By Deb Meyer
Founder & Chief Designer at Vogue & Vine
Small Garden Design Sydney
Best small Garden ideas
Do you have a small Sydney garden with limited space?
At Vogue & Vine, we are renowned for taking compact outdoor spaces and turning them into modern outdoor rooms.
Our compact and low maintenance gardens feature all over Sydney as more Sydneysiders move into apartments, townhouses and terraces.
See our best small garden design ideas to create stunning outdoor rooms designed for modern outdoor living.
Vertical Gardens for Small Gardens
Compact gardens may be short on space – but it doesn’t mean doing without stunning features such as vertical gardens or statement pot plants to create your urban oasis.
Vertical gardens and green walls are a space efficient way to add relaxing greenery to your small garden.
We recommend selecting plants for green vertical gardens based upon the orientation of the wall and how much sunshine it’s exposed to. There are many plant options available including coastal and tropical plants such as ferns and Begonias to create your ideal garden.
Vogue & Vine can help you select the ideal vertical garden including our favourite circular wall garden suitable for residential interiors and exterior living areas.
Privacy Screening for Small Gardens
Privacy screening is one of our most requested features of small garden design in Sydney’s urban areas.
This could mean covering up an ugly old fence with taller plantings or creating a taller green privacy boundary as a barrier from close neighbours.
We are used to recommending narrow plants such as Slender Weavers Bamboo – which is a non-clumping variety and can grow up to 6-8m tall within 18 months.
Small Garden Designer Sydney
Your small Sydney garden or compact courtyard shouldn’t feel too shaded – the orientation of the sun should be one of the first design aspects to consider.
Understanding the light and exposure will dictate everything from choice of plants to where they are planted.
We recommend planting the taller plants along the boundary to maximise privacy and minimise loss of light.
Outdoor pots for Small Sydney Gardens
We always try to introduce outdoor pots into our smaller gardens as a way of breaking up the space and introducing variety. We often use modern leightweight pots and troughs for small balcony & courtyard gardens.
When it comes to design – the law of threes applies to outdoor pots. This means we can create interest with pots and plants of different sizes with crisp white pots often being our go to choice for modern courtyards and balconies.
For slightly larger spaces – we mix up our pot selection and often blend the modern with the rustic to give a modern eclectic look.
Using quality potting mix always helps your plants thrive and irrigation helps maintain your garden through the warmer months of the year.
Best plants for Small Sydney Gardens
Our plant selections are based on the design concept and our horticultural expertise. We do have some design tips to keep your courtyard or balcony looking great across the warmer & cooler seasons.
- Choose plants that look great all year and work well with each other with similar water and sun requirements.
- Achieve contrast through different foliage textures, colours of green and with spillover plants inside pots.
- Larger plants should have the ability to be easily trimmed and pruned so that they don’t overtake the garden and create too much shade.
Entertaining space for small gardens
Sometimes our clients want to jam pack their small Sydney gardens with a large dining table and chairs. The problem is that it overtakes the space and leaves no room for anything else.
Small garden design is all about scale and deciding what to include and what to leave out.
If plants and greenery are high up in your list – then you may need to scale back the furniture. We often reduce the furniture to two comfortable lounge chairs and a side table.
Once the priorities are set for inclusions and exclusions – make sure that no one piece overtakes the space – this is called harmony of design and is critical for successful small garden design.
Timber screening, decking & paving
When it comes to small garden flooring, we love the look and feel of timber decking or cleanline stone pavers. The choice here will depend on your budget. Smaller garden spaces should minimise the different design elements – so in small spaces we try to only have one flooring medium.
Slimline Slatted timber wall screening can create a stunning effect and make your compact courtyard garden pop. This requires custom carpentry meaning the slatted beauty can come at a cost. An Alternative is to paint your fence a darker colour which will provide a great backdrop to the greenery.
Don't forget the styling
Just when you think you have finished with the flooring, pots and plants – the styling is where the final finishing touches are introduced.
Styling your small courtyard or balcony is where you introduce some indoor/outdoor elements which start to blur the distinction between your indoor living room and your new outdoor space.
Two of our favourite outdoor styling additions are outdoor mirrors and outdoor rugs. Depending on the space – these will convert your garden into a true contemporary outdoor room.
Best Small Garden Design Ideas
Small Garden Design Sydney
When designing a small garden in Sydney – we always consider what to leave out rather than what to include.
Being aware of the space restrictions starts with a measurement of the site.
From there we try and include vertical elements first and include boundary privacy planting to outline the area.
Modern pots are essential with a limited selection of plants that work well together based on their texture and colour.
Accent pieces are a must to finish the design such as mirrors and outdoor rugs.
Incorporating some of these tips will help with your best garden design Sydney – for small gardens
