Small garden, where to start?

Hello,

I brought my first house last year and it has a small garden. When I brought it was very neglected and full of weeds. I have cleared it and am now left with a rather dull looking garden. 

I have dug out a border on the right hand side and attempted to fill it with plants I like, however as you can see its not really worked out.

Please can any gardener’s help. I would really like a garden that has lots of flowers, color and interest.

Any idea's, thoughts or advise would be much welcomed!

Emma

Well done for thinking of posting photos however they have not appeared. Have another go 

Hopefully this works.

There are several things that you could try depending on your budget, a few brightly painted pots with evergreen plants or you could buy terracotta pots and plant them up with cheerful winter bedding.

The key to designing in a small garden is to fill it with lots of similar plants rather than a few different plants.

You could also think about adding some tall plants to add height rather than width, this will keep your garden looking slightly larger than filling it with low spreading plants

I would put in some tall plants on your fencesand maybe on the wall at the back. Clematis have lovely flowers and will grow in pots.

A would choose a colour theme for your pots and add plants you like, You could have some tall plants (shrubs) that sounds odd I know but they tend to give afeeling of space. What is under the gravel, would you be able to male a planting hole for a couple of shrubs. Strange but don't thin small. To start you could just fill planters and pots with bright annuals while you search for more permanent things. 

Kate, I do think this is where I have been going wrong. I have brought some plants, but not really thought about it, hence ending up as a bit of a miss match. 

Have you got any suggestions of plants that may work well and give long last flowers? I do like the idea of pots.

Dave, I think you’re right it defiantly needs some height; do you have any favorite plants that could help me achieve this? 

Thanks Rosa, that has given me inspiration. The back wall is north facing so I will need to look for something that does OK in the shade. I like the idea of a clamatus, so will do a bit of searching.

There are several suggestions here for spring containers

http://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/pots-containers/spring/

I like lavenders and a long flowering plant is Erysimum 'Bowles's Mauve' plus a purple toad flax would give you a purple border. 

Do you have a colour theme in mind? What is the soil look like?

You could have some bamboo in a pot, does quite well, nice and tall and sways nicely in a breeze. I would also think about some clematis or honeysuckle on the back wall and maybe some sweetpeas or climbing petunia on the fence. Lavander is great in pots as well as azaleas, If it were mine I would also consider a connifer in a pot aswell . Instant garden

I have got a couple of small lavender plants in there at the moment.

I started to think purple, but have kind of gone a bit all over the place. I now think purple and whites.

Is there a ideal number of plants you should have in a small border?

Thank you for the link I shall look at that now.  

I've got a small garden too!! And I love it. My best advice is not to neglect your walls and fences. I had and am having loads of fun with hanging baskets, pots screwed into the fence, and succulent 1/2 orbs hung on my fences.

Another thing I'm trying this year is garden mosaics, a nice backdrop to plants, you can use natural materials or broken pots etc for all year round colour. Great fun.

Have fun!

Thank you Dave. The pictures look great. Birlliant idea's. I like the idea of bamboo, but do you think it would look OK against a clematis? 

Thank you Tilley, I like the idea of putting some pots on the fence. I could maybe put some herbs in smaller pots.

How about a small tree in a pot, like a cherry tree (dwarf variety) or Acer, etc...  Would be a good way to add structure and hight.  If you don't want to spend too much you would obviously need to buy a young plant so it may take some years before creating an impact.  I have a cherry tree in a pot and I love it.

Thanks Gareth, I am really like the idea of growing fruit in my garden and I didn't know you could get dwarf Cherry Trees. I will have a look at that.