How Can I Make Small Garden Appear Larger?

Did you try using colors to make an illusion that your garden is larger than it is?

Did you try using smaller plants to make an illusion that your garden is larger than it is?

Do you want to make a layered garden?

Do you have tiered beds in your garden?

Can you build terraces in your garden?

Hot colors (red, orange, and yellow) often look closer than they really are and can also make something look bigger than it is. In contrast, cool colors (blue, green, and gray) tend to make objects look smaller and farther away. To make a small garden look larger, use cool colors toward the rear and center of it. Save the hot colors for the area closest to you. Experiment with colors by setting pots of vividly colored annuals where you are planning to grow perennials in the same hot colors so that you can judge the success of the arrangement for a few days.

The scale of the plants you choose can make your garden seem larger or smaller. If you create a jungle atmosphere with huge plants that tower over the entryway and crowd at all the edges, space will feel small. In contrast, an open vista with smaller plants and areas devoted to quiet foliage or a patch of lawn can make the area seem larger. Rather than growing a 20-foot rambling rose against a wall, choose a group of miniature climbing roses, which will grow 3 to 5 feet high. Leaf size is as important in creating an illusion as overall plant size. Large leaves will dwarf a garden, while small ones will help to make it look larger.

Layered gardens allow you to make the most of the available space. However, you must design such a garden carefully so that each plant receives enough light to allow it to thrive. Use a trellis to train your top-story plants or grow plants such as sunflowers or bamboo that hold themselves upright. Grow slightly shorter plants that prefer filtered light to fit into the middle layer. Shade lovers will grow on the bottom layer.

Tiered beds allow you to increase your growing area and make the garden look larger because of the visual variety they add. Three-tiered, circular forms are well-known and traditionally used for strawberries. However, there is no rule about the number of tiers to use or what to plant in them. Tiered forms make a wonderful home for a collection of herbs, for example, and you might use them for a display of rock garden plants, daylily cultivars, or groups of ornamental grasses. A planting usually grown in a mixed perennial border is also a good choice for tiers.

If your yard is small, terracing may be the way you can transform the area into something you can garden satisfactorily. Terraces offer the same advantages as tiered gardens but are more flexible in terms of design and materials. In most gardens, you can terrace an area yourself. However, if the land is steeply sloped or extremely rocky, you may want to hire a landscaper to do the job. The initial cost will be higher, but the work is likely to hold up longer.

A garden can appear larger than it is if it seems like an extension of the house. If possible, organize the space so that you can walk directly from a room into the garden or onto a garden deck or patio. Tie the areas together by using the same colors and materials in each. For example, if red cushions are a highlight of the indoor room, carry the theme forward by setting up red garden candles and growing a succession of plants with red blooms close to the doorway or path.