Many people who live in these still want a garden. This is why for the first time Paul Bangay, well known in Australia for creating award-winning large gardens, has turned his hand to designing gardens in small spaces.
The result is Small Garden Design, a stunning and very practical book filled with beautiful photographs.
He found it challenging. The smaller the space, the harder it proved to be. But a small garden can be very beautiful in its own way and of course, there will be no lawns to mow!
His catch cry is “Keep it Simple. Less is more. Don’t try to cram too many elements into a small space.”
Small Garden Design is divided into two parts. In the first part, he takes a look at five different kinds of small inner-city gardens: balconies and terraces, rooftops, small inner-city gardens, lightwells, and courtyards.
Each poses different kinds of challenges and he provides very practical and detailed information on how to meet them.
For instance balconies and terraces, which are the most common form of outdoor space, are often narrow and very constricted which means there is very little room for plants or furniture.
Due to the height of the building, they will often be windy. Plants hate wind and they will also dry out more quickly so unless you have an irrigation system you will have to hand water them and this will also limit plant choices
A further complication is that many balconies are not open to the sky, creating deep shade so that plants will be subjected to blasts of low morning or afternoon sun.
And because of the lack of deep soil, everything will have to be planted in pots or troughs. This limits the volume of soil available to plants and restricts their size.
All of this means that you will have a limited choice of plants which can thrive on a balcony or terrace. Paul Bangay has good suggestions of which ones to choose.
Paving too is a consideration. Your balcony can only take so much weight so the pavers cannot be too heavy. He lists what kinds of paving materials are durable and easy to maintain,
Another important consideration is safety. Typically one metre is the minimum height for balustrades in Australian building codes. And pots and containers must not be placed too close to the balustrade where they can cause a climbing hazard for young children.
The second part of the book contains a great deal of more general advice on small garden design. It includes chapters about water in the garden, making the space appear larger, pots and ornaments, wall treatments, paving, lighting, and plant selection.
All of this is written in a very accessible style so that even those who do not have the greenest of thumbs will be able to follow his advice.
Small Garden Design is filled with photographs of small gardens which Paul Bangay has designed. These are truly inspirational. His style is classical. He loves symmetry and water features and uses a limited colour palette in which greens predominate, sometimes with bright colour accents. Pots, sculptures and garden furniture are often included.
His gardens invite you in, they make you feel serene. They really do show that there are ways that you can transform a small garden into a miniature paradise.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is planning to create a new garden in a small space. Although you may well want to add some of your own creative touches it is a great starting point.
Small Garden Design was written by Paul Bangay. Imprint: Lantern. RRP $65
Reviews by Lyn Potter
Parent and grandparent, Avid traveler, writer & passionate home cook