Plants For Small Places

Making The Most Of A Tiny Garden

I am amazed by how many people live in my diminutive home city of Brighton. This has repercussions for us townie gardeners, who must be ready to grow in any available space, be it wonky windowsill or pokey patio, we have to make the very most of the little patch we have.

Thinking Laterally

Take a look at your space and think about all the possible layers of planting you might achieve. Gardening is not just about sticking plants in the ground you know. What about covering the walls? What about pots and containers? What about raised beds for tiered planting and what about layer plants with different habits to really the most in? All of these will help you squeeze that little bit more out of your limited space.

Planters and Planting

Once we had little choice beyond planting in dodgy old moulded plastic - now we have all manner of terracotta pots, wooden barrels and hanging contraptions to choose from. Substantial planters made of wood or Terracotta look classier – and help keep compost cool, making for healthy roots and less watering.

I prefer using a soil-based compost, which retains both moisture and nutrients, and is easier to re-wet. When filling planters improve drainage with a shallow layer of gravel or broken polystyrene in the bottom of the pot, and never fill the pot to the very top. Mixing slow release fertilizer tablets into compost will also ensure a steady flow of nutrients for flowers throughout the summer.

When positioning pots try grouping in huddles of three or five, and use pots of different sizes – it looks more natural.

A Few Good Annuals

For instant impact you cannot beat annuals, most of which grow fast and produce an endless stream of summer blossom. You should be thinking about planting annuals in may or June or as soon after frosts have finally passed so you get the most out of your before the summer ends.

When choosing annuals beware of the explosion in the paint factory syndrome. A good rule is to imagine your choosing something to wear when buying your bedding plants – do you really want a pink blouse with that purple jump suite? – no! - Think classic combinations or shades of one or more colours.

For shady areas go for Impatiens, Nicotiana, Myosotis and Mimulus. In full sun silver and golden Helichrysums and Senecio will flourish, as will many trailing plants such as Lobelia, Nasturtium and Petunia (the sophinia range come strongly recommended – none of which clash or produce anything to garish colour wise).

Other trusted favourites include marigolds and Begonia; alternatively go cottage garden with plants such as Eschscholzia, Toadflax, Iceland poppy and Verbena.

If you want to cover walls climbers such as sweet pea and Morning glory can climb over trellis in no time.

Come autumn annuals will start to die, preferring to live fast and die young – which means if you do get it wrong you can learn from your mistakes and put things right next year.

Compact And Clippable Shrubs Suitable For Pots And Planters

The key to getting the most plants into a small garden is to have a good eye on size and habit of growth. We want plants that are both compact and slow growing as we want to avoid having to trim plants back as small gardens tend to suffer from a constant space race. It is often difficult when looking a young plant to know how it will grow so researching prior leaving your home is essential.

What you want is to use plants that can be clipped back to shape or better still shaped with topiary if your feeling really keen. To this end Box is good, as is lavender as well as many of the hebes and viburnum ‘Eve price’ all of which are naturally compact. These examples are also strong contenders because they will look good in the long haul, having attractive evergreen foliage and a compact form as well as periods of flower when they can really take centre stage.

Ground Cover

If you have shrubs in beds or even containers there is no reason why you cant under plant them with shade tolerant ground hugging plants such as Vinca minor, Symphitum album or Epimedium, all of which will not only cover the ground but will provide a show of flower colour as well as keeping down weeds.

Raised Beds

Raised beds are a real bonus in smaller gardens as they allow plants to be raised up, providing for layered planting as well as giving potential for wall top seating. Raised beds provide instant impact; it is this 3D effect that garden designers covert; whether raising walls or digging hollows into existing gardens it is a sure fire way to make a small square garden look interesting.

Climbers

If you have a walled or securely fenced garden then really should consider climbers. Just what type of climber will depend on your conditions and the space available. My personal favourite for limited space is Hydrangea petiolaris, which is a white self clinging that has compact manageable growth as well as sprays of white blossom. Not only is it controllable but it also prefers shade so it is ideal in this sort of setting. A second self clinging evergreen option might be one of the less vigorous variegated climbing ivies such as Hedera helix ‘Glacier’. If you have trellis and the ability to tie in growth as well as plenty of sunlight then why not go for a summer flowering Clematis such a c.jackmanii cultivars or the spectacular golden hop Humulus lupulus ‘aureus’.

As space is an option then I would avoid the more vigorous climbers such as Vines or Wisteria or a vigorous rambling rose. That said a less vigorous climbing rose can be trained into a wall and can be pruned into a small space where it can provide both blossom and scent if a variety such as Iceberg is selected, just don’t forget the pricks!