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Planting schemes for small gardens

10 garden planting ideas for small gardens - The Middle-Sized Garden

August 18th, 2019
Posted In: Garden trends & design, Gardening know how, Town gardens

Border planting ideas for small gardens often need to  be different from those for larger gardens.

Beautiful herbaceous borders and drifts of plants look gorgeous in big gardens. But sometimes they are not practical in small ones. This is especially true if you have a narrow garden or a garden that’s an awkward shape.

So this is the first part of ’10 small garden border planting ideas’ that you can try instead. (The second part will be next week)

Garden designer Posy Gentles’s own garden is where she experiments with planting ideas for small gardens. The Cryptomeria japonica ‘Hungarian Gold’ in the foreground is a plant Posy recommends for ‘punctuation’ in a small garden.

Garden designer Posy Gentles creates planting ideas for all or part of her clients’ gardens. These vary from larger country gardens to small town spaces. So she sees how different plants and plant combinations work in different sizes of garden.

Her own garden is long and thin. It’s around 20ft wide and 100ft long, so she tries out many of her planting ideas here.

Note: by ‘small garden’ I mean a typical town or village garden. It may be long and thin, square or even wedged-shaped. It could be the ‘average garden’, which is 50ft long.

Why planting ideas are different in a small garden

A ‘large garden’ in gardening terms can mean ten or fifteen acres, or even more. The great gardens inspire us. They are where new plants are developed and horticultural expertise is nurtured. Without the great gardens to lead the way, our own gardens would be very much poorer.

Airy planting, such as this Thalictrum, allows the eye to rest and then to continue its journey down the garden. A solid block of planting would make the space feel too small.

But most of us do not have a ‘large garden’. A garden of less than an acre may feel large if you’re trying to look after it without any professional help. Mine certainly does, which is why I call this blog ‘the Middlesized Garden.’ But in real gardening terms, my 100ft x 80ft town garden is ‘small’, as is Posy’s own garden.

And border planting ideas do not always work in the same way in small gardens as they do in big gardens. More space makes a big difference to some planting ideas. ‘For example, if I tried to plant a drift of anything in my garden, I’d use up all the planting space on just one type of plant, ‘says Posy.

She also thinks that a traditional herbaceous border with chunky shrubs and big blocks of colour are less likely to work in a small garden. ‘If you have airy planting, then the eye can rest on it, and then see through. Solid plants and shapes will make the garden feel smaller because you can’t see beyond them.’

Posy’s 10 planting ideas for smaller gardens

1. Start with the evergreen structure – use evergreens as punctuation points
2. Add vertical planting so the eye goes up
3. Include plants for architectural shape
4. Always have at least one tree
5. Add layers – a gauze-like soft focus layer and a glitter layer with small points of colour from small flowers
6. Use climbers to take the garden upwards and blur boundaries.
7. Think about leaf colour and shape.
8. Add light and contrast with variegated or glossy leaves
9. Include plants with movement, such as grasses and bamboo
10. Contrast with scale. Big leaves and big plants next to smaller ones

Start with evergreen structure

Posy advises you to think about using structural evergreen plants to anchor the garden. Think about how they will lead the eye.

‘If you want to lead the eye down the garden, alternate evergreen plants, placing them asymmetrically.

On the other hand, two plants opposite each other delineates a gateway. It can mark a boundary or a separate area in the garden.’

These two yews (Taxus baccata ‘David’) are vertical ‘punctuation points’ that leads the eye down Posy’s long thin garden. But they are placed asymmetrically not opposite each, leading the eye on.

The three round box balls along the path also lead the eye on into the garden. Note how the evergreens in Posy’s garden are either tall and thin or low. You can see over or round them easily – they don’t block the eye.

Posy also recommends grouping a collection of structural plants to make ‘an arrangement.’ ‘In small gardens, you don’t want planting that blocks off the garden, so a grouping of different sized evergreens will mark out a change of area better than something solid like a hedge.’

