My Garden Inspiration...
A photo dump of (mostly) small, but beautiful gardens that have, and continue to inspire me and my own little spaces. Plus some seriously stylish garden additions, including the chicest £39.00 chair.
Happy Friday!
This week I am turning my attentions to some garden chat. As soon as the clocks going forward, I start fully focusing on my little (tiny in fact) gardens. They’re both paved (more on that later), so would be described as ‘courtyard gardens’.
This is a collection of images (all borrowed from my Pinterest boards) of little (mostly courtyard) gardens that I love, and have (and still do) inspired me (I tend to refer back to the same inspirational references time and time again). If, like me, you don’t have a lot a space, there are so many ways you can create something beautiful. Whether it’s for dining, relaxing, or (for approximately four days a year if you live in the UK) even sunbathing.
Like my interiors, I like my exteriors cluttered and cosy. But I am VERY particular about colours (for me less is definitely more), and colour combinations. I tend to go mostly for whites (as I love the combination of white and green), but with some soft pinks, peaches and creams. I do not like bright flowers of any kind, so you won’t find any reds, oranges, purples (my tigger colour, along with orange) or (bright) yellows (you won’t find them in my wardrobe either!). I also think too many colours can create too much of a ‘muddled’ feel to a small space. I like to pack a lot/as much as I possibly can in (plants, flowers, pots, planters etc.), but keep the colour palette tight. Similar to my wardrobe I guess.
One of my most-referenced garden images is this one below. Many of you may well already recognise it as Miranda Brooks’ (one of my all-time favourite garden designers) former Brooklyn Home and garden. When we first moved to our current home in Petersham, Richmond, back in 2013, we had a tiny (shady) front garden with a sad-looking patch of grass and not much else. So (in time) I set to work to transform it into a space we could actually use and enjoy. We decided to cut our losses with the grass and pave the area instead, adding borders for plants and flowers, as well as small water feature - this was made from a large trough which I sourced from a reclamation yard, and an old spout, which was fitted to the wall. And a little water pump was installed. The reason we decided on a water feature (God, they sound so naff when you write the words down/say them out loud!!) was two-fold. One being that I just love the sound of gentle running water, and the second being that by removing the grass we were taking away the habitat for any existing wildlife. So Tom would only agree to it, if we had some kind of water feature - we now have toads and frogs living and breeding there, which is honesty pretty cool. Anyway, I digress…
Miranda’s own courtyard style garden was the inspiration for our garden glow-up. Our house is actually quite similar looking, albeit is a little smaller in size, so I could totally visualise the end result. We even have similar trees and fences at either side (we’re end of terrace). We then had the hazel fencing (which I always loved) added to our sides of the fencing.
I love pots and planters (with pretty flowers spilling over) grouped together (always lovely around a door/doorway too), and these work really well for paved/courtyard spaces. A mix of terracotta and rattan works really well together - I like the trough style planters too (there are some of those coming up) . We have another courtyard at the back of our house, even tinier than the front, and I have applied the same style and techniques there too. There’s even a small water feature, but this time an off-the-peg one. Basically, I like to avoid anything too ‘neat’ or uniform. There has to be a looseness (although, it’s actually carefully considered, with the space being limited, it kind of has to be if you’re specific about what you want) and a prettiness (I know it’s my most-used word…) to it. In the same way I don’t relate to sharp lines in my wardrobe, I don’t generally like them in my home and garden either. I also wanted a blend of urban and cottage, which I found hard to find visuals for, and which is why Miranda’s space was one of the few that really spoke to me as a complete space. And why I always come back to it. To me, it’s just perfect.