How can I make a small concrete backyard feel more inviting?

[Smallgarden]

I’ve just bought an Edwardian house that has a small concrete backyard, 4m wide and about the same in length. How can I make it more cosy and nice to sit in? I’m at a loss! I’d love some plants and flowers in pots. Also have a small garden table and chairs. That’s all I can think of. Would appreciate any ideas!

Is it sunny or shady ? - that'll very much dictate what you can grow - neither is bad but it's different.

Also if you are planting in pots - the bigger the better - at least a foot or 2 across for shrubs or things - otherwise you are watering for every.

I had a very small back yard for several years in a terrace house. I put in a wide border using sleepers down the sunny side of it and planted a joseph rock sorbus, some geraniums Rozanne, lots of annuals every year grown from seed. I had a bay in a pot and roses with tripods to climb up.

Height really helps so google small shrubs and trees good for pots.

I also grew a lot of veg. https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/maintain-the-garden/small-garden-design-ideas/?srsltid=AfmBOopRix8d-Bu6K01B03gGFmAdLqklCOVYoOUKFS6d2m8K7OJADM-h

You could put a climber or two in pots and train them on wires up the wall. Chose one that flowers in the spring and another that flowers in the autumn, and have them grow in the same space, so you get twice the blossom.

Perhaps have a large pot with a fig tree or a columnar cherry or apple in, against another wall, and pin a bird box to the wall close to the tree. Choose something small like a robin box or a blue tit box.

Then add whatever other pots you like, maybe bulbs in pots - daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, crocuses or herbs or trailing lobelia. All are easy.

Add your table & chairs, and a glass of wine 😊

Yes, cover the walls with trellis and plant some climbing things everywhere.

Once they’re back in stock order one or two tree roses from:

https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/collections/standard-roses?srsltid=AfmBOorniba5vELWo0R-MUCSE3hdFtIy-i6UzxMRgBkjqWag5tVP-YZq

as another way to add height and variety.

Texture, I’d say.
Decent quality sofa/table and chairs with cushions. Outdoor rug maybe? Festoon lights. Fences painted a warm colour and then pots- personally I’d go for a few really bigs ones rather than loads of little ones.

Thank you for all the amazing ideas! I’ve made some notes. It’s south facing.

Nigel Slater has a yard about your size and has made an incredible garden there. Check out his instagram page it's really inspiring.

That's acrually my dream garden. You could make it really beautiful (and productive if you want) without it becomimg a full time job.

I'd put something like this around the two sunniest sides (I'd probably have a go at making it more cheaply), a barrel pond or large birdbath and some sort of swing seat.

www.woodblocx.co.uk/corner-herb-garden

There are so many good priced pots on sale everywhere at the moment. Also cheap bags of compost. Most supermarkets and places like B&M have great plants on sale too. Just pick whatever catches your eye and dot them around. I have a pot garden at my cafe, and just swap the pots around throughout the year so that there is always colourful flowers. It always gets lots of positive comments.

I personally avoid the heavy wooden planters like someone has linked above. Although they’re lovely, it’s hard to organise them so you’ve always got colour and they’re heavy. I agree with a bit of trellis on a wall. I put smaller plants in those little pots with hooks on them rather than planted climbers. Again it means you can swap things around as they go out of season and stop flowering.

If you go for pots, I would highly recommend getting a watering system on a timer. We did this, and honestly, it's why my plants are still alive and thriving. It also means you can go on holiday without having to think about getting someone to water the garden. You do need an outside tap, but apart from that, it isn't massively pricey, and it's fairly easy to put together yourself. We used this kit link here but there are lots of options out there.

If you can find the one show from Monday night on I player there was a feature on there where they transformed a tiny balcony into a garden. It looked beautiful and might give you some inspiration

A small courtyard lends itself well to a tropical planting scheme. It could look like this…

With small spaces, you need to go big with foliage and leaf shapes. Packing your space with lots of plants will make it seem larger and deeper. Palm trees, bananas, cannas, ferns, olive trees can all grow well in size appropriate pots. Then you can add smaller pots for seasonal interest - bulbs, pansies, aubrieta for the winter and spring, then annuals, pelargoniums etc for summer. Don’t forget scent - sweetpeas, stocks and nicotianas grow well in pots and will perfume your entire courtyard.

I would also recommend a pot irrigation system, it makes a huge difference. Remember also that pots need a lot of feeding as the compost gets depleted of nutrients quickly, so enrich your compost with manure/blood fish and bone/slow release fertiliser when you plant, and make it part of your routine to feed the pots ( with Miracle Gro, Tomorite, liquid seaweed etc depending on what you grow). I have a lot of pots and feed them weekly in summer, and they remain lush and productive until the frosts.

Not all perennial climbers are happy in pots, but consider annual ones like morning glory, it is extremely vigorous and floriferous and comes in lots of colours.

I used to have a narrow concrete yard (yours sounds a better shape!) and one of the things I desperately wished I could have was proper stone flags and maybe some cobbles/sets to make it a bit more fancy. Unfortunately was too expensive for me, but I'd recommend something along those lines if it's within your budget? Your courtyard will look much better with climbers trained on the walls and maybe a couple of small trees or standard-pruned shrubs, but it's just like having lovely flooring in your kitchen or living room - it'll look a gazillion times better with nice tiles (like in the photos pp have posted) or stone slabs, much better than plain concrete.

You could also have festoon lights swagged across or looped along the walls. If you put in a couple of beams like you'd have at the top of a pergola, you can grow scented flowering climbers across the space. If possible I'd put in a raised bed (with a DPC to protect the wall from rising damp) along one side at least, will be less watering than just pots. Net fairy lights draped over a robust shrub would look lovely in the evenings too.

Lots of lovely things on the walls - hanging baskets / trailing plant pots / mirrors / garden art / clocks / nice lighting

Festoon lighting in a cross from each corner would look lovely!

Lots of great ideas on this thread. I have a courtyard before the garden widens out to a larger space. I would suggest a water feature, mine is solar powered and brings a different element to the courtyard.