Small-Space Gardens

It's hard to imagine that the formal garden of Dianne Avlon began as a concrete parking lot. Determined, Dianne enclosed the space with brick walls and began paving the lot with plants. The formal design, anchored with geometric shapes, is reminiscent of Charleston gardens during the 18th century.

Dianne's garden measures only 30 feet by 30 feet but it feels much larger. A small space works very well as a formal or structured garden, she says, because the order and geometry of formal designs expand the space by leading your eye through it.

Keeping the plant material in scale is also very important. She chose dwarf boxwood for the hedges. To keep the structure of the garden from being cold and hard, she took advantage of the vertical space as well; climbing roses and jasmine spill over the walls, softening the design.

She also recommends limiting color and types of plant material in a small garden to avoid visual confusion. Her garden has a lot of pink and white. The plant material is very limited, repeated from place to place so it moves your eye around the garden.

Next, the most visited private garden in America was made famous in the book Mrs. Whaley and her Charleston Garden. Emily Whaley was the original owner; her daughter Marty now keeps the garden growing with her mother's spirit.

Marty says her mother was a gardening pioneer in Charleston. Her style was more loose and daring, and she didn't repeat her successes; she continued to try many things. One of the things she tried that works so well in this small garden is the "outdoor room" concept. Living walls filled with azaleas, camellias, tea olive and loquat help give the space a much larger and more welcoming feel.

Marty advises that you fill up the garden, enclose it with vertical things and then get a decoration, like a beautiful feature and some water. Then use the space, live in it.

The last stop on my garden tour took me to a side garden hidden behind an elegant Charleston home, a perfect example of how one can utilize long narrow spaces. The garden leads to a small, formal private retreat in the back. Owner Vereen Coen and her husband Dick have maintained the garden for more than 40 years. Creating a focal point was the key design element in this tiny garden; it's a horseshoe bed filled with pansies and English daisies.

Boxwood is used to outline the garden and give it structure. The key with these shrubs or any plants in a small garden is allowing room for them to grow. And perfect pruning is a must.

These three small gardens certainly prove that bigger isn't always better in the garden.