Small garden design course - structures, screens, storage and play
They may be dull, but they're important....
Just when we thought that we were paying the price for a lovely summer with a revolting September, the sun has come back! It’s all shiny and jolly out there, and the pollinators have gone bananas.
We’re back on the Small Garden Design course this week, looking at STUFF - how to fit in all that garden paraphernalia that isn’t necessarily planty stuff but which is a fact of life that we just have to accept if we want a real garden rather than a museum piece. Structures, screens, storage and play kit can so easily make our gardens look terrible, but there is a way, I promise to make them look ok.
Also, if you saw this post and were wondering how to go about actually doing it, I have some info for you.
So what about all that garden rubbish then?
So many times in the Chat here and in Zoom Meet-Ups (it’s about time we had another one), there comes the dreaded question of garden stuff: it’s all very well having a beautiful garden , but where does the everyday kit go? And how do we make the other things - plant supports, garden structures. - work with what we’ve got?
This is an essential part of what we’ve been discussing of the last four years, and I admit I’ve been putting it off, but I have steeled myself, and put together thoughts from the last thirty years of dealing with things that aren’t plants. I’ve touched on this subject in this post about creating interest with height – arches, pergolas, and climbing plants, and also here in Vertical planting.
It is really important, though. In a design, I try to do everything I can with plants - every bit of architecture, every focal point. But when I need to resort to hard materials, I have a method.
If you’e catching up, the Small Garden Design course is something you can start/pick up/put down at any time. I’ve put together the most recent posts here:
Small Garden Design
Introduction to the Small Garden Design Course 2025
How it all started – Small gardens 1
Small gardens 8 - believability
Small gardens 9 – deciding how much space each area needs
Small gardens 10 – frame and focus
Today, we’re looking at structures
Structures are the framework that hold the garden together. They’re worth investing in, because if you get the structures right, you’ll turn that blank outdoor space into a functional space full of character and personality.