30 Small Garden Design Ideas

Adding a shade sail to your garden seating area looks great, adding a contemporary look and feel to the space, and providing shade and privacy. Some shade sails also have waterproof properties, making them ideal for proving protection from more inclement weather.

Pergolas likewise provide shade, shelter and privacy. Here we see a modern porcelain patio and steel frame and glass pergola contrasted with a traditional stone walled cottage garden, to create a lovely juxtaposed design or old vs new, natural vs manmade materials.

This garden was inspired by Japanese aesthetics, and uses porcelain paving and decorative aggregates to create this effect. The flower beds also incorporate large stone and planting that harkens after the same look. Notice the use of uplighting to create a stylish evening ambience.

Sometimes you need to make a statement or want to boost the visual appeal of a space. With the right choice of garden furniture, you can add bags of colour and energy into even the most compact of spaces. Here we see a brightly coloured sofa and armchairs adding vibrancy and energy into the small patio space.

In both interior design and garden design, if you want a space to fill bigger, maximising the light is key. Here we see the use of whitewash on the boundary wall of this narrow garden, used to make it feel less enclosed and to help open up the space with reflected natural light. Note also that vegetation and planting looks great with verdant green contrasting against the white exterior paint.

A garden structure or architectural feature in your garden can make it feel more elevated and grander. Here we see this compact traditional walled garden use a formal looking gazebo to provide both a main focal point to the garden and to provide a sense of grandeur. Notice the use of modern porcelain paving for the patio deck and raised bed cladding/coping working harmoniously within this more traditional natural stone aesthetic, to create a luxurious and stylish looking garden.

By defining spaces that are distinct from one another, you can create a functional sense of space and privacy. Here we see the use of corten steel (weathering steel) planters with ornamental grass to define the seating area, enhancing its feel as a retreat that is both intimate and cosy. Notice also how the corten steel and cedar strip cladded fence accent each other nicely.

Shade is a key requirement if you want to spend a lot of time in the garden when the sun eventually comes out in the UK. With small gardens, the options of fix pergolas, gazebos, awnings or shade sails may not allow you to adjust easily to the aspect of the sun. So a parasol/garden umbrella might prove to be a wise choice, as it gives you the flexibility to move or even remove it when necessary, allowing you to use the smaller space more efficiently.

Using elevation and height to create more visual interest and define the functional space is a classic trick used by both interior and garden designers. Here we see a raised timber terrace that incorporates an L-shaped sofa, that is then continued to create a hearth for a “wood burning” stove (calor gas), creating a genuine garden room in this compact space.

Hedge and topiary are managed types of foliage, it that their size and shape is determined by the gardener. Consequently, they are ideal for exploiting how we visually interpret the world, and can be used to trick the eye with a perspective optical illusion using foreshortening. Like the Father Ted scene where he is holding plastic miniature cows and looking out the window at real cows in the field, and explains to Father Dougal “these are small, but those are far away” you can do the same (well reverse actually) with topiary. By making the hedges and topiary at the end of your garden smaller, you can trick the eye into thinking the garden is longer than it is. Just step down the size slightly two or three times, and voila!

We tend to associate follies, large sculptures and garden features with gravitas and stature, that signal a bigger space. Therefore, you can short-circuit this pattern recognition and cognitive bias by adding something disproportionally grand into your compact garden – a folly or feature designed to send out a signal that it is a bigger and more grandiose garden. Here we see a stepped pyramid or belvedere of sawn/honed granite blocks used in this modernist style urban garden.

Having a continuous flow from your interior to your exterior space is wonderful and a great upgrade to any home. Here we see a kitchen with bi-fold doors opening up onto a porcelain paving patio and a practical and functional lawn (ideal if you have children). This sort of space allows you to touch grass easily and is highly functional. As a family, you have a combined kitchen-garden space where the lines between indoor and outdoors blur and the garden tends to get used a lot more.

For many urban homes, the garden is certainly compact. So you need to decide what you want to do with it. For many people, the priority will be a comfy seating area – an outdoor sitting room. So comfortable sofa seating and a fire place make a lot of sense as primary elements. Here we see a modern design using a corten steel gas fire pit table as the focal point for a large L-shape fix sofa, surrounded by raise planters at the same level to make it feel surrounded by plants and foliage.

Just because a garden is small, does not mean you have to eschew the wow factor. If you want a statement piece that speaks to you, then go for it. Often it can have a practical advantage too, screening views of your neighbour’s properties and providing privacy. Here we see a modernist corten steel and concrete arbour that really ties this garden together. This garden feels bigger and grander because of the arbour, and without it, it might not quite work.

When trying to establish a look or vibe, it is the detailing that makes the difference and sets the tone. Here we see that an Islamic/Mughal style door surround sets an immediate aesthetic tone that is North African, Near Eastern, Central or South Asian. When combined with the terracotta pots, the vibe becomes Moroccan or Levantine. What this illustrates, is that with just a few pieces of detailing or fixtures, you can help set the aesthetic style and tone without giving up space in a smaller garden.

Adding decorative elements to walls is a great way to apply a look and feel to your garden without encroaching on any space. Here we see the use of Moroccan decorative lamps to set either a Mediterranean, a Bohemian or modern eclectic tone to this garden without sacrificing any real space. Obviously, this technique can be used with a variety of wall mounted and nooked objects from lights, cladding, statues, objet d’art and any other accoutrement that suits your style.

