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Don’t be afraid of trees
Your first instinct might be that it is best to use small and dwarf plants in a small garden, but conversely, the opposite is true – it looks better to go big and create height and drama. Most people looking at a tiny outdoor space would decide that there is no room for a tree, but all the experts we spoke to would disagree.
“Even the tiniest garden deserves at least one,” says designer Declan Buckley. He particularly recommends Hoheria Snow White (= ‘Hutwit’), which grows up to 5m tall. “In July, this little tree is covered in masses of small, pure-white flowers. Grow it as a standard and allow for seating or planting underneath. Being evergreen, it can also help screen an unwanted view.”
Designer Miria Harris would instead suggest a fruit tree, which she says are always worth making space for, however small your garden. “Choose ready-trained forms to grow vertically against a sunny boundary,” she advises.
It may seem counterintuitive to put something as large as a tree in a tiny plot, but designer Tabitha Rigden points out that a tree can fulfil several functions in a small space. “It’s a common concern that trees will be too large for a small garden,” she says. “In reality, the right tree can offer structure, shade and subtle screening without overwhelming the space.”
In common with many designers, Tabitha favours a well-chosen multi-stemmed specimen. “Multi-stems often grow more slowly and stay smaller than their single-trunk counterparts, and they bring a sculptural quality that pairs beautifully with soft planting. They can do the work of pergolas or arbours, but with a lighter touch.”
Libby Webb, a doctor who designed her own beautiful back garden in Edinburgh and now details her gardening life for thousands of followers on Instagram, wasn’t afraid of planting several trees in her mini sanctuary. “If you took the three winter-flowering cherry trees out of my garden, it would be nothing,” she says.
She decided against multi-stems – she believes they take up too much space on the ground – but keeps the trees on a tight rein. “I constantly monitor the direction of new growth, then thin and prune accordingly. Any branches running across the garden that give me a view of blossom from the house in winter get to stay; anything running front to back is removed, to avoid shading out the planting below.”
Making a bold statement in the foreground with a large shrub, pot or tree stops the eye from travelling straight down to the boundary.
Echoing this approach, Japanese designer Haruko Seki recommends selecting one or two specimen trees as focal points, surrounded by well-placed shrubs for structure and harmony.
Put planting front and centre
It can seem a shame to give over any usable space in a small garden to plants when you also want seating areas, paths, a shed and more, but “do not skimp on planting,” says Tabitha Rigden. “It’s the planting that turns a space into a garden. While hard landscaping provides the bones, planting brings atmosphere, softness and cohesion.”
She recommends bringing the planting right into the heart of the garden. “Too often, borders are pushed to the edges of a garden, but in a small space, central planting can be transformative.” In a suburban garden she designed in Surrey, swathes of planting are used to divide areas, frame views and draw the eye through the space. Layers of texture and height, particularly through trees and tall perennials, add drama and depth, making the garden feel larger than it is.
Libby Webb believes that planting in the foreground of the garden, close to the house, can be “absolutely transformative”. “It feels counterintuitive – like you should push the planting away – but it’s actually the opposite,” she explains. “Making a bold statement in the foreground with a large shrub, pot or tree stops the eye from travelling straight down to the boundary.”
Pick hard-working hero plants
A great plant for all seasons is Nandina domestica (heavenly bamboo), says Declan Buckley. “The small evergreen leaves turn red in autumn and the sprays of tiny white flowers in summer are followed by red berries. It grows to about 2m tall and 1.2m wide, with an upright shape as it matures.”
In small gardens, you can see everything all at once, and you probably end up looking out on the same scene every day from the house, so you need carefully chosen, hard-working plants for interest through the year.
“The most interesting gardens have an element of seasonality, but you don’t want too much winter-bare soil in a small garden, so choose plants that retain a year-round presence,” suggests Miria Harris. “This doesn’t have to mean a predominance of evergreens. For example, one of my favourites, Betula x plettkei ‘Golden Treasure’, is a deciduous bush, but it has a tight structure of wiry branches that looks great after all its leaves have fallen.”
In a limited space, she adds, “it is particularly important to think about the role of each plant you use. Some will do a specific job, such as a tree carefully positioned to shade the area where you eat, or a carpet of bistort to soften the edge of a terrace. Other plants will be repeated in groups to give continuity through the garden, but you also want dashes of excitement – maybe an incredible rose – that are just there for the joy of it.”
Multi-stems often grow more slowly and stay smaller than their single-trunk counterparts, and they bring
a sculptural quality that pairs beautifully with soft planting
Use a simple palette
“Repetition of form, texture and colour helps bind a scheme together, creating a richness that pays dividends season after season, year after year,” says Tabitha Rigden. It’s a well-cited designer trick to limit your palette in a small garden to perhaps just five to ten main herbaceous plants within your beds, depending on the size of your space, and repeat them throughout.
You can make a space feel like it goes on forever if you mix up the foliage textures and create multiple layers of planting.
This method is also used in larger gardens to create cohesion and a unified feeling, but has more impact in a smaller space. Libby Webb gives the impression of greater depth in her garden with some smart planting decisions. “You can make a space feel like it goes on forever if you mix up the foliage textures and create multiple layers of planting,” she says. She has created plenty of light/dark foliage contrasts in her garden, which creates an effective illusion of space that doesn’t exist in real life. “I also don’t feel the need to put a plant in every single gap,” she says. “Shady voids make plants like my variegated Fatsia really sparkle.”
Planting can also define the flow of a garden, giving a sense of dynamism. Haruko Seki uses fine-textured, arching or cascading plants to evoke movement and natural energy in compact spaces. She layers herbaceous plants for seasonal interest and texture, complementing them with natural elements such as rocks.
Blur your boundaries
Making the most of vertical spaces offers more planting opportunities in gardens with a restricted footprint – you can go up, even if you can’t go out. Declan Buckley recommends Hydrangea seemannii, a climbing hydrangea, to clothe walls and blur boundaries. “It is an evergreen, self-clinging climbing plant that will grow up to 6m with no need for wires or trellis. Its dark-green serrated leaves are leathery and lustrous, while flat, white heads of flowers burst from round swelling buds in summer.”
Libby Webb has harnessed the idea of green boundaries to her advantage at home. “Our garden walls are beautiful, but only catching glimpses of them creates the illusion of a larger space,” she explains.
Look at the levels
When it comes to planting beds, many gardeners and designers create fantastic effects and better planting opportunities by varying the contours of the earth, rather than having everything flat and featureless.
Miria Harris points out that plants can take the place of retaining walls to stabilise a bank, which will be welcome news to those with sloping gardens. “The key requirement is to plant densely, at a rate
of approximately nine plants per square metre. Consult a landscape designer if you have any concerns about the limits of tolerance in your specific situation.
“Our garden has a slight camber, and I’ve also gently banked the soil up towards the side walls, which is very effective,” says Libby Webb. “By mounding the central bed and raising the middle, the planting has much more impact. Changes of level are also useful – simply stepping up creates a sense of journey.”