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Building a Beautiful Garden in a Small Space
Having a beautiful garden and owning your own home is still the Great Australian Dream.
But the rising cost of housing is forcing more of us to live in smaller spaces, so the days of sprawling verandahs and half-acre blocks are long gone.
The good news is you can still enjoy a low-maintenance garden and relaxing green space in a small area – even an inner-city courtyard or rooftop garden!
Think Vertical
If you don’t have space to spread out, spread up instead.Vertical gardens and ‘green walls’ not only look great, but can serve a functional purpose such as natural privacy screening or noise reduction. They are ideal for small spaces, indoors or out, and perfectly suited to minimalist garden design.
Vertical gardens can offer environmental and health benefits too. A study of a 10m2 ‘Breathing Wall’ system found it was capable of lowering reflected noise by 41%, reducing ambient heat, and removing:
- 24.2 litres of CO2 from the air per hour
- toxic gases 1.5 times faster than pot plants and
- 95% of air pollutants such as car exhaust fumes
Geostone’s coloured concrete and exposed aggregate concrete solutions can provide a stunning backdrop for any vertical garden or green wall.
Natural Colours
Using natural materials and neutral tones in a small outdoor space can create the feeling of more spaciousness and a more welcoming and inviting outdoor area.
Dull and grey inner city areas can be transformed by replacing old concrete with a decorative concrete solution in earthy or cream colours, or exposed aggregate featuring natural Australian stone.
Combining natural materials and neutral tones allows you to simplify your colour scheme, offset with vibrant pops of green and other colours from your plants.
Save Space, Save Water
In Australia’s harsh climate, water saving tips are an important consideration when designing and building a new garden.
Strategic use of landscaping design should give your garden adequate natural sunlight and shade as well as access to rainfall – when it happens!
When it comes to building garden beds, Urban Agriculture says no other material is as durable or suitable for the job as poured concrete.
Choosing drought-tolerant plants that are native to your local area can also help to reduce water use in your garden.
Edible Gardens
If you’re going to the effort and expense of planting a garden, it might as well be edible.
Space-saving edible gardens can range from a window planter box, an indoor herb garden, a small veggie patch or pot plants on your patio.
When choosing the best vegetables to grow in a small garden remember to plant foods you enjoy. To save even more money, consider selecting varieties that are usually expensive to buy or hard to find in your local supermarket.
Increase Property Value
Everybody loves green space, which is why even a small garden can add value to your property.
Low-maintenance outdoor areas have the highest appeal for potential home buyers, particularly busy city dwellers looking to buy in built-up areas.
Regularly cleaning concrete and patios will help maintain the look and value of external surfaces, and can also improve the results of property valuation when it comes time to sell.
For more information about using decorative concrete solutions in your garden and landscaping projects, contact Geostone today.