How to design and construct a small garden?

Designing small gardens can often be challenging especially when you want to create a multifunctional space. However, the advantage of a well designed garden is that it can be seen as a composition in just one look.

We have experienced the designing and construction of such project, in the back yard of a private residence in Oraiokastro, Thessaloniki. The general guidelines were to create a yard for small get togethers and barbeques, but at the same time add more plants without making the place feel smaller. As the limited space determined us to make choices, we created a dining area with a small movable barbeque on a composite deck. The result was a nice relaxing dining area which doesn’t need much maintenance and gives the opportunity to its users to enjoy the evenings in a casual atmosphere.

As far as the construction is concerned, we built planters and added the plants at the border of the garden giving the space an air of fresh surroundings and colours. The concrete and bad quality of the soil became a memory and were replaced with a beautiful Camellia tree full of blossoms. To give the garden cohesion, we limited the colour. In this case less is more. That means the plants and blossoms are in harmony with the toys we used on the lawn and with the children’s space. Also, the textural contrast: lawn, composite deck, wood and built planters blend the plant material and allow the garden to have a natural flow. The addition of the new lawn connected all the sub-spaces making the garden a new green relaxing corner for the family and their friends.

Knowing that every plant and feature need to serve a purpose and there is no room for wasted space or underperforming plants, how would you exploit a small garden?  Will it need one look to discover all its secrets?