The Small City Garden Makeover

Before: When the Great Storm sent a lilac tree smashing through the garden wall of this small London plot, the owner saw it as a chance to turn an uninspiring space, with an ugly concrete patio and frustratingly narrow borders, into something special.

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Before

After

After: After clearing the mess, the concrete patio was resurfaced with handmade terracotta tiles, but the borders remained for another decade. How did the garden reach its current fabulous state?

Build A Geometric Design

After 10 years of nothing much being done in the garden, the owner decided to cut a diamond-shaped lawn. However, a friend suggested an octagonal lawn. Once that was decided upon, the overall layout fell into place — four roughly triangular beds grouped around the lawn, each with a specific colour theme. For more, see our Garden Design Ideas pages.

Theme Your Flowerbeds

The west-facing bed focuses on soft pastels from aquilegias, wallflowers and dicentra offset by white ‘Triumphator’ tulips, whilst the next one picks up on blues with ceanothus, bluebells, forget-me-nots and solanum, along with yellow corydalis, primulas, climbing Rosa ‘Canary Bird’ and more white tulips. Finally, there is the ‘Malignant Magenta Bed’ which features fiery colours — erysimums, hardy geraniums and ‘Lilac Time’ tulips — with touches of white. The beds are deep and densely planted which, whilst making it awkward to reach the back, ensure a succession of flowers from spring until autumn. For planting inspiration, see our Plants & Plantcare pages.

Make A Small Space Seem Bigger

The beds enclose the eight-sided lawn, a shape that emphasises the garden’s formal elements with potted box balls marking the corners and low plinths with urns to each side. A path, linking patio and lawn, adds that sense of movement so vital to a small space. For more, see our features on path designs and keeping your lawn healthy.

More Garden Design Ideas & Advice
- Garden Design Ideas
- Garden Buyer's Guides
- Grow Your Own
- Garden Planning Advice

Pictures & Words: Nicola Stocken Tomkins