Living in the city sometimes means sacrificing outdoor spaces, leaving us with limited options for creating an oasis in our backyards. But we don’t have to give up on small yards, balconies, or even rooftops just yet.
With a few innovative and budget-friendly ideas, you can create a vibrant, green space in the heart of the urban jungle that will put you back in touch with nature.
Where are small gardens heading in 2025?
In 2025, small gardens are set to embrace multifunctional elements that transform limited spaces into versatile outdoor living areas. Think along the lines of tropical foliage, perennial plants, green walls, container gardening, hanging baskets, and comfortable garden furniture.
With an ever-present focus on saving water and using recyclable materials, gardens will be water-efficient and geared for longevity through the use of succulent plants, mulching, and rainwater harvesting.
The adoption of ‘forest-like gardens’ supporting the shift towards eco-friendly practices will make an appearance in 2025, mimicking natural ecosystems that promote biodiversity. Another popular choice is ‘chaos gardening,’ the concept of haphazardly throwing some seeds around the garden and watching it transform into a ‘wildflower meadow.’ This trend looks set to continue as small gardens are turned into places that encourage a more natural and aesthetic approach.
Rock gardens are making a stylish comeback, blending water features and a rugged natural beauty with easy garden design. Use rocks to create a seating area amongst berry shrubs like strawberries and blueberries or herbs like thyme and rosemary providing the perfect way for children to ‘forage’ from the garden.
Transforming your small space in 2025 can be a fun and rewarding project for your whole family, creating something you can enjoy for many years to come. Use these simple yet effective ideas to bring your tiny garden to life.
Create vertical gardens or green walls
Set to become the small garden space favourite this year, the vertical garden is an effective way of turning the less aesthetic elements of urban living, such as walls and fences, into landscaping heroes.
Hanging baskets and planters
Hanging baskets and planters give you more space in your tiny backyard and they make concrete, steel, and wood look better. They also work well for apartment balconies, adding a layer of greenery without occupying valuable floor space. Flowering plants like begonias, petunias, succulents, and even strawberries thrive in these setups.
Get old pots together and give them a fresh coat of paint, recycle fabric shoe racks into herb pockets, or upcycle old pallets from your local hardware store or garden centre.
Window boxes
All the best looking window boxes have one thing in common - they are well-loved so don’t be afraid to get a little rustic and get those forgotten boxes out of the garden shed.
They are a great way to introduce colour and fragrance at eye level. Herbs such as basil, mint, or bedding plants like pansies, marigolds, and lavender. Use as many scented plants and seasonal flowers as you want in your window box, there’s no limit. If you have more ground space then get creative by using boxes to plant french beans (string beans), peppers, or salad leaves.
Green walls
Vertical gardening or green walls help you conceal unsightly concrete walls or structural elements around your property while enhancing privacy and providing more floor space in small gardens.
By introducing greenery vertically, you will transform bare walls into lush garden edging that will soften harsh urban spaces and create a more inviting outdoor haven. Often, the most practical and best part about green walls is that they offer seclusion from neighbouring properties.
In a world that is increasingly interconnected and ‘on’, a little downtime and privacy is a good thing. Create your vertical garden by:
- Install trellises against the wall and plant fast-growing climbers. Choose plants that will quickly cover the structure, helping you introduce visual interest and they don’t cost much to get going.
- Suspend a series of hanging planters at varying heights in front of a wall or fence to add depth. Plants like ferns, petunias, and trailing vines work well for adding more greenery.
- Erect bamboo screens a few inches away from the wall and plant sweet peas, rambling roses, or a passion fruit vine that will deliver delicious edibles in every season.
Design a functional space with a garden room
Tiny spaces can still be exciting and multifunctional. One way of achieving this is by introducing a small garden room that can be used for social gatherings, an office space, or even a guest bedroom.
