Creating a small yet warm and stylish courtyard is truly quite difficult. How can you plant a terrace when the total size of the courtyard is just 40 square meters? In the LRT program «Here is my garden» landscape designer Lina Puodžiūtė-Ragauskienė visited a fully equipped site of this kind and shared where to begin.
Find out which design principles to follow and what plants to choose to keep it looking lovely all year round.
Lina Puodžiūtė-Ragauskienė is also our instructor for the «My garden project» courses. During the lessons, you will discover how to design your own new garden: you will implement modern guidelines that will make caring for the space easier and ensure it looks nice in both summer and winter. Classes are available both in-person and online, at times that work for you.
Consider functional areas
A beautiful greenhouse not only for growing tomatoes, an example from the Kaunas regionLet’s start with tricks for planning a small plot. Landscape design solutions in this 40 m2 apartment. in the courtyard, its area is dictated: with such a small piece of land, every square meter is precious, so even before starting work it is important to make a plan and arrange where everything should be.
Think about how much backyard space you will dedicate to the recreation area to feel comfortable. There are as many families as there are different needs: some like to spend long evenings on the terrace, while others rarely stay at home. Plan how much space you personally need to implement all necessary functions, including walking paths.
Don’t be afraid of the most interesting shapes
When there is a small amount of land in the yard, you may not be able to create very impressive design options for your size, but you can safely play with shapes. For example, your home terrace does not have to be perfectly square or rectangular. In this courtyard, a wooden terrace without a clear shape is chosen, with many intersecting corners. Such a vision immediately attracts attention and creates the basis for more interesting landscaping solutions.
Because lawns are not suitable for small spaces
An interesting solution was chosen in this courtyard: there is no lawn. Lina says that there was a small patch of grass here, but it was abandoned for the simple reason that the lawn loses its meaning in small courtyards.
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Online landscaping courses: we present the programsSince the lawn works as a hedge, it alone will not create coziness or grow beautiful flowers, and will require constant maintenance: you will have to mow it, remember to fertilize and water it on time, you will have to have a lawnmower for that small area. The smaller the surface of the lawn, the more difficult it will be to maintain, so it is better to dedicate those few square meters to perennial plants. They can be trees, bushes, vines or flowers. All will create a much nicer view in a small space than a simple lawn.
Combine plants with the facade of the house
Before you start buying plants, the landscape architect advises you to look around: evaluate what the environment of your house is like, what its facade is like. Try combining all green without straying too far from the color palette already introduced.
In this case, shades of gray prevail: the facade of the house is light, anthracite-colored doors and windows, gray pavement and gray fence. When landscaping the backyard, we wanted to create more coziness and greenery.
Plant tall flowers and climbing plants
A landscape architect recommends growing climbing plants where there is no room for other plants, but you want to hide a cluttered-looking wall or fence. In this case different species were chosen witcheswhich mask the gray color of the fence. And what a beautiful view it is for witches in bloom!
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The incredible glory of Lithuania: Ła Marija was the first to win an Oscar for landscape designWhile vines are great for covering flat surfaces, they alone won’t be enough to fully reveal the beauty of a small space. Another way to make use of every precious inch of your garden is to choose tall plants that grow vertically.
These perennial flowers, which Lina chose for this garden, are particularly suitable for this:
The flowers will bloom at different times, so they will add even more interest and color to the plot.
System rules for the arrangement of terraces
When the garden is so small it is very important to choose the right plants, but even more important to arrange them. For a good effect, follow these rules:
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Advent wreath: how to make with what you have at home– Repeat the same plants in multiple places for a harmonious look.
In small gardens, all the plants are like in the palm of your hand, so the overall picture should be perfect. Choose fewer types of plants, but a few units each, and plant them in such a way that the same plants are repeated in different areas of the flower garden.
– Choose plants that have a decorative appearance in different seasons.
For example, epitrees bloom beautifully in the spring and boxwoods provide a colorful accent to the yard in the winter. For these reasons they were also chosen for this plot.
– Choose a color palette so that there is no marbling.
Lina recommends choosing a certain color palette and trying not to stray too far from it, otherwise the image may seem too colorful. The fewer colors, the more harmonious the image will be, especially when space is limited.
– In the grill area, add the herbs to the greens.
The landscape architect advised the owners to plant a herb garden near the outdoor barbecue: basil, chives, oregano. You can imagine how much fun it is to always have fragrant herbs on hand while cooking!
Part of this courtyard is in shade, so the following undemanding plants were chosen:
- Great Astrantia (Astrantia major) ‘Rome’
- Common boxwood (Buxus sempervirens)
- Great Hakone (Hakonechloa macra) ‘Ben-kaze’
- Stambialapė brunera (Brunnera macrophylla) ‘Silver Heart’
- Pachysandra terminalis (Pchysandra terminalis)
- Alum (Heuchera) ‘Purple Palace’
- Epimedides (Epimedium warleyense) ‘Orangekonigin’
- Purple foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
- in Vingir (Talitre) ‘Gorgeous white’
- Killer of common insects (Cimicifuga simplex) ‘Brown’
- Astilbe (Astilbe) ‘Peach Blossom’
- Snap (Geranium) ‘Rozanne’
- Shallot (Allium schoenoprasum)
- Raudonėlis (Origanum vulgare) ‘Golden’
Brief tips on how to plant a terrace:
- Combine the landscape of the terrace with the facade of the house
- Look for more interesting terrace shapes
- For a small space, choose perennials instead of lawns
- For a small space: plant as tall as possible
- Plants must reproduce in different areas of vegetation
- Grow spices near the barbecue area
To everyone who is looking for solutions on how to plant a terrace with a small area, the landscape architect advises to look for non-standard ideas, not to be afraid to use more interesting forms in the garden and choose perennials. Well, and then it remains to enjoy the created image. Thanks to the so-called Lina Puodžiūta-Ragauskienei, with whom we spoke at the LRT show «Here is my garden»!
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