How to make a small garden feel like an oasis

A small garden does not have to look or feel small. A few simple design tricks can make small-space gardens appear larger than life. And today's plant selections are tailored to ever-shrinking gardens. From patio pots to courtyards to urban backyards, these gardening ideas for small spaces will help you make the most out of any garden plot.

What to consider

There are a few key considerations when gardening in small spaces. Start by defining your goals. What do you want the space to do for you? From there, you can organize space and select plant materials that will meet your needs. As you design your small space garden, think beyond the ground plane.

Make use of all available surfaces to add color and interest. This might include hanging window boxes beneath the windows or growing vines on fences and walls. Finally, careful plant selection will allow you to pack layers of color and texture into even the smallest gardens.

Selecting plants for small spaces

Small space gardening has been a focus among plant breeders for over a decade, resulting in a vast selection of compact plant materials for even the tiniest of gardens.

Look for dwarf or compact varieties of your favorite shrubs, such as Baby Kim Lilac (Syringa hybrid "SMNSDTP"), which packs everything we love about lilacs into a three-by-three-foot mound. Use columnar trees and shrubs as focal points or space-saving living walls and backdrops. "Skyrocket" juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) grows just two to three feet wide while adding evergreen color to the garden. "Slender Silhouette" sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua) makes a colorful backdrop complete with vibrant fall foliage.

Creating visual depth

Take advantage of the way colors and textures interact with the human eye to create the illusion of depth in the garden. Cool colors (green, blue, and purple) tend to recede from view, making objects look smaller and farther away. Use cool colored plants toward the back of a planting to add visual depth. Warm colors (red, orange and yellow) make an object appear larger and closer. Use plants with warm-hued foliage and flowers at the middle and front of a garden to make the planting move toward the viewer.

Plant texture works in a similar way. Most plants have medium textured foliage and should make up the bulk of plants in the garden. Accent these with plants displaying fine and coarse texture to create interest and depth. Like cool colors, fine-textured foliage recedes from view and should be used toward the back of a planting. Coarse-textured plants are bold and visually dominant. Use coarse-textured plants sparingly near the center or front of the planting.

More ideas

Combine the previous principles with the following tips to maximize garden space and create extraordinary plantings:

• Focus on foliage. Concentrate on foliage over flowers for adding color to the garden.
• Create lush layers. Visualize a forest with a tree canopy, shrub layer, and ground plane. Now, mimic that in miniature.
• Use pruning to your advantage. Prune the lower limbs from taller shrubs to create space for an underplanting of lush foliage or flowers. 
• Break up the space into even smaller rooms to help create the illusion of space.
• Plant edible plants as ornamentals. Mix your favorite edible plants among your ornamental plantings. 
• Think vertical. Surround yourself in lush plant material by adding vines on trellises, fences, or walls. 
• Accent hardscape with containers.