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5 tips for making the most of your small garden

Article by Nick Rinylo

5 tips for making the most of your small garden

Every garden is a great garden. Even very small spaces and balconies should feel like part of your home, but it can be pretty difficult to get a very small garden to feel both functional and nice to look at because you’re so short on space. It’s not impossible to have a pretty and practical little garden though, so here are a few tips from us to help you make the most of your space.

Pick your plants


Potted plants or plants that grow out instead of up are a really great way to use up a lot of space very quickly. The walls and fences of your garden are usable space if you want greenery and bright colours but don’t have the space for lots of potted plants or flower beds. Plants like ivy, jasmine, wisteria, honeysuckle, and climbing roses will all grow up into the bare space of your wall or fence instead of out into your living space.

You can easily build a living wall garden by attaching wooden pallets to the wall and filling the gaps with plant pots that are home to trailing or climbing plants until the pallet is hidden. If you’re hesitant about climbing plants, hanging baskets are a great way to reserve floor space whilst still filling your garden with greenery.


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Get a pop of colour


A small space is a small space, no matter what you do with it, but there are things you can do to make it look bigger. Plants with blue and purple flowers will help, as bright but cool-toned colours will help to make a space look bigger. Flowers like lavender, cornflower, or morning glory will open up the space as well as adding colour. 

If your garden is small and a little dark, bright yellow or golden flowers will brighten up dark spaces without closing you in and making the garden look smaller.


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Split up your space


Even with a tiny balcony, you can divide your garden into sections. This is especially important if your working-from-home area is often your garden, so you can have an area you can call your office and an area you can relax in. Smaller gardens and balconies might benefit from folding screens that you can take inside or outside as needed. Larger little gardens might be able to fit walls of greenery, or bamboo screens. 

By splitting up your space you can hide away a small seating area or a secret garden area, which makes your space seem bigger as you can’t see it all at once. Even sheltering one part of the garden with a parasol could go a long way.


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Light it up


It’s easy in the summer to wonder why you ever spent money on outdoor lighting – but in the winter when you’re moaning about how dark the evenings are and how you can never spend time outside after work, you’ll see the value in them. 

If you really want to save space, you can double up your lighting with your seating by investing in LED stools, or you can give your plants even more of a wow factor with LED planters

Solar-powered lighting is great if your garden gets a lot of sun, but on darker days or in the winter you might not get as much use from them. Solar lamps are perfect for summer though – especially for those long, warm summer evenings!


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Choose your furniture carefully


If you’ve got a tiny balcony garden, there’s no point in dominating it with a huge day bed. Similarly, having a lot of smaller furniture will make a small space look cluttered. Figure out what you most want to use your garden for before you start buying furniture.

Finding furniture pieces that can do more than one job (like LED seats and planters) is a winner for small gardens. You can maximise space and minimise the amount of furniture you need –  for instance, if you need outdoor storage, buy a storage trunk that doubles as a bench seat. 

During the summer, your garden might be primarily a dining area so you can eat lunch under the sun. A bistro-style table and chair set will tuck up into a corner neatly and not take up too much room. However, if your garden is mostly an area for relaxing in the sun, a hanging chair or a hammock is perfect as they take up no floor space. Check out our rattan garden furniture onsite or visit one of our UK stockists to discover more options for making the most of your small garden.

This presentation was brought to you by SkyLine Design UK, suppliers of premium quality all-weather outdoor furniture and lighting option.