Ideas for a small (covid friendly) garden?

[Cupidity]

We have a new build which comes with the usual small uninspired new build garden (it's about 4.5m wide by maybe about 10m long). It's south facing.

But we've saved up some money and we're thinking of making it into a nicer space. Then covid happened and we realised it would be fab to have a really lovely space for garden socialising. Who knows if there will be another lockdown, or if only outdoor socialising will be allowed again?

What things should we look to include? I was thinking of maybe some type of fire out/chimera once days get cooler. But I'm stuck on what would make it really inviting and sociable? Any ideas.

I’d start with a plan of the garden drawn to scale. Note where the sun is during the day. Decide where you would want your social area, Do you want evening sun or partial shade? How big will it need to be? A pergola with climbing plants adds interest to hard landscaped areas.
Decide whether you want lawn or not, if so how large does it need to be?
Will you want a shed or greenhouse?
Then I’d think about plants, tall ones for shade, climbers, easy to care for shrubs.
Personally I always like a garden with a water feature, either a pond or freestanding fountain.

Plants! Socially, it's a talking point and it makes you feel like you are in a soothing space not just a neglected outdoor courtyard.

Research "courtyard" or "urban" gardens online - you will find a "small" garden is still way bigger than what you have.

My several experiences of new builds has made me learn by bitter, expensive experiment that the ground is often appalling - turf laid straight onto rubble ground, on a plastic green mesh that is a bane to try and dig borders into.

I strongly recommend that you attempt to dig a hole about 50cm deep somewhere near the house, and then again at the end of the garden, so see how much topsoil you have. And bear in mind, the site could have been levelled with hardcore so it isnt a guarantee that the soil is the same everywhere in your garden.

If you are coming across a lot of stones, pebbles, grit, sand or clay, then you are going to struggle to plant in that garden. You should think about building raised beds - these can look amazing if you build them into a seating area.

Don't buy expensive plants until you know the garden better. Planting a lot of lavender en masse, this works brilliantly in poor
soil and hot conditions, and the little mounds looks cute in winter once you've pruned it back in autumn.

Also try planting cistus- the white flowered variety is lovely - which wont mind dry soil and full sun.

If you want to try and get some bigger planting done in the ground, go for a Sambucca Nigra (grows easily and fast, you can't mess it up when you prune it as it is very tolerant of hard pruning, very beautiful flowers and foliage - and cheap!) And red robin, which has lovely foliage and grows easily. I have both red Robin and sambucca nigra at 12 foot tall in my garden - I plant them wherever we live and I've never had a failure yet.

I'm neutral about a lawn. If there is already grass there, you will know how well or badly it is growing. If it is not growing well, replacing it is unlikely to help unless you invest significantly in preparing the ground and maintaining it. You can do wonderful things with areas of paving and large areas of planting and raised borders. HOWEVER if your house is a "family house" bear in mind if you sell it, people might be upset if there is no grass. So it depends on the kind of house it is, and whether you are likely to sell it (or have kids yourself).

Great advice from HathorX . Off to google those plants myself.

A garden is another room. All through lockdown we've thanked our lucky stars that we had outdoor space.

It was used for exercising, socialising and just somewhere to get away from everyone else. Not big at all.

Go for it OP.

Our garden is smaller than yours, approx 4 x 6 m I think. It's been a god send in lockdown, completely agree about it being an extra room.

I think the first thing is to accept that you won't get it right all at once, it will evolve over time as you get to know the space better and how you use it changes.

We got a small rattan sofa and chairs set and have them under a gazebo for shade and privacy as we're overlooked. Having comfortable seating made a huge difference to us. We'd previously have a pub style picnic bench but the 'numb bum' factor sent us in before we were ready! The gazebo also means we can stay out even if it gets a bit drizzly and it keeps the bird poo off We can't easily fit a fire pit type thing but if we could I definitely would.

@HathorX yes to everything you say!

I've tried to Google and Pinterest small garden ideas and it comes up with gardens about 5 times the size of ours. I will go and look at "urban/courtyard" instead. Thanks for that.

Our ground is exactly as you described it. Lots of builders rubble with some unhealthy lawn on top.

Our DC are starting to get a bit older and have stopped playing in the garden quite as much as they used to so I'm not too fussed about having a lawn area they can play on and we're not planning on selling ever really - we love the house, location, area, etc so thinking about potential future buyers isn't essential - we want a space that suits us.

I will add a diagram of the garden as it is.

The problem we have is the paving slab area isn't large enough to really put a seating area on. (the patio doors open outward). So I was thinking of having a large seating area near the back (currently grass/weeds). It gets a bit more shade as the garden is totally south facing with some kind of fire pit, woodburner . I like the idea of a gazebo or pergola over the top to provide extra shade and so we can use it even in light rain.

A raised “veggie” bed. Somewhere to grow your own lettuce and assorted produce. My arugula, mint, parsley, chives, rhubarb, and raspberries have been a godsend. But even cabbage zucchini and squashes are easy...carrots

Maybe like an outdoor but ‘indoor undercover’ cosy space!

So even if it’s always raining there’s somewhere to socialise that’s outside but not wet!

@fallfallfall - yes we have the raised beds already. They are about knee height (so quite tall). We had them built so I could teach my DC all about where their food came from. The only things they were interested in were the raspberry and strawberries. Currently have an overabundance of mint, courgette and tomato.

@OverTheRainbow88 exactly that. we're not sure if there will be more lockdowns, but it feels safer to socialise outside at the moment and we thought we'd change the garden to have that ability. Plus I look me the idea of having a fire of some sort for warmth/ambiance.

Somewhere covered for rainy days. We are adding a pergola with big spacing for the summer, but hooks to hold a tarp underneath it to stop the rain.