Creating big impact in small garden spaces

Beautiful gardens are achievable no matter the size. Indeed, smart design of intimate spaces often provides an experience unattainable on a larger scale. Three elements – structure, balance and detail – are vital when designing for small gardens.

First, build a solid structure or foundation within the landscape. Use larger shrubs and trees to form the garden’s skeleton, highlight key features and focal points, enhance sight lines or screen poor views. With the bones in place, understory perennials and groundcover build layers of texture and color to complement larger plants and create maximum impact in a small space.

Repetition of textures and colors within the garden creates balance, which is essential in intimate spaces. A mix of deciduous plants and evergreens provides contrasting and complementary textures and colors, and creates a great-looking four-season garden. It is also important to balance hardscape material and vegetation to ensure that neither becomes overly dominant. Use garden elements (fountains, sculpture, urns, etc.) sparingly. Consider the major views from the home or patio and place a garden element as a focal point. Too many elements will compete with one another and limit the feature’s intended impact.

Color is the most obvious way to produce pleasing balance and structure in an intimate garden setting. Maintaining a consistent palette throughout the garden completes the composition, just as in a painting, and avoids irregular and distracting pockets of unexpected color. Cool colors (violets, blues, pinks), warm colors (reds, yellows, oranges) and complementary colors (red/green, blue/orange, yellow/purple) are traditional options to explore. 

Another factor to consider when creating balance is the impact of plant materials on the five senses. Here are a few plants that can heighten the senses in an intimate garden:

• Sight: Purple Fountain Beech, Corkscrew Hazelnut, Washington Hawthorn, Doublefile Viburnum

• Sound: Quaking Apsen, Willow, Oak, Karl Foerster Grass, water features

• Smell: Koreanspice Viburnum, Miss Kim Lilac, Dwarf Fothergilla

• Taste: Ostrich Fern, Pansy, Daylily, Apple Serviceberry, fruits and vegetables

• Touch: Concolor Fir, Skandia Juniper, Lambs Ear, Fountain Grass

Once the garden’s structure and balance is established, focus in on the details. Make sure that all layers and levels of the landscape are represented appropriately between the over story/canopy, mid-story and understory, and ground plane. Also consider the site conditions. Are there existing plants or structures that affect the space? What are the light and soil conditions? What are the important views to preserve or screen? By choosing appropriate plant materials for your space, you can ensure that your landscape will thrive for years to come.

Chalet’s landscape division is housed on a 28,000-square-foot complex on 16 acres in North Chicago, Ill. Its garden and retail center is located at 3132 Lake St. in Wilmette, Ill. Chalet also operates a 183-acre growing farm in Salem, Wis., and launched a line of branded landscaping products this spring. For information, call (847) 256-0561. Or visit the company online at www.ChaletNursery.com.