Yard of the Week: Small Haven for Gardening and Outdoor Living
This compact plot offers secluded spaces for relaxing, dining, gardening and exercising in a calm green oasis
The couple who owns this yard wanted different things. For one homeowner, it was all about outdoor cooking and exercising; for the other, the priority was a leafy space with plenty of gardening opportunities. The area to play with, however, was just 36 feet long and wide.
Working with landscape designer Miles Raybould, the owners managed to include a lounge area with fire pit, an outdoor kitchen and dining corner, a backyard studio, a water feature and masses of gorgeous plantings offering year-round interest — all without making the space feel crowded.
Working with landscape designer Miles Raybould, the owners managed to include a lounge area with fire pit, an outdoor kitchen and dining corner, a backyard studio, a water feature and masses of gorgeous plantings offering year-round interest — all without making the space feel crowded.
Before: This is a view of the original backyard taken from the flat’s balcony. “It was a bit overgrown,” the designer says. “We pruned some of the bigger trees [including a huge ash and some fruit trees] and started from there. Neither owner wanted a lawn, so that opened the door to a lot more possibilities.”
After: Here’s the same view, with the ash tree sitting to the left of the new backyard studio. Raybould wanted to soften the lines of the square space, so he created organically shaped beds and flowing pathways.
“Not having a lawn means that, even though it’s a pretty small [yard], you can fit a lot into it,” he says. “It ticks a lot of boxes, but it’s also plant-heavy. That’s the joy of doing it in the more organic shapes — you can get in lots of flower beds.”
One of the homeowners is a gardener, and the individual beds make it easier to access the plants. “You don’t want huge beds, as you want to be able to get to everything,” the designer says. “It makes it easier to tinker.”
The brick walls are original. “They’re all slightly higgledy-piggledy and characterful,” Raybould says. He added slatted fences on top. “I wanted to give a bit of height, but low enough that you could see the surrounding trees — borrow from other gardens. You don’t want to go too high in a small [yard] like this,” he says.
The backyard studio, which has a living sedum roof, allows the couple to use the space year-round. One of the homeowners keeps a rowing machine and an exercise bike in there.
Work with a landscape designer in your area
“Not having a lawn means that, even though it’s a pretty small [yard], you can fit a lot into it,” he says. “It ticks a lot of boxes, but it’s also plant-heavy. That’s the joy of doing it in the more organic shapes — you can get in lots of flower beds.”
One of the homeowners is a gardener, and the individual beds make it easier to access the plants. “You don’t want huge beds, as you want to be able to get to everything,” the designer says. “It makes it easier to tinker.”
The brick walls are original. “They’re all slightly higgledy-piggledy and characterful,” Raybould says. He added slatted fences on top. “I wanted to give a bit of height, but low enough that you could see the surrounding trees — borrow from other gardens. You don’t want to go too high in a small [yard] like this,” he says.
The backyard studio, which has a living sedum roof, allows the couple to use the space year-round. One of the homeowners keeps a rowing machine and an exercise bike in there.
Work with a landscape designer in your area
Raybould raised the studio above ground level because of the ash tree next to it. “We couldn’t be digging around the roots,” he says. “And actually, putting a step here and there in a [landscape] makes things more interesting.”
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The paving is York stone cut to brick size. “As it’s a square [yard], I didn’t want to introduce any more squares,” Raybould says. “With big slabs, you’re creating geometric shapes. In a larger [landscape], it’s easier to put in curves, but less so in a small [space].”
Down at ground level, the paths almost disappear and the feeling is of a lush space. “When we first came to the [landscape], it did have a nice wild feel, and we wanted to make it organized but still keep the wildness,” the designer says.
As the couple wanted to use the garden for most of the year, Raybould chose plenty of evergreens. “The idea is that 60% to 70% of the garden will be evergreen and the rest will come and go, so you keep the structure,” he says.
Plants include a multistem serviceberry (Amelanchier lamarckii, USDA zones 4 to 8; find your zone) next to a water feature, dwarf Japanese mock orange (Pittosporum tobira ‘Nanum’, zones 9 to 10), ‘Annabelle’ wild hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’, zones 3 to 9), golden Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’, zones 4 to 9), Hart’s tongue fern (Asplenium scolopendrium, zones 4 to 9), ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris, zones 3 to 8), ‘White-Ness’ bigroot geranium (Geranium macrorrhizum ‘White-Ness’, zones 4 to 8) and ‘Honorine Jobert’ anemone (Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’, zones 4 to 8).
The water feature is made of Cor-Ten steel and can be admired throughout the landscape. “It has a tray at the top that fills up and bubbles over, so you can hear the water drop in,” Raybould says. One of the homeowners “wanted to immerse herself in the garden, and the sound of the water, along with the greenery, helps with that. Even though you’re in the middle of the city, it doesn’t feel like that at all.”
As the couple wanted to use the garden for most of the year, Raybould chose plenty of evergreens. “The idea is that 60% to 70% of the garden will be evergreen and the rest will come and go, so you keep the structure,” he says.
