How to Enhance a Small Garden with Plants

Returning every year with pretty floral displays, planting a mix of perennials is a simple way to enhance a smaller garden with beautiful colours, shapes, and movements. Recognising what to plant in a small garden can be difficult when space is limited, so every unused corner counts. Read on for some simple ideas on how to improve a small garden with perennials. 

Hanging Baskets

How to Enhance a Small Garden With Perennials

Perfect for ornamenting the outside of your home, a hanging basket filled with pretty, trailing blooms will draw attention away from the size of your garden, and will not take up its valuable floorspace.

Trailing flowers can additionally  soften harsh walls, and create a charmingly rustic feel. Versatile, and able to complement any backdrop, plants with white flowers are a good choice if you are unsure on which colour scheme to adopt.

Using Blue Perennials

Another useful tip is to incorporate blue within your hanging baskets. Blue will brighten shaded corners, and will prove a particularly good accompaniment to grey. As such, if your patio or driveway includes grey, the use of blue-flowered varieties will create enviable harmony of cooler tones. 

A hardy campanula, ‘Blue Sky’ will form a generous blanket of stellate-shaped, blue flowers come summer. This perennial’s neat, compact habit makes it a manageable choice, where it will happily grow in both full sun or partial shade.

Pots

Enhancing Limited Outdoor Space with Perennials

Planting perennials in pots is another excellent way to adorn your small garden, without worrying about them growing too large. This approach also allows  more freedom over your plant’s location,  aspect, and soil.

To keep your perennials small, divide them every two seasons, and re-plant accordingly. Your new plants will make appreciated gifts for fellow gardeners. 

Pots are also a wonderful opportunity to experiment with fun colour combinations, and the widely loved Dianthus is one of the best perennials for doing so. Pinks will thrive in sunny spots, and flower all summer long. They also offer divine scents; if you prefer spiced fragrances, we suggest ‘Memories’, or if you enjoy sweeter smells, opt for ‘Tickled Pink’. 

For an innovative, modern touch, why not try planting a taller perennial? Long stems paired with sumptuous flowers will establish beautiful structure, and can help deflect from an unsightly fence or wall. Each boasting tall silhouettes, embellished by intricate purple flowers,  Allium, Agapanthus, and Salvia varieties are excellent for making a statement.  

Raised Beds

Enhancing Limited Outdoor Space with Perennials

Just like containers, raised beds allow you  greater control over a perennial’s environment. They can also create differing structural effects. For example, they can separate your garden from the street, and bring a flair to a basic garden design.

Embrace a multitude of colours by planting a variation of perennials, such as Lavender and Alchemilla. Alchemilla will blend beautifully amongst other plants, and aside from being loved by pollinators, Lavender offers a delightful fragrance that will be relished by guests.  

Planting in Drifts

Enhancing Limited Outdoor Space with Perennials

To soften the difference in height between your garden’s ground and fence,  why not plant your favorite perennials in small drifts? Planting in drifts can create an accomplished look comparable to a wild garden. Nevertheless, be mindful that some perennials may grow quickly, infringing on your garden’s space.

To make drifts, plant several perennials of the same variety in long streaks. It does not matter whether they are vertically or horizontally positioned. The smaller the perennial’s eventual size, the more of them you can plant. 

The smaller the border, the less perennials you need; try Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, Salvia ‘Ostriesland’, and Allium ‘christophii’. When individually planted in little drifts, they will create long-flowering border filled with romantic colour.  Being patient, observe your border over time, and fill any sparser areas with new, compatible additions.