MAKING A 15M² LONDON COURTYARD WORK HARDER
This is a concept design for a 15m² courtyard garden in East London, with the build booked in for next summer. It isn't built yet. What follows is the thinking behind the design.
The brief was a biggun for such a small space. Hosting mates, eating outside, an area to experiment with growing food, introducing wildlife, privacy, storage, all in 15m². Fitting that together is what a full garden design is for.
The starting point
A typical small London courtyard: concrete paving, tired fencing, a rear wall with railings above it connecting to the street outside, and a patchwork of mixed, potted planting. The courtyard is south-west facing, so it gets sun across most of the space from late morning until the evening. The client is desperate to introduce greenery and colour in the garden and is willing and able to spend a decent amount of time maintaining planting.
Keep the concrete
The obvious move is to rip it all out and start again. In a space this size that would make the garden feel smaller and more broken up, so most of the paving stays. The concrete and the galvanised metal are what make it a London courtyard, and the planting does the softening.
Planting through the paving
The one real intervention is lifting a few slabs and turning them into planting pockets. Narrow gaps get low, tough plants like wild thyme, sedum and Mexican fleabane. The larger pockets are deep enough for achillea, verbascum and field scabious. Most of the concrete stays visible, but it stops reading as a hard, empty surface.
Every bit does two jobs
There isn't room for a separate zone for everything, so everything is made to double up. A raised dining platform deals with an awkward drain cover. The big rear planter is also storage. A rebar frame against the wall holds star jasmine, creating greenery without using any floor space. Three terracotta pots hold tomatoes and a chilli right next to the table, so the food is part of the social space rather than tucked in a corner.
Planting for wildlife
The palette is informal and full of flowers: wild marjoram, wild strawberry, thyme, achillea, scabious and grasses, with euphorbia for structure and a burst of spring colour. It's the planting that plays the key role in changing how the courtyard feels.
Where it's got to
The concept is signed off, with the build planned for next summer.
If you've got a small, mostly paved yard, it often doesn't need clearing out. It needs the existing bits working harder.
MAKING A 15M² LONDON COURTYARD WORK HARDER
This is a concept design for a 15m² courtyard garden in East London, with the build booked in for next summer. It isn't built yet. What follows is the thinking behind the design.
The brief was a biggun for such a small space. Hosting mates, eating outside, an area to experiment with growing food, introducing wildlife, privacy, storage, all in 15m². Fitting that together is what a full garden design is for.
The starting point
A typical small London courtyard: concrete paving, tired fencing, a rear wall with railings above it connecting to the street outside, and a patchwork of mixed, potted planting. The courtyard is south-west facing, so it gets sun across most of the space from late morning until the evening. The client is desperate to introduce greenery and colour in the garden and is willing and able to spend a decent amount of time maintaining planting.
Keep the concrete
The obvious move is to rip it all out and start again. In a space this size that would make the garden feel smaller and more broken up, so most of the paving stays. The concrete and the galvanised metal are what make it a London courtyard, and the planting does the softening.
Planting through the paving
The one real intervention is lifting a few slabs and turning them into planting pockets. Narrow gaps get low, tough plants like wild thyme, sedum and Mexican fleabane. The larger pockets are deep enough for achillea, verbascum and field scabious. Most of the concrete stays visible, but it stops reading as a hard, empty surface.
Every bit does two jobs
There isn't room for a separate zone for everything, so everything is made to double up. A raised dining platform deals with an awkward drain cover. The big rear planter is also storage. A rebar frame against the wall holds star jasmine, creating greenery without using any floor space. Three terracotta pots hold tomatoes and a chilli right next to the table, so the food is part of the social space rather than tucked in a corner.
Planting for wildlife
The palette is informal and full of flowers: wild marjoram, wild strawberry, thyme, achillea, scabious and grasses, with euphorbia for structure and a burst of spring colour. It's the planting that plays the key role in changing how the courtyard feels.
Where it's got to
The concept is signed off, with the build planned for next summer.
If you've got a small, mostly paved yard, it often doesn't need clearing out. It needs the existing bits working harder.