Plamako Andrea S (3.9x3m) With Sliding Doors
A garden room will help you to save space all year round by allowing you to make the most of your garden. You can make it a focal point by surrounding the garden home with raised beds, potted plants, and installing outdoor lighting to create a soothing and inviting ambience both day and night.
If the room is small enough to nestle into tight spaces it can be surrounded by green walls and flower beds, turning your whole garden into a relaxing ‘forest’ experience.
Choose a high-quality product that is made of natural materials and is sustainably created. This fits very much into the trends for 2025, which are to create natural, eco-friendly spaces that don’t drain natural resources.
Maximise space around your garden home by:
- Incorporating raised beds to define planting areas. They are ideal for planting small vegetables, herbs, or flowers and can be customized to create a back garden brimming with life.
- Arranging potted plants inside the garden home if you don’t have enough space outside.
- Using patio paving to create separate spaces around the garden home. If you’re using it for entertaining outdoors, you can create a small dining area with pavers. Delineating spaces can also make an area feel more organized.
Add multifunctional furniture
Introducing multifunctional furniture doesn’t require too much space. Opt for benches or seats that double as storage units for gardening equipment or outdoor cushions. This is also a neat little idea for being bold with your colour scheme. If you like the idea of loads of greenery, then introduce splashes of colour in strategic places in the form of a foldable table, coffee table, or painted garden furniture.
Enhance garden ambiance with lighting and interesting plants
Small gardens provide welcome relief from urban life during the day, but at night, they can be forgotten if they’re not lit up. The warmth and beauty created by fairy lights and similar outdoor lighting can provide a seamless transition between day and night, turning your garden into a place of relaxation before you sleep.
Use hanging lights behind a trellis or bamboo screen to gently light up dark spaces in the garden. Aim to draw the eye towards elements in the garden that you want to highlight.
Lighting particular plants, garden furniture, features, or pathways is a great way to add interest and turn your small garden into an extra space for entertaining, reading, relaxing, or dining.
Night scented plants
Night-scented plants begin releasing their scent at dusk. They attract nocturnal pollinators, such as moths, beetles, and flower thrips. They are often more pale in colour making them more visible in the moonlight.
Plant night scented flowers in hanging baskets or flower beds around the patio or close to garden furniture so you can enjoy their scent on warm summer nights.
Include creative design elements
Finishing touches are often the most important part of creating a well-rounded small garden space; without them, the space may always look like something is missing. A few budget-friendly ideas for finishing the look of your garden include:
- Garden edging: Define planting areas with decorative edging using natural materials like wood, stone, or bamboo. Mosaics are an interesting and fun way to highlight beautiful plants for delineating a section for patio furniture or seating. Tree trunks, gravel, recycled bottles, and large pebbles are a way of using second-hand materials thrown away by landscapers and gardeners.
- Decorative features: Outdoor mirrors create an illusion of space and reflect light. This is particularly effective at night where pieces of handing mirror will pick up lighting from candles, fairy lights, and walkway lamps. Sculptures and decorative panels can inject personality and charm into your garden.
Turn your small garden into the ultimate escape from urban life
Your garden size shouldn’t dictate whether you can turn it into a haven away from the hustle and bustle and urban life. Even tiny gardens in the middle of a city, surrounded by other buildings, can be turned into budget-friendly spaces, giving you hours of enjoyment.
If you really have no money to overhaul your garden, a trip around town to see what the neighbours have tossed out can yield amazing treasures that can be used to turn your garden around. The same applies to thrift shops and local nursery sales where you can get interesting garden elements, second-hand lighting, and plants that need a little tender loving care.
If your budget allows and you want to make your garden look nice, go for a high-quality garden home that can last for years and extend your indoor space. These days they come in all sorts of designs and sizes and can be custom-made to fit even the smallest spaces. Plant your garden around the cabin, creating an indoor/outdoor living space that has multiple functions.
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By implementing these quick and easy innovative ideas, you can make the most out of every inch of your garden. You may not be able to get out of the city, but you can bring nature to your back garden in 2025.