The structure in this corner of Posy’s garden comes from tall, thin yew (Taxus baccata ‘David’), a low round box and a very low Cryptomeria japonica ‘Valmoriniana’ near the ground. In summer it’s surrounded by cardoon, roses and hydrangeas.

Vertical planting leads the eye upwards

‘Try to get as much vertical planting as possible in a small garden,’ advises Posy. ‘A large garden can have a big herbaceous border spread out in front of you, but that won’t fit into a small garden. Use the vertical space to add colour and shape.’

Foxgloves, sanguisorba and persicaria are all good plants for vertical interest.

Posy recommends using plants whose flowers are vertical spires, such as this persicaria, to make the most of ‘vertical space’ in a small garden.

Add architectural plants for a small garden

Posy combines ‘soft-focus’ planting in pastel colours – for example, pink Baby’s Breath and lilac Thalictrum – with plants that have a strong architectural shape. Plants with a strong shape can be planted singly – you don’t have to keep to the traditional planting advice to plant in threes or fives.

And vary the size of architectural plants. Posy’s top plants for architectural shape include small plants with a good shape such as ferns and curly kale as well as dramatic cardoons.

‘If you have lots of perennials or flowers without the punctuation of architectural plants, then it can look like a mess,’ says Posy.

Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) is around 6ft high. Its spiky pale grey leaves add drama to Posy’s narrow town garden.

Always have at least one tree in a small garden

‘Always have at least one tree in a small garden,’ advises Posy. ‘It leads the eye upwards and makes the most of your vertical space. You need to choose your tree carefully, and it will create shade. But there are lots of excellent planting ideas for shade. ‘

Posy’s trees include a trio of silver birches in the centre of the garden. They add privacy but you can see through them and past them, leading the eye on to believe the garden is larger than it really is. In the foreground you see ‘glitter’ from astrantias and soft-focus plants like Nigella.

‘You could even have a small garden with a number of trees, and make shade gardening your focus,’ she suggests. ‘If you’re living in a town, you’re probably very over-looked so that would be very private.’

Posy has a number of trees in her narrow town garden. This Magnolia stellata is just outside the kitchen door and is covered in clematis later in the year.

Layer small garden planting ideas with soft focus and ‘glitter’

When it comes to flowers and colour, Posy thinks that big blocks of strong colour can make a small garden feel smaller because they stop the eye. You can’t see beyond a traditional herbaceous border with clumps of plants.

Which is fine in a larger garden because you can walk on to explore. In a small or middle-sized garden, this could feel too solid and chunky. (although Posy also emphasises that ‘All rules are made to be broken’).

So she likes to think of adding colour in layers that you can see through or which don’t occupy much space.

For example, you can get ‘soft-focus’ interest by using plants that have a delicate lacy structure. These include fennel and nigella. They take up very little space but act like a gauze across other plants.

‘Soft-focus’ plants such as Nigella and plants with tiny flowers add a gauzy layer to Posy’s borders. They are textural and pretty, but almost transparent.

And  she uses ‘glitter’ as a way of describing small dots of colour from small flowers. These are scattered across her borders, sprinkling colour and light without obscuring the view beyond.

Lots of small flowers in pale and pastel colours add ‘glitter’ to this bed. The tiny pink flowers at the centre are Baby’s Breath (Gypsophila ‘Pink Festival’)

Good plants for ‘glitter’ include astrantia, gypsophila and Saxifrage ‘London Pride.’

Posy also believes that flowers in soft colours and pastels work better than very bright or strong colours in a small garden because a lot of very bright flowers is like drawing a line around an area.

More garden design advice

You can find garden designer Posy Gentles here. And her garden in Faversham, Kent, is usually open once a year for the NGS and for Faversham Open Gardens & Garden Market Day, which is held at on the last Sunday in June.

Posy Gentles (right) consulting with a client on revamping a front garden border.

See more small garden design and planting advice in this post on  how Great British Bake Off finalist and garden designer Jane Beedle transformed her 52ft garden from a muddy patch into a colourful haven.  And if you like low maintenance plants, consider getting more plants that spread or brilliant low maintenance plants for beautiful gardens.

