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Small Gardens: Think Big
| Article
# : |
18690 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1991 |
1,516 Words |
| Author
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Virginia Greiner
Virginia Greiner writes a weekly gardening column for the
Washington Times. |
Your own private little backyard Garden of Eden may be a tight fit.
As mortgages get bigger, house lots seem to get smaller. When many homeowners go out in their backyards, their neighbors come to know more about their life-style than even their in-laws do. Every twitch, every nap, every drink, every little love pat and love spat is all out in the open for anyone next door to see, and often to hear.
You may not be one of those vaguely uneasy homeowners who feels as if someone is reading the newspaper over his shoulder whenever you step outside. But you may feel that a small garden cramps your gardening style. And you may groan about how hard it is to fit anything in, how limited the view is, how hard it is to grow anything with such high walls, such deep shape, such poor soil.
You're right, of course.
But small gardens aren't going to go away. They're everywhere you look. City dwellers cope with balconies and rooftops or quilt-sized specks of earth. Suburbanites suffer with walled-in town house patios or claustrophobic courtyards. Even new single-family homes are likely to be shoe-horned in four to a half-acre.
But there are simple ways to make your tiny garden look and feel big and private.
Enclose to Expand
Oddly enough, enclosing a space to give it privacy often also makes it appear larger. Walls, hedges, or fences give form to a design so that it doesn't wander around aimlessly. Neighboring houses and eyesores are much less visible. Cutouts in the wall, curving hedges, or a combination of plantings behind lattice or openwork fencing can hint at more space beyond, adding a sense of mystery and surprise.
Because fences can be installed quickly, they can give a sense of privacy and the feeling of enclosure sooner than hedges can. But slow growth may be a hedge's only drawback. If you pick the right plants, you won't be constantly pruning. A hedge will be cheaper than a fence in the long run, and you'll never have to paint it or dig up a rotted post.
Another solution for all but the very smallest garden is a mixed border of flowering shrubs and
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