Landscape Design Questions About Small Garden Design

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Here are a couple great links of gardening in small spaces. Good luck!

Http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_design_small_space

http://gardening.about.com/od/urbansmallgardens/Small_Garden_Design_and_Urban_Garden_Ideas.htm

http://www.gardenjoy.co.uk/dirsmallgardens.htm

http://www.gardening.co.uk/news/article/mps/uan/399

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Call your local agricultural extension and ask to speak to one of their volunteer master gardeners. Otherwise I would suggest you put in at least a small pond for water sounds and moisture and then we need to know your growing zone! It can be cool to have the edges in the back higher to show off more of the plants - so locate a sitting area and the adjacent pond (2M diamater is fine). Use hibiscus or marsh mallows, elephant ears, a hardy palm for your area, caladiums are always nice, bird of paradise if you can grow one, etc. Palms are good if you can find a hardy one for your area.

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That's great that want to develop a public/private garden! They're such a benefit to our communities. Personally, I'm only the beneficiary of visiting public gardens...I've never had a hand in the design of one. My favorite garden is the Thanksgiving Point Gardens, in Lehi. It covers 100+ acres. The garden is divided into smaller themed gardens. If you're working with limited space and budget, you may want to develop the garden one section at a time, while working with a master plan. Regarding plant selection, each sub-garden features different plant varieties. For example "The Scented Garden" contains plants that are extremely fragrant. "The Hidden Garden" uses plants that provide good screening and are visual interesting. Another "garden" that does this well is Disneyland. When I visit the park, I'm fascinated so see how the park is divided into "outdoor rooms." This actually makes the park larger than it really is.

Have you talked to others who have already developed a private botanical garden? I believe the Thanksgiving Point Gardens was designed by Larry Sagers, a professor at Utah State University. He's still actively involved in the gardens. You aught to talk to him. A visit to the gardens would also be well worth your time.

On a related note, I'm also creating my own virtual "public" garden at http://www.MyGardenPlans.com. Though the site can't replicate the feeling and smells of visiting a garden in person, it aims to be great venue for sharing inspiration and specific designs. The site features web-based home and landscape design software. The goal of the site is to eventually put together thousands of quality garden designs and provide the tools for people to design their own homes and gardens.

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Rectangular gardens can be 'enlarged' through good design and planning.

Adding curves will help you loose the fixed boxed shape that you have, as well as deceive the eye too.

The other 'trick' that I use is to create mini-vistas within the garden, so that your interest is captivated with differing scenes, from different positions and angles. Being able to see everything in one go can result in a garden seeming less interesting than it really is, and also foreshortens a garden. If you're forced to have to move around curves, in order to see behind etc, this extends and is alluring, drawing you into to want to see around into the more hidden parts.

Make good use of your boundaries, either by having climbers that stretch up, as well as allow clear sighting of any distant points of interest, outside of your garden. Adding climbers to walls/fences, with the addition of trellis etc, will result in you having a far bigger growing area, rather than just on a flat level.

Vary your planting heights too, rather than just tall at the back, leading down to smaller plants nearer to the edges. Varied planting heights adds focus onto particular plants, and distracts away from the whole shape of your garden.

You could also plant some areas with themes, eg. Single colours, as this also divides it up. Also ensure that you've got a good mix of foliage types, large, spear shaped, shiny, etc. Contrasting colors can be good, as this adds some drama to a garden. Add a mix of evergreen and deciduous or herbaceous plants, so that you've got year round interest.

Try not to add anything that is going to grow up to monster size, and dwaft everything else, choose wisely. That said, if it is reasonable, it is OK to have some taller plants, that draw the eye upwards, rather than to your boundary. Maybe there is a part of your garden where something taller could grow, where it wouldn't shade you much from sun? If there is, go for planting high in this part, so that the rest of your garden doesn't suffer from too much shade. You can also get your climbers to grow up other taller plants, such as small trees, as again this will add interest, as well as some shielding from what's behind.

Hope this helps. I've got some plant ideas if you want to contact me. Good luck! Rob

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