Who doesn’t dream of a country house with a vast garden, a pergola, and beautiful flower beds? Unfortunately, life makes its adjustments, and we have to limit ourselves to a balcony or a tiny patio. Just a few meters from the house to the neighboring plot, a tiny front garden or a small patch of land near the porch – this is an urban reality.
When you think about it, that’s not a bad thing at all! Taking care of a large garden will require a lot of time and effort. Weeding and loosening, regular watering and pest control, pruning and planting seedlings – you can’t do without it. And the modern man has a lot of other things to do. As a result, dreams of beautiful flowerbeds become overgrown with weeds, and ideal lawns turn from dreams into unsightly bumpy realities.
A small, cozy patio is exactly what is best for active people building their lives and their careers! One or two trees (maybe even in tubs), a table with a bench, a few pots with flowers, and a small flower bed – a nice corner with minimal care. Even if tiny, but a garden!
Principles of a small yard
How to use your small yard? The idea to store unnecessary stuff or wash and repair the car there is better to discard immediately. The space outdoors should serve as a place to relax, be environmentally friendly, and be comfortable. There you can plant plants and arrange a corner for relaxation.
Functional content
The functional filling depends on the preferences of the owners of the house, on their interests and needs
- Brazier. Lovers of gatherings with friends in the first place will think of the grill, a comfortable table, and a shelter from the rain. If the house has a veranda or terrace, the place for guests is already defined. You can build a stationary grill in a corner of the yard or get a portable one.
- A secluded corner. For the one who likes to dream in solitude, read a book, or leisurely drink your morning coffee outdoors, there is nothing better than the closed from prying eyes corner twined with roses or grapes.
- A light gazebo, pergola, or flower arch in the yard will not be superfluous for sure! It is important to remember that a massive structure, such as a log gazebo, for a small space is not suitable. It is better to use trellises, screens, and arches, braided with climbing plants.
- Children’s corner. If the family is growing up children, then be sure to provide a place to play. A swing, a horizontal bar, a box for sand take up not much space, but the child will play in the fresh air. Wide swings replace the bench, they are loved by both children and adults. This structure will give a lot of joy in the hours of rest.
Landscaping
The right selection of plants is especially important for a small plot. The peculiarity of urban patios is their closed, enclosed space. The walls of the house, as well as high fences separating from the neighboring area – all these vertical planes turn the yard into a closed box.
There are many ways to visually expand space, but perhaps the most effective is proper landscaping. Climbing and climbing plants that braid the fence create coziness and hide the yard from prying eyes. One or two small trees will shade the resting place in the summer heat. If there is no room for a tree, a pergola with climbing roses or clematis will be very helpful.
Flowering plants are a great way to bring bright colors to the design of the yard. You can create a multi-colored flower bed, you can make a built-in flower bed, or put pots of blooming pelargonium out of the house – all options are suitable for enlivening a small garden.
The right light
Both people and plants need natural sunlight. It doesn’t make sense to put a roof over your patio, even if it’s tiny. It is nice to bask in the sun on a spring morning and at sunset on a summer day. Without it, the plants will wither and never enjoy a riot of green.
Particular attention should be paid to evening light. The right lighting can do wonders for pushing the boundaries of the plot. Lights should be installed to illuminate the resting place, the path to the house, elements of the decor, pond, or fountain, but hide in the thick shadow of the wall boundaries of the site.
It is important to properly select the power of the lights so that the light does not blind the eyes and does not highlight what is better to hide. Now there are many landscape lights that run on solar power. They do not depend on the power grid and can be installed almost anywhere.
Water features in a small area
Does your yard seem too cramped to build a pool? Take a look at how landscape designers are solving this problem. One idea is to place a pool along the frontage in the lower level of the yard. A wide porch with a canopy replaces the terrace. The lawn adjacent to the pool can be used for sun loungers, and fences for flowerbeds contemporary in style can be used as benches.
Another option is to widen the pool deck and align it with the wide porch. Climbing plants form a green wall on one side of the pool, with vases on the other. Checkerboard paving the bottom of the patio increases the degree of the greening of the space.
A great idea would be terracing a small yard, placing the pool in the center with long narrow lawns on both sides. On the narrow sides, the curbs turn into paved decks, and one of them is conveniently placed two sun loungers. The pool’s counterflow system allows swimming in the pool despite its short length.
Some designers use boxes of steel to construct a cascading pond system with a waterfall. The location along the fence leaves the maximum amount of patio space free for curb appeal. The modern style of the landscape blends perfectly with the facade and fencing of the site.
Dynamic design
Nature is changeable, the garden is transformed depending on the time of year. But for a miniature garden on a small plot, this can pose a problem. Garden beds are usually planned so that the blooming of one type of plant alternates with another, but does not stop until the cold weather.
In a tiny garden, such changes are implemented in a different way. Vases with flowers are used. They allow not only to create amazing compositions but also to change them at will. In May, indoor palms and lemons, hibiscuses, and oleanders are brought into the garden. They bring an element of tropical exoticism to the design. Large pots with large plants are placed closer to the wall for protection from the wind, smaller flowers are put in the foreground.
Spring bulbs create bright accents in the mini garden in the spring. Then they are replaced by pots with blooming pelargoniums and petunias. After they finish blooming, they are simply removed, replacing them with other species.
Sprouts of annual plants can be bought ready-made or grow on their own. Planted in pots or garden containers, they can stay in any corner until they begin to flower. Only then are they put out in their designated place.
Moving plants in containers allows you to change the design of the area at any time. Most indoor plants benefit from this relocation to the open air, they grow better and look healthier, their blooming lasts longer.
Another feature of container gardening appreciated the lovers of tropical flowers, which we usually grow as annuals. This petunia, this heat-loving spice plants rosemary and lavender, and many other interesting species – all of them in the places of natural habitat are perennial. Pots with these plants can be put away for the winter in the house, on the veranda or in the basement, and in spring they will please you with flowers in May and June.
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https://www.eliteservicesnetwork.com/professional-services/garnetics
Thank you for reading! I look forward to your comments.