I’m often asked for recommendations so I’ve put together lists of my favourite gardening books, tools and products on the Middlesized Garden Amazon store. For example, here is a list of good books specifically on plants.

Note that links to Amazon are affiliate, see disclosure. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases but it doesn’t affect the price you pay. Other links are not affiliate.

Next week, The Middlesized Garden blog will explain more about Posy’s other 5 small garden planting ideas. So do join us – there’s a ‘follow by email’ box below. We will whiz into your inbox every Sunday morning.

Pin to remember small garden planting ideas

Smart small garden ideas to maximise your space

Gardens

Small garden ideas from the House & Garden archive to maximise your outdoor space, however big it may be

By Clare Foster

7 July 2022

There are plenty of small garden ideas to make your patch of outdoor space a blessing, however tiny it may be. It's been proven time and again what a huge benefit having a garden makes to our mental health. No matter how small yours is, it can provide a space for growing flowers, harvesting a kitchen garden or simply relaxing on a sun lounger. A sprawling country garden full of flowers would be ideal, but even having a small garden, balcony or tiny roof terrace can provide solace in spades. The only problem with small spaces is that they can be harder to design, but there's no need to be daunted; arm yourself with the right small garden ideas and design tips and tricks and you'll have the tools you need to make it a tiny sanctuary for you to enjoy all through the warmer months, which are here to stay (fingers crossed)! It doesn't matter if you have a balcony garden or a small patch of patio or even a small front garden, make it a space to be proud of with the right planning and planting.

How do you design a small garden?

Start by thinking about what you need from your garden and how you can plan it to fit those elements in. There are some excellent garden design apps out there that can help you with the basic structure. Chances are you'd like a pleasant place to sit on sunny days, so carve out some space and have a look around for some stylish garden furniture, set up a parasol and prepare for some outdoor dining. We also love using lighting in the garden, especially solar lights, which can help you make the most of the space after dark. And in a small front or back garden, if there's no room for a garden shed, you'll want some sort of garden storage to stow away your garden tools, toys and anything else that has a tendency to end up outdoors.

How do you make a small garden look nice?

It’s time to consider planting. Perhaps you just have room for some plant pots for pretty seasonal plants and herbs around your table and chairs. You may have room for a romantic border that will make your city garden look more like a country garden. Or it may be that you want to learn how to grow vegetables, in which case see our garden editor’s guides to creating a kitchen garden and making a compost heap.

However small your garden is, we believe you can make something beautiful and functional there, so read on for more inspiration. If you’re a novice gardener consult our our essential guide to gardening and landscape design.

Smart small garden ideas from Sam McKnight

Small garden ideas

• Paul Massey

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  Annabel Bevan added mirrors to the courtyard garden of her London house to create a sense of space. Annabel and her family moved to London from Bahrain, and the garden reflects the middle Eastern style of the area. The 18th-century patisserie table was bought at Violet Grey Antiques.

• Lauren L. Caron

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  The small balcony of this Seattle bungalow by Studio Laloc is transformed into a social space thanks to a sofa from Anthropologie, a coffee table from Chairish.com, and chairs are from Summerhouse. The designer had weatherproof covers made for the upholstered items for the winter months.

• Sarah Cuttle

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  In this small city garden featured in Philip Oostenbrink’s The Jungle Garden, plants are all grown in pots, and the emphasis is squarely on having a good display of foliage throughout the year. It’s easy to swap the plants around if some are looking particularly nice at a particular time of year, warranting a place at the front.

• Paul Massey

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  This part of Fiona Golfar's garden at her Cornish house is full of helpful ideas for small gardens. Antique mirrors reflect light around the space, which is filled with plants in containers, a rustic table and benches, and cosy sheepskin coverings.

• Elsa Young

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  In the garden of Henrietta Courtauld’s 1850s London terraced house, yew balls surround the main bed, which is planted with vegetables, Melianthus major and Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’. Among the small but thriving vegetable garden is room for a small shed which works as a studio space. Beyond this vegetable patch is a communal garden that has been a labour of love for Henrietta who is one half of the gardening duo the Land Gardeners who run a thriving flower garden based at Wardington Manor in Oxfordshire.