Plants include a multistem serviceberry (Amelanchier lamarckii, USDA zones 4 to 8; find your zone) next to a water feature, dwarf Japanese mock orange (Pittosporum tobira ‘Nanum’, zones 9 to 10), ‘Annabelle’ wild hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’, zones 3 to 9), golden Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’, zones 4 to 9), Hart’s tongue fern (Asplenium scolopendrium, zones 4 to 9), ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris, zones 3 to 8), ‘White-Ness’ bigroot geranium (Geranium macrorrhizum ‘White-Ness’, zones 4 to 8) and ‘Honorine Jobert’ anemone (Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’, zones 4 to 8).
The water feature is made of Cor-Ten steel and can be admired throughout the landscape. “It has a tray at the top that fills up and bubbles over, so you can hear the water drop in,” Raybould says. One of the homeowners “wanted to immerse herself in the garden, and the sound of the water, along with the greenery, helps with that. Even though you’re in the middle of the city, it doesn’t feel like that at all.”
On the house side of the yard, and forming a backdrop for the dining area, is a living wall. “This is the highest stretch [of the boundary], and you get to feel as if you’re in your own little sanctuary,” the designer says.
He built a frame and added 6½-by-3-foot modules to hold the plants. The gardening homeowner “didn’t want too much color, so it was about getting different foliage,” Raybould says. “You try to paint a picture with it, so you do splodges of one plant — nine of these, 11 of those. It’s about getting different textures and shapes — a broad-leafed one and then a grassy one — so you get waves.”
The plants include common periwinkle (Vinca minor, zones 4 to 9), Hart’s tongue fern, Japanese sedge (Carex morrowii, zones 5 to 9); snowy woodrush (Luzula nivea, zones 4 to 9), ‘Palace Purple’ crevice alumroot (Heuchera micrantha ‘Palace Purple’, zones 5 to 10) and Japanese pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis, zones 5 to 8).
Raybould installed a timed watering system for the living wall.
He built a frame and added 6½-by-3-foot modules to hold the plants. The gardening homeowner “didn’t want too much color, so it was about getting different foliage,” Raybould says. “You try to paint a picture with it, so you do splodges of one plant — nine of these, 11 of those. It’s about getting different textures and shapes — a broad-leafed one and then a grassy one — so you get waves.”
The plants include common periwinkle (Vinca minor, zones 4 to 9), Hart’s tongue fern, Japanese sedge (Carex morrowii, zones 5 to 9); snowy woodrush (Luzula nivea, zones 4 to 9), ‘Palace Purple’ crevice alumroot (Heuchera micrantha ‘Palace Purple’, zones 5 to 10) and Japanese pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis, zones 5 to 8).
Raybould installed a timed watering system for the living wall.
One of the homeowners likes to cook, so Raybould created a kitchen and dining area. “He uses the [Big Green Egg charcoal] barbecue a lot — he slow-cooks meat in there,” the designer says.
The garden has some strategically placed wired-in lighting to extend the times during which it can be enjoyed. “There aren’t too many lights, but I’ve included a few on the fences and a couple around the cooking area,” Raybould says.
What to Know About Adding an Outdoor Kitchen
The garden has some strategically placed wired-in lighting to extend the times during which it can be enjoyed. “There aren’t too many lights, but I’ve included a few on the fences and a couple around the cooking area,” Raybould says.
What to Know About Adding an Outdoor Kitchen
The kitchen sits lightly in the yard, as the structure is built of the same York stone as the paving. The countertop and shelf are polished concrete.
Raybould has turned this overgrown and uninviting small plot into a relaxing, leafy haven filled with interest. It’s a design that flows beautifully and has a tranquil atmosphere. “It feels so green, even though there’s no grass and quite a lot of hard landscaping,” he says. It’s no wonder the owners spend so much time out here now.
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Raybould has turned this overgrown and uninviting small plot into a relaxing, leafy haven filled with interest. It’s a design that flows beautifully and has a tranquil atmosphere. “It feels so green, even though there’s no grass and quite a lot of hard landscaping,” he says. It’s no wonder the owners spend so much time out here now.
More on Houzz
Read more stories about patios
Browse thousands of patio photos
Hire a landscape contractor
Shop for your outdoor spaces
Who lives here: A couple
Location: North London
Size: 1,296 square feet (120 square meters); 36 by 36 feet
Landscape designer: Miles Raybould of Belsize Gardens
The yard, which is the back section of a halved plot attached to two flats, is accessed via a wrought iron staircase that leads down from the first-floor balcony.
The owners asked Raybould to keep a leafy feel while creating a place where they could enjoy hobbies, entertaining and relaxing. One homeowner wanted a studio and somewhere for cooking; the other homeowner wanted “a largely green garden with only white flowers, intending to add a little seasonal color in pots,” Raybould says. “She wanted it to be calming but quite ordered.”
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