Small boring garden

[Hongkongsuey]

We fell in love with our house but compromised on the garden. It’s SE facing but is only about 9m deep and 11m wide. There’s a deck which doesn’t intrude on the garden as it buts on to the extension. It has a rectangle of grass, borders 2 sides which are so narrow, you can barely fit anything in, and all you see is the fence and next door’s shed when you look out on it. Is it worth paying a garden designer? I’m just concerned that the plot is so small, it would be a waste of money. Has anyone used one? Or shall I just get a landscape company in to improve it? My worry is they won’t know much about plants-I’m an ignoramus when it comes to planting so don’t have a clue how to make the most of it.

We are in the process of hiring one for our garden which is a little bigger than yours but not much. Got as far as initial consultation and I am very excited about it. DH is too and he doesn’t really do gardens.

If you look at some of the small show gardens they do in Chelsea etc there is a lot that can be fitted in and I think good design is more important in a small garden than in a bigger one.

We are going for design only then will gradually get it done in time.

I would look to see where the shadow falls in summer, you can get an app for this.

My garden is ESE facing maybe the same size as yours. The southern border is free from buildings, so it gets a lot of sun until about 15:00, then the sun gradually reduces until about 18:00 when it finally disappears.

If your southern border has buildings the garden is likely to be in shadow a lot. if thats the case probably better to pave it all over.

I always recommend Monty Don’s Big Dreams Small spaces series if you have Amazon Prime.

Also old episodes of gardener’s world, and follow some gardening Instagram accounts if that’s your kind of thing.

I would spend this spring/summer visiting as many gardens as you can to find out what you like best before committing to anything.

National Garden Scheme and Open Gardens are both excellent - you can have a good nosey at other people’a gardens for ideas.

Also regarding the shallow flower beds, just get a spade and cut into the turf if you want to widen them or change their shape.

How would you like to use the garden? For eating outside in the summer? Entertaining? If it was me I'd put a lovely patio in the middle, made with something like clay pavers, and then put three deep borders on each side. Then I'd put a rectangular table in the middle and make it a proper outside dining room. When you were sitting outside in it you'd feel surrounded by green and the garden would have a proper 'purpose'. Large borders are easier to look after than tiny ones, and you'd have no lawn to worry about. I can't quite find a picture of the kind of thing I have in my mind, but something a bit like this: www.houzz.com/photos/dining-patio-mediterranean-patio-san-francisco-phvw-vp~832041
If you wanted to make it super low maintenance you could even make the three deep borders three raised beds built with railway sleepers, that way no bending over to tend to things in the garden. I'd grow a climber on the fence, something evergreen so you're looking out at greenery all year round, maybe an evergreen jasmine. You could hire a designer, but there's great companies with off the peg borders now that provide a planting plan, you'd just have to bear in mind the orientation and how much sun each of the borders get. These companies have nice examples: www.gardenonaroll.com www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/plcid.1189/

Thank you so much for your input. A local designer who’s a landscape architect has quoted us £750. For that, he designs a detailed plan with specifications for the landscapers and also the planting. He works with his preferred people so says 2 companies will quote us. I have no idea how much a good designer will cost but am wondering if it’s overkill to hire one given the small size. However, we only want to do it once, have a very modest budget (10k) so maybe the money will be well spent as hopefully avoid mistakes! @Seaitoverthere is that around the figure you’re paying?

@GasPanic , we’re lucky in that there are no buildings at the bottom meaning it’s sunny most of the day with the evening sun hitting the bottom corner as we’re the end house on our road. We obviously get a lot of sun in the morning on the deck near the small dining extension which sticks out from the main house.
@Wildwood6 that sounds really good, having a large central patio. We wouldn’t mind some grass though-I enjoy seeing the green. And that’s very useful for the border recommendations-didn’t know that existed!
@SalviaOfficinalis -yes, we have Prime! Am going to check the Monty Don program. I’ve seen a programme on BBC which transforms gardens-bigger budgets than ours though!

Thank you everyone.

Even if you hire a designer, would you not like to do some research to get an idea what you like to achieve? Otherwise you end up with someone else's garden likes. You can make something special out of the tiniest of courtyard. Why don't you just think of what you want to use it for and what style you'd like. Do you want it for childplay, grow your own veg, outside eating/BBQing, or mainly to have a nice view from inside? Do you like cottage garden with large beds/romantic courtyard (think climbing roses and water fountain, maybe espalier fruit trees)/modern (maybe some plastered or wooden raised beds and a raised water feature channel, white geavel, monochrome colour palette of white and green) or mainly functional as a mini playground/space for outdoor kitchen and large dining table? Have a google through pinter/insta, look at Chelsea show gardens or old House and Garden issues to get an idea for your preferred style and how you want to use the garden. A garden designer can then help you built exactly what you want.

Do you need a growing green boundary that hides sheds etc but needs to take up minimal space ? We put in fence size trellis panels linked to fence posts, all along our boundary. Against it we have grown a hardy evergreen clematis called ‘Winter Beauty’, in two years it has completely covered the trellis and does the job of a hedge but takes up little space. As a bonus at this gloomy time of the year it is covered in white harebell shaped flowers.

@Hongkongsuey I think ours used to charge £750 looking at old social media posts but he has since won a silver gilt at one of the big flower shows. Now is £180 for consultation and am waiting for the cost to do the 3D design - he said from £1200 plus VAT.

I made a list of things that were important to me before he came, an inventory of the plants I have and some photos of previous garden. He’s asked me to find some more pictures of things we like so have sent that through. He got very quickly what we are after I think but the proof is in what he comes up with. We have a fair bit he can incorporate in the design which will help with costs going forward.

it is a lot of money but I figure people spend it on a holiday and this will give us something we will use regularly.

I haven’t worked out a budget for the actual making of it but just thinking about it I hope we can do it for about 5k plus cost of a greenhouse as we have some things we brought with us that can be reused plus I have lots of plants in pots to go in .