• Romain Ricard

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  In a London house designed by Retrouvius, an indoor-outdoor football pitch for the children uses artificial grass by Easigrass extending from the inside to the end of the garden. It is a gloriously whimsical idea for what would otherwise be the darkest and potentially least inspiring part of the house.

• Ngoc Minh Ngo

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  If you don’t have much space, plant upwards. Jos and Annabel White’s six-storey town house in Manhattan's West Village has window boxes full of flowers and trailing ivy framing the patio windows.

• Benjamin Edwards

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  With its mix of clean lines and natural textures, the townhouse of interior designer Emma Sims-Hilditch pays homage to its London setting, while serving as a reminder of her rural roots. Designed by Charles Harman, the garden features a Neptune dining table and custom bench. Cushions are in a mix of fabrics from Christopher Farr Cloth.

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• Paul Massey

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  At Paul and Caroline Weiland’s west London townhouse is this charming garden by Butter Wakefield. The garden was inspired by the one Caroline loved at the Stockholm hotel Ett Hem,, and designed to be an integral part of the living room room beyond the Crittall windows. White gravel and lime chippings are flanked by paths of London brick, with a small terrace created from reclaimed cobblestones.

• Michael Sinclair

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  The ground floor of a London house by Emily Todhunter looks out onto the garden created by Tania Compton. Lush planting and wide borders take up a lot of the space but create an oasis feel, heightened by the blue tile-lined water feature in the centre.

• Owen Gale

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  This small London garden was designed by Piers Beeching, who used a pretty bench as a focal point and added an abundance of potted plants for colour and protection from neighbouring gardens. By using plants of varying height, Piers has created a sense of scale in the space that could surely give you some front or back garden ideas.

• Eva Nemeth

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  In her own London garden, a typical long narrow space, landscape designer Emily Erlam has constructed a series of elegant terraces, each with its own mood, which provide structure for Mediterranean plantings and natural canopies. Using spoil from the recent renovation of the house, levels were built up to form four elegant tiers separated by simple brick retaining walls. Each of the terraces has a distinct atmosphere and purpose: ‘Some of the spaces are for a few people and some are for just one or two, but all have a shared quality of intimacy and shelter,’ she explains.

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• Eva Nemeth

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  While Daisy Garnett’s Brixton garden is relatively spacious for London, her approach to the patio and to containers is one any small garden owner can learn from. Daisy’s growing collection of pots on the terrace brings seasonal colour and interest to the area for most of the year. In an array of different shapes, sizes and materials, they contain plants ranging from large shrubs to tiny annuals. The large terracotta urn from Mallorca was a gift from her father.

• Native Share

  In her London home, designer Bridie Hall has a tiny patio which she imbues with the idea of a country garden via verdant planting and a sweet mismatched bistro table and chairs.

• Eva Nemeth

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  In this Bruges garden by Piet Blanckaert, the trees and shrubs bordering the reclaimed Belgian Blue stone terrace are clipped and pollarded so as not to dominate the space. Edged by a serpentine hedge of cloud-pruned box, a narrow canal reflects vegetation and sky. It creates an illusion of space in the small courtyard.

• Rachel Warne

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  Curator and potter Joanna Bird has turned her garden into an exhibition space, where modern sculpted ceramics meet calming evergreens. In the foreground is a bed of blue and mauve plants, including alliums and perovskia.

Most Popular

• Andrew Montgomery

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  The strict, geometric layout of Jinny Blom’s small garden is reinforced by a backbone of structural planting: great big squares of box – ‘I’ve always loved box in squares, long before Christopher Bradley-Hole did it at Chelsea,’ she says with a twinkle in her eye – and a bold peppering of big-leaved, exotic plants that give the garden a distinctly contemporary feel. The bottom right corner of the garden is planted with Geranium ‘Patricia’ and a multi-stemmed Catalpa x erubescens ‘Purpurea’, which is perfect for small gardens if pruned every year.

