Make the most of your city garden - Small garden ideas

Space is at a premium, especially in the city. A garden is a luxury many city dwellers can't enjoy.

If you’re lucky enough to live in a house or ground floor flat with that coveted rectangle of green out the back, there’s a good chance you’ll barely have room to swing the proverbial cat.

But there are ways of making the most of even the tiniest of garden spaces. With a little thought, planning and creativity, you can shape your outside space into an area of style, beauty and calm.

And you might even decide to maximise the potential of your outdoor area to free up some extra room indoors. If you live in a small city house and need a discrete working-from-home space, why not think about tucking a stylish garden building into an empty corner of the garden?

Style, simplicity, low maintenance.

Think minimal. With a small space, it’s all too easy to overcrowd it with flowers beds, pots and ornaments. With the right design choices, you can create something pleasing to the eye, as well as significantly reducing the time you’ll spend on maintenance.

• Paving – pave diagonally to give the effect of a bigger space.
• Gravel – choose the right colour for a traditional or modern look; use a barrier to prevent weeds from coming through.
• Trees – a few well-chosen taller trees (silver birch, cherry) can add privacy and height; ornamental trees (olive, Japanese maple) add subtlety and elegance.
• Raised beds – easy to manage and highly versatile, use raised beds for herbs, home-grown veg, and year-round colour.
• Ornamental grasses – hardy and easy to grow, grasses can add height and a touch of the exotic to your garden.
• Create ‘rooms’ – divide your garden into discrete spaces, using screens, trellis or bamboo, for:
  • different types of flora,
  • sitting and dining areas,
  • secret hideaways.

Also, think about finding a spot to place a garden building or posh shed.

Bring the inside out.

One positive outcome of the Covid-19 pandemic is that businesses have come to embrace the benefits of their staff working from home. And this looks set to continue.

WFH can contribute to an improved work-life balance, but it can also create its own stresses. You need a space that allows you to work in comfort, stay focused, and maintain the levels of professionalism your employer and customers expect. The kitchen table doesn’t always cut it!

So how about using the garden? A stylish garden building could bring both practical benefits and an enviable aesthetic to your outdoor space.

But when you look out of the window at your small city garden, you may think it’s too small to accommodate an outdoor office.

In fact, there are garden buildings available that are ideal for use as small offices. And they can fit into spaces as tiny as four square metres. Choose well and these little gems will make a stunning addition to your small garden space.

Make the most of the tightest of spaces.

A new garden room doesn’t have to dominate your outdoor space. It can be just one element of your overall design, blending in and complementing other features. And it’s a great way of getting the best out of a space you might not otherwise make good use of – like a corner spot or shaded area up against a fence or wall.

If indoor working space is a problem, a garden room is a quick and affordable fix, with long-term returns. Easy to install, and without long waits for labour and materials, many of our customers see a garden room as the perfect alternative to a home extension. And you can fit one into even the smallest of gardens.

Our most popular garden room, the Prima Mini Office, is 1.8m wide by 2.4m deep, which is a mere 4.3m2.

These top-of-the-range bijou garden offices are perfect for the solo worker. They comfortably accommodate a desk, chair and shelves, with space over for other office necessities.

The Mini Office benefits from three double-glazed windows and a double-glazed door, and, with its insulated roof and floor, it’ll keep you warm in winter and cool in summer.

And it looks great too: sustainably-sourced timber, finished with tongue and groove cladding inside and out, a light and airy interior and a stylish flat roof.

And if you’re after an even cosier space, we can create a smaller version of the Mini Office at 1.8m x 1.8m. That’s just 3.3m2!

Design your own garden building.

Why not have a go at designing your own garden building, with our exclusive 3D design tool? You can see your ideal garden office come to life, and visualise how it would fit into your existing outdoor space.

You could use the tool to design a building from our Linea range. Starting at a compact four square metres, these beautiful buildings have no roof-overhang and come with concealed internal guttering, making them easy to install into really tight spaces.

They can even be erected from the inside, so you can get your garden room sitting next to a boundary or wall. Be sure to leave enough space around the building for maintaining the timber cladding.

Create a space for storage.

Even if you’re not after a WFH space, you can still add visual impact to your city garden with one of our on-trend modern sheds. And you’ll free up indoor space, by creating valuable extra storage space – for bikes, garden equipment and camping kit.