How to Make a Tiny Garden Terrific



If you’re a fan of real estate you would be more than aware of the phrase ‘street appeal’ and understand that obtaining good street appeal should be high on your list of things to accomplish.

It can be extremely difficult to make the front of your house look attractive if the whole area is taken up by a car parking space. Here are my top tips to try and achieve an inviting front garden in a tight spot.

Tight front gardens usually have a joining wall between properties and it's imperative you try and green this wall up as plants have an amazing way of expanding the field of vision making the space feel larger. My favourite option is a green wall or vertical garden as they give maximum plant numbers with minimum footprint but they are expensive.

Other options include slim line pots with climbers that can be grown on wires or, if you have a bit more room, a thin garden bed with some shrubs that can be pruned tall and thin. If you really are tight on space and just can’t fit any plants in, joining walls can be dressed up with modern timber screening or laser cut metal screens.

As you should try and have the car out of the parking space for viewings take some time to think about the flooring you have. In an ideal world natural stone is the most attractive and darker coloured stones are the most practical but in most cases the flooring is in place and 9 out of 10 times it's concrete.

Concrete can be pressure washed and cleaned up but by adding a sealant with a stain will make the whole slab look brand new and the colour will last 6-8 times longer than using a paving paint.

If you don’t use your parking spot on a regular basis think about adding a bit of green by installing lawn. In usual installation the plants roots compact under the pressure of a car and inevitably the grass fails but these days there is plastic reinforcing and drainage grids that protect the roots from compaction and allow water to drain through them making them environmentally friendly.

Another common sight in a small front garden is the carport and these are huge culprits for making the space feel like a dark uninviting dungeon. The easiest way to lighten these up is to paint the frame in a light colour, as this will draw light into the darkest areas.

Replacing the roofing with transparent or smoke coloured polycarbonate will also allow light in whilst keeping the UV rays out.

By Charlie Albone

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