I’ve recently been planning my own small garden, and have been developing a list of things to keep in mind as I go about my planning. Some of these items are common sense, and some of them didn’t occur to me until I started really thinking about my design. I’m finding the trick with a small urban garden is to find a balance of all of these items.

Don’t Over-Crowd

The first rule is to be realistic about what you are putting in your space. It may be unrealistic to think that you can fit a large seating area, a vegetable garden, an herb garden, a rose garden, 5 peony plants, a water feature and a couple nice shade trees all in a 200 square foot patio. The first step in planning should be to prioritize what the things are that you would like in your outdoor space, then work out a plan for getting them in there. Start out with your top priorities and then expand if you find you have the room, that’s a lot better than putting too many things in place only to have them fight each other for the available sunlight and soil.

Measure Your Sunlight

Before planting anything, make sure you have a good idea of how much sunlight each corner of your garden will get during the summer. My approach for doing this is to start with a plan drawing of my space. Then on a Saturday I can draw a contour on my map once an hour indicating where the sun falls; at the end of the day I’ll know how many hours of sunlight each patch of ground receives and have a nice sketch to help me lay out my plants. Remember that if you do this in the Summer you will get less light per day in the other seasons (and vice versa).

Also, remember to consider the impact of tall plants on sunlight. Trees and large shrubs/flowers that cast a shadow should be placed in a way that doesn’t block light to other plants that need it. Try putting these on the north side of the garden as much as possible in order to minimize the amount of sunlight that they block.

Consider Plants’ Special Needs

Some plants have special needs that should be accounted for. For example, tomatoes should never be planted in the same place two years in a row to avoid soil-born diseases, so the garden should be planned in a way that allows them to be in one place the first year and somewhere else the next. On the other hand, asparagus take several years to become productive, so they should be put in an area where they will be undisturbed for a decade or so.

Use Vertical Space

If you’ve got walls around your garden, then by all means use them! There are a wide variety of flowers, fruits and vegetables that can grow up a wall and need minimal ground-space to thrive. I’m planning on growing seedless grapes, sugar snap peas, climbing roses and honeysuckle on my walls.

Lighting

A little bit of inexpensive lighting can turn your garden into a great area for entertaining at night, giving you an extra room during the warmer months. Try pointing small spotlights upwards towards interesting trees/shrubs/walls or other pretty features, particularly near seating areas. Choose lights with a soft warm glow rather than a penetrating white light to provide a more pleasant night-time dining atmosphere and to avoid annoying your neighbors with bright lights pointed up towards their windows.

If you choose to install solar lights, try to find a variety that has a separate solar panel with wires leading to the individual light fixtures. This will allow you to get your power from a nice sunny spot while placing your lights among your plants where they will have the most pleasing affect.

Consider the Long Term

Remember that trees and shrubs will grow over time! When I moved into my house the previous owner had planted four Leland Cyprus trees in an area that was about 50 square feet where there were power lines just 15 feet above. Needless to say that within a few years of being planted they had completely filled the entire area, were overshadowing the adjacent seating area, blocking all light to the house and were dangerously close to taking down the overhead power lines.

For small spaces be sure to pay attention to the longer-term size of whatever you are planting to avoid this kind of situation. Instead, choose naturally smaller plants or use dwarf varieties when possible. At most, one larger tree/shrub should be more than enough for most small gardens.