How to Make the Most of a Small Space

Having a smaller outdoor space doesn’t mean you need to limit your gardening aspirations.

 

With so many plants and landscaping techniques to choose from, even a tiny yard can bloom into a backyard paradise. From dividing your landscape into zones to creating vistas and taking advantage of vertical gardening, here are the best ways to make the most of small garden spaces!  

 

8 Ways to Landscape Small Spaces in Pennsylvania

Here are some of our favorite landscaping tricks to give your small outdoor space a big impact!

 

Divide Your Garden into Zones 

The key to making your small backyard feel big is to artfully divide your space into different sections. Create a dedicated reading nook hidden away from your rose garden, for instance, or build a patio seating area to create separation from your herb and vegetable plot. You can further enhance these distinctions by using different kinds of plants, gardening styles, and textural elements like wood, mulch, brick, and grass. 

Pro Tip: Remember that a garden path can double as a border between zones. 

 

Create Intimacy

Creating cozier, more intimate spaces helps you do more with less space. Picture a cozy nook with a bistro table for two or a secluded reading corner enfolded by blooming shrubs. By creating more personal, enclosed spaces in your landscape, you’ll transform the lack of space into a new medium for connection. 

 

Play With Perspectives 

Use perspective to your advantage by creating layers, focal points, and guiding lines in your garden space. For example, use a border of shrubs to guide the eye towards a circular flower garden that opens up behind it. Further accentuate your flower garden by building an archway entrance as a focal point, and plant a wall garden full of contrasting colors in behind it. The play of perspectives nourishes the senses and gives you many things to admire in your small landscape.   

 

Take Advantage of the Views Beyond Your Yard 

You may have a small yard space, but chances are it opens up to a view of a long street, a distant park, or a canopy of boulevard trees. Rather than shutting your yard off from the outside world, open up your fences and shrubs at key points to give you a vista of the surrounding land. Doing so opens your space to the wider landscape around you, helping it feel bigger and more connected to your surroundings.

 

Grow Vertical 

Vertical gardening is a classic way to maximize the growing space in smaller landscapes. Vines, columnar trees, vertical planters, hanging pots, and climbing vegetables all go up rather than out, taking advantage of the vertical space in your yard while leaving the ground space available for more plants or leisure opportunities. Plus, you get to be surrounded by gorgeous flowers and greenery!  Incorporating vertical gardening techniques can help you maximize your small outdoor living spaces, allowing for lush greenery and colorful blooms without sacrificing precious ground area.

 

Create a Focal Point 

The best paintings always have a focal point, something that keeps drawing your attention again and again. Likewise, you can create an inviting focus point in your yard by incorporating various architectural elements. Imagine, for instance, a pergola decorated with vertical flower pots sheltering a quaint two-person table. A place like this is inviting to both sit in and look at, bringing a sense of completeness and purpose to your outdoor space. 

 

Embellish Dead Corners 

Even if they’re out of view, you can easily bring your yard’s forgotten and awkward areas to life by transforming them into a little perennial garden, a nook for potted plants, or even a meditation space. By embellishing these forgotten corners, you’ll infuse your entire yard with a sense of harmony and abundance, ensuring no area goes unnoticed or unadorned.  

 

Use a Wide Diversity of Plants 

A diverse array of plants, with their unique personalities, scents, colors, and textures, is like a buffet for the senses. It stimulates us in different ways, drawing our senses to even more detail and nuance every time we interact with it. Including this kind of diversity in your landscape is a surefire way to ensure you never get bored of your space, no matter how small it may be.

 

Replace Your Lawn With a Garden 

If you have a small outdoor space, a vast lawn may not be the most efficient use of your precious real estate, so consider ditching the grass in favor of a vibrant garden brimming with life. Embrace the allure of flowerbeds, ornamental grasses, and shrubs to bring color, texture, and a touch of wild beauty to your diminutive outdoor sanctuary. 

 

What is a Minimalist Landscape Design? 

Simple, well-placed elements define minimalist landscape designs; they usually have an open layout to create a sense of freedom and only include the essentials. There are pros and cons to using minimalism in a small space: on the one hand, the approach allows you to create something pleasing without crowding or cluttering the small space. On the other hand, it can make your space feel cold and empty if you overdo it. 

Many people think minimalism is the solution for effective tiny landscapes; however, just because you have a small space doesn’t mean you need a minimalist design. The aesthetic you choose for your small yard depends entirely on your personal style and the limitations of your space, and even the smallest space can accommodate most design styles with a little bit of planning.

 

Final Tips for Small Spaces in Pennsylvania

At the end of the day, spatial limitations are just another reason for gardeners to get creative. With the right ideas and a bit of forethought, you can easily transform your small yard into a captivating landscape full of vertical gardens, attractive, functional zones, diverse plantings, and intimate spaces.

For more local tips on landscaping in small spaces, visit our Garden Center in Glenside, PA!