The Gardening Mind by Jo Thompson

The Gardening Mind by Jo Thompson

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The Gardening Mind by Jo Thompson
The Gardening Mind by Jo Thompson
Small Garden Design: how to create a welcoming and fun tiny garden

Small Garden Design: how to create a welcoming and fun tiny garden

Easy ways to create a small garden space that is truly sociable

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Jo Thompson
Aug 09, 2025
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The Gardening Mind by Jo Thompson
The Gardening Mind by Jo Thompson
Small Garden Design: how to create a welcoming and fun tiny garden
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A welcoming dining area in a garden
This week, we’re making sociable spaces

Are you back out in the garden? I am - the thermometer mercury is back up and so is the garden parasol as I sit outside writing to you. I’m enjoying this sunshine, hoping to goodness that it lasts until at least the end of next weekend, for I am to spend Two Nights in a Tent. There’ll be more on that next week - if I survive it, of course.

I’d like to become a member please

a welcoming entertaining area in a garden

The Small Garden Design Course is back - you can take part in this at any time, and you can find all of it here. If you’re visiting The Gardening Mind because of an interest in garden design, or if you’ve got an awkward garden area you want to deal with, do take a look at the Garden Design section.

Creating Sociable Garden Spaces

Today I’m going to be looking at the idea of the garden as a sociable space, and how, even in the tiniest of spaces, you can make a place where people want to be, where they feel comfortable, and where they want to come back to.

Perhaps your dream is a garden which is busy with people coming and going, dropping by and hanging out. Or maybe it’s a calm space, where a friend comes to visit and spends the morning chatting to you over a cup of tea, or the evening shooting the breeze over something stronger. Whichever and whatever, I’ve got a whole list of practical hints to help you think through this idea.

As ever, if you have any questions, do pop them on the Chat and I’ll answer them - and many of our Gardening Mind community will be delighted to help too!

Creating a small space which really works, which is a functional sociable space, is about making every inch count, every element work for its inclusion and its keep, with the intention of bringing people together.

a welcoming dining area in a garden with a pergola and fairy lights

Whether you're thinking of using the garden to host supper parties, family gatherings, or whether you just want a space where friends and neighbours pop in for a chat, a thought-through design can transform even the tiniest garden into a garden where people gather.

After the paywall, we’ll go through all the ways to achieve this:

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