Urban gardens tend to be quite small. This means that, if you live in a town or city, making the most of your outdoor space can seem difficult. However, there are some things you can do to make your garden appear larger, and it’s still possible to create an outdoor sanctuary that you love.

Here, we share our top tips for getting the most out of your small garden. Read on to find out more.

Small garden

Try vertical gardening

Vertical gardening is one of 2017’s biggest gardening trends, and it’s perfect if your outdoor space is quite small – or if you have a creative way you’d like to make use of some flower seeds.

This is because living walls offer a great way of adding greenery to your garden without using any of the valuable room you have. They’re also great if you’re looking to blur the boundaries of your garden, and help it to appear bigger than it is.

It’s relatively easy to create a low-maintenance vertical garden that looks great. You can use climbing plants like ivy and Virginia creeper. Or, if you would like to be more creative, you can hang small pots or specially made containers on your fence and fill them with flowers and shrubs. Succulents like agave and echeveria are ideal, as they’re slow-growing and easy to look after. Alchemilla, ferns, and carmellias are also perfect for planting in smaller gardens, as they don’t require a lot of sunlight to thrive. If you have an idea of what kind of plants you would like to use, it’s very easy to order them online at Gardening Express — that way, you’ll get them all at once and won’t have to transport them home yourself!

If you’re interested in creating a living wall, take a look at Country Living’s list of creative ways to plant a vertical garden for inspiration.

Keep things tidy and save space

The easiest way to make your garden look bigger is by getting rid of any unnecessary clutter that’s making it look messy.

Large items like your wheelie bins should be hidden away in your garage or shed, as having them on display is bound to make your outdoor space look cramped. And, if you have kids who tend to leave their toys scattered across the garden, you should consider investing in storage that will help them to keep things tidy. Plastic Box Shop offers a wide selection of garden and outdoor storage boxes, which will stand up to the elements and help you to stay organised. Oldrids & Downtown’s Bistro Set is perfect for small spaces and absolutely adorable.

You can also take a look at my guide to sprucing up your garden, which outlines more ways to update and tidy your outdoor space.

Create a focal point

You’ll often find focal points, such as fountains and elaborate flower arrangements, in large open gardens. But smaller gardens can benefit from having a feature piece too.

In garden design, focal points are used to draw and direct the eye of visitors. While filling your outdoor space with an undisturbed collection of plants is bound to look beautiful, people will be unlikely to study it. But, if you give people something to focus on initially, their attention will be grabbed and they’ll move on to notice the smaller details of your garden. This can help your garden to appear much larger to them. So, if your goal is to make your outdoor space seem bigger than it is, creating a focal point is a great idea.

Take these tips on board and you’ll create a small but beautiful garden you can be proud of. And, with some clever techniques and optical illusions, you could even make it look much bigger than it is.