6 Small Garden Designs

'My garden is really small' someone said to us yesterday. 'I can't believe you would really be interested in such a small garden. After all you design really large gardens!'  And that is true. We have designed avenues up to manor houses, hospice gardens, large country gardens and even a welsh hillside.

But the answer is that although we have designed many large gardens we remain very interested in small gardens. Because Lesley and I are passionate about good garden design and problem solving and  small spaces require those big time.

Small garden spaces are also often town and city gardens. And eeking out precious, oasis-like zones for busy urban dwellers is bang in the middle of our comfort zone. Because our ultimate satisfaction is delivering client satisfaction. And a successful city sanctuary garden is satisfaction guaranteed!

'A short walk from Harrods' was the title of one of Dirk Bogarde's last memoirs.

Well, this garden is a 'short walk from Sainsburys'!

Believe me, Sainsbury's in Bath is just two minutes' gentle stroll away. I would live there like a shot - since I am the ultimate lazy shopper!

But it is a bee filled zone of tranquillity. Even Alfie the cat loved it and he was notoriously very hard to please.

Also in Bath, but perched up on the slopes above, this split level, outside living and dining entertaining space is squeezed in a narrow town garden behind a terrace of houses.

It is important for small town gardens to fulfil all the required social functions since town dwellers are often very social!

Back in Bristol, at the top of Whiteladies Road - one of the westcountry's premier nightlife cruising zones - a city garden has  water and journey, light and life in a less than the space of my sitting room!

Different again:

This garden was designed for the ultimate urban gentleman. Who knew very little about plants but relied on us to deliver a smart contemporary inside/outside space. So small, this is just a room outside.

Okay, these gardens all relied on some hard landscaping,

but this garden was all about the plants - and I do mean all!

Palms, bamboos, ferns, hardy gingers, lilies, vines, Australasian plants combine into one tame jungle which completely loses the boundaries and is another kind of garden oasis.

One of the delights of our job is to explore the tastes of others and then deliver a garden to match those tastes.

Here is the minimalist garden we created for an interior designer whose interiors were paired down to an almost Scandinavian severity. Our client was very clear on recycling all existing materials, shed, slabs and picnic bench. And we were all very clear on wanting simple shapes and alignments in such a small space.

The last garden was attached to a new build property and pressure on land resources becomes ever keener both for the house and the garden. So if you didn't design small gardens you would limit your job and your fun.

After all some of our loveliest clients have small gardens!

R