As with statement piece garden features and follies, the size of the paving slabs you use in your garden sets a tone, and their aesthetic signals how we should view and interpret the space. Here we see large format square porcelain paving slabs used to create a patio that extols a sense of stature and elegance. Whilst the house is perfectly normal, the large format outdoor porcelain tiles and large white sofa give us luxury vibes, making this garden space appear more attractive and desirable.

A fixed structure with protective walls to shield you from wind and rain is very desirable in the UK if you plan on spending significant amounts of time living in your garden. There can be traditional timber summer houses and pavilions, or something more modern. Here we see a spectacular Indian inspired modern take on the summer house / pavilion, with beautiful ornate screens and matching pieces of art mounted on the wall, all confined in a modest sized garden.

The best way to get tho most out of your garden space is to make sure it is functional and can be easily used. Sometimes, simply having the basic requirements of shelter, comfort and a space to socialise is all you need to make your garden a complete success. Here we see the practical nature of a modern pergola that provides overhead weather protection, making your outdoor sitting room viable rain or shine.

Raised beds allow you to quickly set an aesthetic tone, but they also offer practical advantages, especially in small gardens where you want plants and foliage intersecting your eye-line to provide a better backdrop / view. Here we see a roof garden terrace with raised beds that help set the modern contemporary look and feel in combination with the porcelain paving and timber cladded facade. The raised beds also hide the edge of the balcony, so the space feel less hemmed in and much more expansive.

Dressing or styling the garden is an art in and of itself. Like flower arranging, it is not happenstance that creates something that looks great. Careful selection of materials and object is vital to achieve the aesthetic you are after. Here, this ornate ceramic finial and copper pot immediately give us the feel of something of Greek or Turkish origin, and when combined with the slightly dishevelled white walls, we are presented with a Bohemian vibe. As you can see, what you choose to display will set the tone, so you need to carefully curate the items that will lend themselves to your aesthetic vision.

Figuring out the overall vision for your garden and what resonates with you is not necessarily easy. The best advice we can offer is to put together a mood board of things you like and then gradually hone and whittled it down to the essentials you feel you must have, and then assess whether they work together as a cohesive whole? Here we see a modern contemporary take on a Central/South Asian water garden with sunken pool and large burnished metal lantern bowls, that creates a sunning and elegant space in this small garden, that feels much bigger and salubrious.

Having a theme or aesthetic style in mind when you design your garden is always a great help. It is a start point, from which you can iterate your ideas to come up with your perfect small garden design. Here we can see this garden is clearly inspired by Japanese garden design. It has granite natsume bachi style planters, bamboo, and the contrasting paving slabs and pebble ground cover, but it is interpretative, and does not follow traditional Japanese garden design dogmatically, but creates its own unique aesthetic.

Just because you have a traditional or rustic property, does not mean you have to religiously stick to materials and designs that are in keeping with the period. Some of the most stunning indoor and outdoor spaces cleverly combine old and new, using modern elements to elevate a historic space. Here we see a traditional Cotswold stone house with a modern porcelain patio and pergola to create a wonderful outdoor space that is smart and sophisticated.

Small gardens may not necessarily have room for large plant and shrubs, and depending on your elevation and line-of-sight, you may not want to block your limited view with foliage. So, sometimes, you may need to create that sense of space and visual interest, and this can be done by deliberately densely planting smaller plants. This will give you a sense of depth and space without blocking any view you want to preserve. Notice here how few plants break the horizontal line of the boundary wall and the view of the harbour.

Your planting pattern can also be used to obscure the size of the garden, hiding boundary fences and walls, to create the illusion of limitlessness. By densely planting your borders, you can hide the boundary, so the greenery of the shrubs and plants hide the wall or fence and the distance to the limits of the garden are obscured. This illusion of being in an oasis in a sea of green foliage and plants has a calming effect and will elevate the natural rejuvenative nature of your small garden.

For many people with busy lives, they want an outdoor space with greenery and being able to get in touch with nature, but they don’t want to have to become a part-time gardener to do so. If this is you too, then consider creating a low maintenance garden. Here we see porcelain and aggregate ground cover and a limited number of pot plants and borders to keep maintenance to a minimum. Planters and pots are your secret weapon for a low-maintenance garden, along with decorative aggregates or artificial turf.

If you have beautiful architectural features or a wonderful view, then don’t mess with them and try and keep things as simple in those areas as possible to maximise what you already have. Here we see a lovely courtyard garden with gorgeous stone walls where the pergola and the border planting have been carefully considered, to obscure as little of both walls as possible. This approach maximises the existing space, creating a wonderful ambience in the small garden space.

The beauty of a small garden is you have less space to fill with stuff, so your garden centre or nursery bill is going to be lower! That leaves you a little wiggle room if you think you need to fork out for a signature piece or feature. Now imagine this garden without the large polished stone water feature – would it be as nice or impressive? Probably not. However, it certainly was not a cheap piece and likely cost a fair amount to move and install as well. So consider what your garden needs, and whether something is needed to pull it all together.

Pulling some of these small garden tricks and upgrades together will help you make the most of the space you have. Consider weather protection and shelter, privacy and intimacy, views and line of sight, ease of use and practicality. Here we see a simple patio with large sofa under a protective waterproof garden shade sail, with densely planted borders. By utilising and combining some of these approaches, this small garden has been made into a welcoming, relaxed and desirable outdoor space.