• Paul Massey

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  Helen Fraser and Non Morris, founders of garden-design company Fraser & Morris, haven’t let space restrictions stop them from creating an abundantly green and wonderfully lush garden, complete with a beautiful fig tree. Think big, people.

• Native Share

  The outside of Cameron Kimber’s house in New South Wales is covered in charming clapboard. Gravel, generous tubs, and a lovely white bench come together to create a welcoming entrance to the house.

• Rachel Warne

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  In the hairstylist Sam McKnight’s London garden, a path runs through proliferating borders of dahlias and other flowers – the perfect maximalist look for a small space.

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• Alessio Mei

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  If you have a tiny garden, create a snug corner that features tiling and pretty textiles – then everybody will be too cosy to notice its diminutive size. Bonus points if you frame the hideout with a beautiful arch.

  The owner of this garden loves the simple generosity and glowing fowers of the Plumbago family. Here, Plumbago Auriculata has been trained over an arch in the riad to frame a view of the beautifully painted niche, which makes the perfect hideout on hot afternoons. Inticately patterned tiling decorates the interior of the alcove seating area.

  Extract taken from Gardens of Marrakesh by Angelica Gray. Photographs by Alessio Mei. Published by Frances Lincoln at £14.99 in paperback.

• Andreas Von Einsiedel

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  Inspired planning of fenestration means that, from every aspect of the house, you have glimpses and vistas of this intriguing space, as well as several points of access to it. Seen from the other side, a kitchen garden has been created on the upper terrace.

• Paul Massey

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  The double level wall in this Cornish cottage garden draws the eye up and makes the space seem large in the process. It's a clever trick also used in interior design to trick the eye.

• Native Share

  The founder of JamJar flowers knows how to create a beautiful garden, even in a small space. This garden at her Brixton house has a romantic, countryside feel thanks to furniture gathered from various antiques markets.

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• Tim Beddow

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  When it came to her garden, decorator Sarah Vanrenen added a feature fireplace as the focal point for summer nights. She kept the garden neutral – full of greens and stone – to maximise the space.

• Simon Brown

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  This west London garden belongs to designer Butter Wakefield and is filled with an abundance of geums, foxgloves, nepeta, roses and geraniums; a wildflower meadow sweeps across the centre of the lawn, which is handsomely framed by clipped box pyramids. Disguised behind a trellis is her workstation – apple crates overflow with knapweed, daisies and wild carrot and there are planters of orange, salvia and cow parsley.

• Chris Tubbs

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  Sussy Cazalet Design were asked to create an organic, mystical, jungle inspired space using natural and organic materials that soften the glass extension opening onto this small garden. A bespoke designed lava stone table was installed, along with teal lava tiles wrapping around the seating area. The bamboo canopy was designed and built to feel natural and unobtrusive, with the hope in time to be completely overgrown with plants.

• NGOC MINH NGO

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  In a courtyard of this David-Chipperfield-designed house, a Japanese maple is underplanted with cloud-pruned Lonicera nitida ‘Maigrün’.

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• Andreas Von Einsiedel

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  Two adjoining town houses were combined to create this modern Chelsea home. The buildings had an unusual formation in that they were each shaped around a courtyard garden in the centre. When the dividing fence between the two gardens was removed, the effect was to create a central courtyard in roughly the shape of a keyhole. This quirky feature has become the focus and defining element of the new layout.

• Alex James

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  The tiny courtyard at the home of the interior designer Helen Green comprises simple but elegant touches: a trellis of roses, a feature stone water plinth and plants potted in a variety of vessels, from wooden crates to wicker baskets and pewter milk pails.

• Alexander James

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  The compact garden of a restored weaver’s house in Spitalfields is in its infancy, but has shown surprising results already. ‘The shrub Tzbouchina generally needs greenhouse conditions in this country, but, as it’s protected on all sides, it's flourishing,’ owner Olwen says.

