I am often asked by clients if I can make their small garden feel bigger. There are some easy tricks that will help. You can create a journey by changing the direction of a path or introduce a level change. Reflections that trick the eyes, false entrances, hidden zones and borrowed landscapes will also help to make your garden feel larger. Even a balcony can feel more spacious if you keep the floor space clear, avoid too much clutter and use the vertical surfaces for planting. Wall mirrors can trick the eye into thinking the space is bigger, too. Or, if you want to be creative, how about painting a landscape mural on a wall or commissioning an artist to do this?
May we suggest: Small garden ideas from the House & Garden archive
One of the simplest tricks in a small garden is to create a level change. A step up has created a journey, already making the garden feel a little bigger. By adding some interesting things to look at en route, you slow the visitor down and trick the brain into thinking the garden is a more generous size.
Using a mirror on the rear boundary is a great trick to make the garden feel bigger. It is important to have flowers, shrubs and trees reflecting in the mirror and use plants such as climbers or tall grasses to disguise the edges, too. Blurring the lines between the real plants and the reflection will give the impression the garden extends even further.
Adding a false door on a wall or fence, with a path leading to it, creates mystery. What is beyond that door? That simple question makes us feel the garden is bigger and there is more space to explore. Just make sure the door reflects the rest of your design.
In a small garden you can often see everything straight away, which makes the space feel even
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