“Gardening is the purest of human pleasures”- Francis Bacon
Gardening is as old as human civilization. This is a noble practice that should be promoted more considering the alarming climatic challenges the whole world is facing currently. In ancient times, people used to have a large front and backyard spaces and thus gardening was much more in practice. Big trees to small shrubs – all found a place in gardens. Gradually, with the explosion of population and to provide proper amenities to them, the wider spaces were all eaten up. Now, you will hardly see such lush and well-maintained gardens until and unless you visit a village or a farmhouse.
The reality is human civilization cannot progress without plants and gardening is never going to be out of fashion. Now, due to space crunch, people don’t have big gardens and settle with small ones. Landscaping is an aspect that helps in promoting the great looks of a garden. But there are some differences between these two terms.
Difference between Gardening & Landscaping
- Gardening is simply the practice of growing plants and can range from planting a small shrub to a large variety of plants. It involves growing and taking care of plants in pots and planters. Landscaping is an art of organizing and enriching outdoor space with plants and other structures for aesthetic appeal.
- Gardening is a natural way of enhancing greenery. Landscaping is a professional way of gardening where the garden is designed through a full-proof plan like constructing a pond or bringing an innovative sculpture.
- Gardening is more a personal thing and involves growing plants at one’s place while landscaping involves large scale projects that may include public gardens or big recreational areas.
- Gardening can be done by anyone. Landscaping is generally conducted by professionals but anyone with a keen interest can learn and go ahead with creativity.
In all urban agglomerations, there is a paucity of space. But there are many interesting small garden landscaping ideas that will totally transform the look of your limited space. Additionally, you will feel closer to nature.
Gravel Design:
First of all, you need to picture your garden space very well. Then, decide on a focal point which will make your small garden look bigger. For example, make a U-shape pattern and place all your shrubs and flowering plants outside of that U. Now, fill the inside of U with gravel and keep a metallic finish urn or a hand-painted terracotta urn at the center. This will work as a focal point which is a great small garden landscaping idea to draw the eye’s attention and help outdoor spaces feel tidy. You may color these gravels and then spread them. Your small garden area will look amazingly big and you will love spending more time here.
Create An Illusion:
Do you know that long & straight lines trick you into thinking a small garden landscape is way bigger than it actually is? So, take full advantage of this illusion process and subtly slant the far end of the lines toward one another and create a focal point. You may use fences for this purpose or you may use long rows of flowers.
Vertical Garden:
The vertical garden is definitely the future. With time the population will rise and so would their demands and thus to mitigate the challenges of small space, a vertical garden is the only answer. You can do it yourself with help from some YouTube videos. You can even convert your old shoe rack into a vertical garden or simply use your wooden fences for the same. Once the plants are growing upwards, you can now use the garden floor for keeping a bench, cozy chairs, lamps, small table, etc. and party with your friends.
Big Tropical Plants:
You can bring big and bold tropical plants and give a lush feel to your small garden landscape. The large leaves of such plants will make your small backyard look bigger. Generally, these tropical plants require periodic watering and lots of sunshine and thus this is one of the best low maintenance small garden design ideas you can invest for. Also, the unusual shape of the leaves would attach a “cool” tag to your garden.
Grass Moss Topiary:
You must have seen funky elephant-shaped or cat-shaped grass moss in various public gardens or recreational areas. You can bring them to your home too and give a smart look to your small garden area. You can get in touch with a professional landscape artist to get your desired shape of grass moss topiary. Once you bring the topiary, you can place small colorful flowering plants around it.
Pond In Your Garden:
You can invest a lot and construct your own pond or invest minimally and come up with a breezy pool. Use an old bathtub and fill that with water. Place some water plants & colorful fishes in it and keep it on one side of your garden area. On the other side keep two chairs and a table where you can sit and enjoy a peaceful cup of tea or read a book.
Give a Desert Look:
The ones who love various kinds of cactus wouldn’t mind having a desert vibe at their gardens. You can encircle a certain portion of your garden and fill that with sand. Now place the pots of cactus plants following a star-shaped or flower petal-shaped pattern.