• Ngoc Minh Ngo

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  Pots are grouped on the deck of an admittedly rather large Kensington garden by Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, however this corner shows an idea that can be translated to rather more humble spaces. The wall of foliage cocoons the deck area with the pots adding a contrasting note to the decking and greenery that creates the illusion of space and makes the garden appear rather grand.

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• Benjamin Edwards

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  This sunken terrace garden at a 19th-century terraced house designed by Bryan O’Sullivan has a living wall of plants designed by the landscape artist Elizabeth Staveley of LandARC.

• Lucas Allen

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• Lucas Allen

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  Designer David Bentheim brings greenery to a wood-decked garden with potted plants of varying sizes, and uses shrubbery to give privacy from neighbouring eyes.

• Native Share

  Pergola perfection – we’ve found it in this wisteria-clad pergola installed by Sean Walter of The Plant Specialist. Hanging wisteria provides shade for the outdoor dining area, while striped cushions make this a stylish corner in the garden of a London flat designed by Charlotte Crosland.

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• Kara Rosenlund

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  Even a small decking area can provide a relaxing outdoor space. Make like Anna Spiro and her Brisbane house and employ sweet potted plants for a burst of life.

• Rachael Smith

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  This collection of pots arranged in front of an outdoor mirror in the west London garden of interior designer Louise Jones brings a touch of the countryside to her city space. They are planted with a combination of white geraniums, cosmos and lobelia.

• Andrew Montgomery

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  Jinny Blom’s small city garden is a neatly walled space, replanted only months before this photograph was taken. Clipped box cubes contrasts with a clever planting scheme that mixes large-leaved exotic plants with cottage-garden favourites. A wide pond is traversed by a clever walkway.

• Paul Massey

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  Suzy Hoodless’s low maintenance garden features Kettal’s ‘Riva’ armchairs, designed by Jasper Morrison for outdoor use, on an AstroTurf lawn.

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• Michael Sinclair

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  This small roof garden features potted herbs on rustic shelves, which offer a fantastic way of maximising on space outdoors. For more inspiration, see our balcony and rooftop garden ideas. Designer Jane Gowers discovered her London terrace house by chance, but its restoration and decoration have been the result of good judgement and a sympathetic approach.

• Native Share

  This chic Belgravia townhouse features a compact paved area with a large mirror to visually enlarge the space. Modern furniture is balanced by an abundance of climbing plants softening the walls.

• Alexander James

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  Grasses are planted in front of the original wisteria-hung loggia at this house designed by William Smalley, while a stone table makes a great permanent dining space.

• Sharyn Cairns

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  This seating area in the courtyard garden of a Kent barn conversion was designed by Kate Gould.

Most Popular

• Andreas Von Einsiede

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  This townhouse garden off Portobello Road provides a sanctuary from the bustling streets of Notting Hill. With the dining area situated on the roof terrace, the garden has been simply, symmetrically designed for pure visual pleasure. If you’re unable to take your alfresco dining elsewhere, opt for fold-up or portable tables and chairs, which can be easily removed when you want your garden to function solely as a beautiful green space.

• Rachael Smith

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  Louisa Jones developed a passion for David Austin roses when she was planning the garden of her Victorian cottage in south west London. She planted an arbour of roses to separate the patio and lawn of her country-style city garden.

• Ngoc Minh Ngo

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  A brilliant small garden design idea – the uber-pretty porch at this Dominican Republic hotel, painted in what the owner describes as ‘faded bathing-suit colours’, is furnished with a vintage macrame hammock and peacock chair.

• Simon Upton

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  If you’re lucky enough to have a brick wall, cover it in wisteria. If your wall is moderately tall, the vines will quickly scale it and each year you will be rewarded with the most beautiful spring display. A perfect idea for an outdoor space without much space for planting.

Most Popular

• Paul Massey

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  The pretty shuttered doors leading onto the garden at the French country house of textiles designer Susan Deliss have been painted bright white. They look clean and fresh nestled amongst green foliage and vines that climb the walls of the house.

• Andrew Montgomery

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  Small garden? Pot your flowers in buckets for a chic look. (Just remember to make drainage holes to ensure they don’t drown.) This also allows you to protect them easily over winter.

