![]() ‘Plants that have a diaphanous quality, like ornamental grasses or tall perennials with slender stems and small flowers, don’t block views. You just need to choose the right plants, ones that create drama and intrigue and the illusion of space,’ says designer Miria Harris. ‘Don’t think that a courtyard garden can’t be full of plants. Grasses and evergreens are popular as they look good throughout the year and simplify the color scheme. The best planting for courtyard gardens tends to have multiples of one variety that are repeated at intervals. ![]() Or use the vertical space, both in terms of hard landscaping and planting, to draw the eye upward. If you want to hide the boundaries to give the illusion of space, for example, paint fences black and they will seem to recede. There are lots of other design tricks that can help too. Others design layouts on the diagonal, which can make the space seem larger. Many garden designers base their plans on a series of squares and rectangles that work well in small, regular-shaped plots as zoned areas. They can be tightly clipped to create narrow screening instead of the more organic, wide canopy of a standard tree. Providing privacy and vertical interest in the garden, a row of pleached crab apple trees is another practical solution in a small space where a sense of openness is required. ‘The foliage does a great job of obscuring neighboring windows while also framing the view of the dining terrace.’ ‘In this garden the canopy of fig trees has been gently pruned to create an arch above a path through the garden,’ says Harriet Farlam, creative director of Farlam & Chandler. A canopy of leaves that diffuses dappled light is good for planting as well as helping to create a magical setting for al fresco entertaining. If a space is small, consider trees that you can walk beneath, which also bring high level screening for privacy. ![]() ![]() Introducing trees can bring structure, seasonality, shade and also privacy if you’re overlooked in a courtyard garden. The alliums are left standing long after flowering to create sculptural interest. The planting is relatively minimalist with each planter containing only a single species of plant, selected for their form and flowering colour at different times over summer. Use the same elements on different levels such as these beautiful concrete planters by Urbis Design helps to link the two spaces. ‘We’ve used it in this garden at the terrace level and also to clad the vertical faces of the steps and planters that lead from the lower level to the lawn level, where the pale colour offsets the vibrant greens of the evergreen plants,’ explains James. Porcelain as a hard landscaping material has many advantages, especially for a modern scheme. ‘In smaller gardens this attention to detail can be very important where it’s much more likely to be in constant view.’ ‘We like to use the junction where different hard landscaping materials butt up to one another as a design feature,’ says James Lee. It’s important to get the balance between small backyard landscaping ideas and the planting right, and to create the space for plants to grow without constraint. Include a series of eye-catching focal points The stunning water feature idea adds an eye-catching focal point that draws the eye into the space. ‘Painting the fence dark lets it recede into the background whereby the attractive planting will hide and blur the boundary, and makes the garden space appear much bigger.’ The design of boundaries of small gardens is crucial as they are permanently on show. ‘In this courtyard garden design, the clean, crisp and strong geometrical lines of the paving and raised garden beds, softened by lush and architectural planting, echo and complement the mood of the interior, creating a seamless transition that removes the boundaries of where the garden begins and ends,’ says designer Christine Wilford of Green Arden Design. Choosing just two or three landscaping materials that match the scheme inside the house is a stylish interpretation that pulls everything together. (Image credit: solutions for small gardens Christine Wilford/Green Arden Design)Ī small courtyard design lets you extend the interior aesthetic outside with complementary hard landscaping and boundaries.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |