A large garden is probably the dream of every hobby gardener. It goes without saying that everyone who only has a narrow garden is annoyed. But you can make it look bigger with a few simple steps.
Terraced gardens and allotment gardens often have an unfortunate floor plan. Owners of long and narrow gardens have to grapple with the terms "towel" or "hose".
You shouldn't fret, though. Even the narrow garden can become a garden paradise if you divide it up and plant it properly. With a few simple but very effective tricks, it looks much wider.
This makes the garden look wider
1 Divide garden into areas:
Make a plan of everything you want in your garden. Lawn, space for fruit, vegetables and herbs, playground for the children, pond, garden shed, paths, seating - the list is long and requires careful planning. Do not line up the individual areas strictly one after the other so that the narrow structure of the garden is not emphasized even more. A staggered cross division is better. You can separate the zones with simple measures to create a lively look.
2 Make sense of border planting:
The plants on the edge are often placed first. Here you can already provide for a visual widening. Do without a dead-straight hedge made of the same shrubs over and over again. A mixed hedge with different growth forms and widths, consisting of flowering and evergreen shrubs, loosens up the narrow garden. If part of the border planting grows into the garden, you might suspect that it will appear even narrower. Exactly the opposite is the case! Build in exciting elements ranging from rose arches to willow trees with overhanging branches.
3 Plan privacy screens and hidden corners:
A garden where you can see everything at a glance is boring. It's better to have surprises! This also works in the narrow garden. Plant a low hedge between the vegetable patch and the pond, use trellis to block the view, setlarge tubs as eye-catchers. If the individual garden areas are arranged alternately left/right, the result is a broader effect. You can visually separate the seating area with tall plants or climbing plants. Tall swamp grasses or bamboo provide privacy at the pond.
If you have the feeling in the narrow garden: "Now turn the corner, then there is a new area", then you have successfully tricked the oblong shape.
4 Curved, soft shapes instead of angular elements:
There are no strict, geometric shapes in nature. You can take advantage of this in a narrow garden: Create curved paths and break up the narrow structure with soft shapes. Of course there are exceptions: in the Japanese-inspired garden, a formal structure is important. But here, too, oval or round shapes are well suited to optically expand the narrow shape of the garden. Reading tip: Design garden paths: 22 creative examples.
5 Select suitable plants:
Plants that fulfill several functions are particularly useful in narrow and small gardens. An example: The apple tree enchants with many blossoms in spring and provides a rich harvest in autumn. Trees and shrubs that change leaf color over the course of the gardening year are also very beautiful.
You can diversify the flower bed with perennials and plants that bloom at different times. Another point is the colour: shades of blue and subtle flower colors make the garden appear larger. They create an optical depth. Yellow, orange and red, on the other hand, are more eye-catching and create closeness.
Conclusion:
However you approach the design of your garden: Fortunately, the garden is not a "thing" that you have to take for granted. Every year you can experiment, choose new plants, move old plants to a different place and change the internal shape and appearance.