• Alessio Mei

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  Drama is created in a simple linking passageway at Riad Madani with a brooding shade of magenta plaster twinned with the green tiled floor. Potted bananas interspersed with young Philodendron Bipinnatidum add hot tropical notes.

  Extract taken from Gardens of Marrakesh by Angelica Gray. Photographs by Alessio Mei. Published by Frances Lincoln.

• Simon Brown

  Native Share

  A small vegetable garden sits in front of the guest house at this elegant Georgian home in Oxfordshire. The guest house was the conversion of a former garage behind the house, which means that friends who come to stay can be independent.

TopicsGardensCity GardensGarden design ideas

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Two landscaping ideas for a small garden - flower planting charts

If you have a small area near your house, that's already great! So, you have a place to organize a recreation area. Before, looking at this abandoned piece of lawn in the backyard, it became sad. I won't even show you how it looked originally. Believe me, it was a pitiful sight!

Each of us has a similar plot in the country. And most of the time, it stays that way. But if you have the desire, strength and some money to purchase seeds and seedlings, you can easily transform this boring piece of summer cottage into a blooming garden with a seating area. Today I offer two ideas for creating a beautiful garden in a small area! nine0003

First design option

Let's paint the concrete fence on the left white. Let's leave the old flower garden, but enlarge it a little by planting several rose bushes around the edges. It is good to relax in wicker chairs surrounded by pink and purple flowers.

Flowering in our recreation area begins in May with white-pink flowers of medicinal peony (Paeonia Officinalis) variety "Alba Plena" (No. 4).

Behind him, in June, the white peach bell (Campanula Persicifolia) "Grandiflora Alba" (No. 3) blooms and lilac-pink petals of the high-stemmed rose "Jasmina" (No. 10) bloom. nine0003

Large balls of boxwood bushes (Buxus Sempervirens) "" (No. 9) all year round, as a guard at the "feet" of each rose.

In the second half of summer, the bushes of the foxtail pintail (Pennisetum alopecuroides) release their "spikelets" (No. 8).

Large purple flowers of Hibiscus Syriacus 'Oiseau Blue' (#1) bloom in July. This is a thermophilic plant. It is taken out into the garden in tubs, and removed indoors for the winter.

White-pink Erigeron 'Sommerneuschnee' (No. 2) is like a stepping stone between herbaceous flowering plants and shrubs in our garden. Next to it, purple foxglove (Digitallis Purpurea) (No. 7) pleases with inflorescences-panicles of small bells. nine0003

Anemone Hupehensis 'Prinz Heinrich' (#6) blooms in August with large pink flowers with a yellow center and will continue to bloom until the end of September.

Sedum 'Herbstfraude' (#5) also blooms red in September until late autumn. Even in winter, dry stems with stonecrop flowers, sprinkled with snow, are very decorative!

I do not recommend leaving the concrete fence gray. Paint it some color or cover it with siding, against the backdrop of a bright fence, your garden will look more elegant. nine0003

This idea is a colorful outdoor lounge! For a change, part of the lawn was removed and the site was paved with multi-colored tiles. A large flower garden was laid out around the site, where many types of bright perennials and ornamental grasses grow.

The second design idea

In May-June, almond-shaped spurge (Euforbia Amygdaloides) blooms (No. 7 on diagram 2) . Plant Euphorbia cultivar 'Purpurea'. Its leaves will delight you with a bright red color.

In July, Alchemilla vulgaris (#6) blooms with many small yellow flowers. nine0003

The orange flowers of the brown-yellow daylily (Hemerocallis Fulva) (No. 3) compete in brightness with the red-orange Kniphofia (Kniphofia-Hybride) 'Corallina' (No. 9).

They are supported by rapid flowering of loosestrife (plakun-grass) (Lythrum salicaria) (No. 5) and "sunflowers" of heliopsis rough (Heliopsis Scabra) (No. 1).

On the left under the fence and in the background, the Chinese miscanthus (Miscanthus Sinensis) (No. 4) feels good, and in the foreground the ornamental grass of the Gautier fescue (Festuca gautieri) (No. 12). nine0003

To the left of the entrance to the site they put a beauty - bougainvillea (Bougainvillea) (No. 10), and to the right in a tub of Plumbago (mumps) (No. 11). In the open sun with daily watering, these tub plants bloom gorgeously.

At the edge of the site, a table and chairs were placed under the branches of Fargesia murielae "Jumbo" (No. 2). With its greenery, this "bamboo" creates an afternoon shade.

In front of the flower garden, on the left, they planted smooth shadberry (Amelanchier laevis) (No. 8). It easily tolerates drought, requiring little or no watering. nine0003

Read my other materials on the topic

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Scheme of the orchard: types, examples, errors all factors that affect the growth and development of plants are taken into account, which means you can start planting.

But first, experts advise drawing up a garden planting scheme. There are several drop off options. A well-chosen orchard scheme will help simplify care and achieve a good harvest. nine0003

Contents of page

What to consider before choosing a scheme

Some factors to consider when landing:

• size of the area allocated for the garden;
• relief plot for the garden;
• what type of soil on the site will help to determine the indicator plants;
• location of groundwater;
• predominantly which winds blow;
• cardinal directions.

Diagrams

Orchard scheme can be: quadratic, chess, triangular, horizontal. nine0003

Quadratic

Used most often as it is very convenient. Seedlings are planted in even rows. At the same time, their further growth and in the future the maximum size of the crown are taken into account. This scheme allows rational use of the territory. Between tall plants, the distance should be at least 4 meters, in a row 5-6 meters. For classic plants, a distance of 3.5 meters is sufficient. For dwarf varieties 2.5.

This garden layout is best for plants that don't need much sunlight. Often pears and apple trees are planted this way. nine0003

Chessboard

In this case, seedlings are planted in even rows, but one more is placed between the four. This means a tighter fit. It should be borne in mind that the seedlings should be small, with a not very developed crown. It is recommended to use this option for landing on areas with a large slope. The root system will well protect the soil from slipping and washing out.

Distance between trees up to 4 meters, and in a row up to 6 meters. Plants do not shade each other. This fruit tree garden scheme is good for planting many fruit trees. nine0003

Triangular garden planting pattern

With this option, the trees are planted more densely. You can calculate the distance that is optimal for them. We double the maximum crown size. So, if it is up to 3 meters, then there should be at least 6 meters between the trees on all sides.

Such a scheme of a fruit tree garden allows you to plant 15% more seedlings. Lighting is sufficient for all plants. Suitable for many fruit crops.

nine0008 Horizontal

Involves planting in horizontal lines. Used in hilly areas. Fruit trees are planted on the south side of the slope. The maximum height of the trunks is directed to the north side. This makes it possible to reduce erosive processes in the soil. There is enough sunlight.

So you can plant any fruit trees. The distance in this case is at least 3 meters between seedlings and in rows up to 5 meters.

nine0008 Scheme for planting columnar seedlings

Suitable for small gardens. They don't take up much space. Should be planted on the south side of the garden. Not afraid of close groundwater.

Several landing rules:

1. The place must be sheltered from the winds and well lit.
2. Planting hole should be 50 x 50 cm. You need to cook it in the fall, laying compost in it.
3. Apply mineral fertilizers. With high acidity of the soil, add dolomite flour. Drainage of sand and gravel is placed in a pit with clay soil at the bottom. nine0076
4. Cover with slate until spring if planting is not in autumn.
5. When planting, cut off the ends of the root and straighten them carefully in the hole. The grafting site is 5-6 cm from the ground.
6. Compact the soil and water generously.

Seedlings should be about 40 cm apart and 90 cm between rows. Below is a scheme for planting columnar trees.

When a garden scheme is chosen, one should not forget to take into account the terms of operation and the distance between each type of fruit trees. nine0003

How to properly plan an orchard

A gap must be left from a fence or any other structure.

Growers' mistakes

What mistakes are made when growing fruit trees:

1. The distance between seedlings is less than it should be.

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