5 Ways to Design a Long, Thin Garden
Is your garden a bit of a landing strip? Take inspiration from these designs, which have visually widened oblong spaces
The skinny, long plot is common, especially for those of us in towns and cities. That doesn’t mean there’s also a one-size-fits-all design solution for this shape of garden, though. Read on to discover how Houzz garden professionals have transformed five different thin spaces with very different designs and enormous creativity.
Reused York stone pavers connect the two areas, along with the shade-loving ground cover plant Soleirolia soleirolii, – otherwise known as mind-your-own-business – which will form what Barbara describes as a “green carpet” as it grows.
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Find a reviewed landscape architect or garden designer to take on your next project in the Houzz Professionals Directory.
At the back of the garden, a reclaimed cobbled path meanders through planting designed to spill across it, eliciting a feeling of exploration.
Barbara built up the wall on the right to create a secluded ‘secret’ garden at the very back of the plot for the clients’ son to use as a hangout.
See more of this shady city plot transformed with lush foliage.
Barbara built up the wall on the right to create a secluded ‘secret’ garden at the very back of the plot for the clients’ son to use as a hangout.
See more of this shady city plot transformed with lush foliage.
Take a path for a walk
It’s hard to believe this wildlife garden with multiple vistas was once just a thin, scrappy lawn.
“The garden had been a very boring grass rectangle with a narrow border up each side,” garden designer Paul Richards says. “The owners wanted a series of places to sit, lots of interest, and something to garden.”
It’s hard to believe this wildlife garden with multiple vistas was once just a thin, scrappy lawn.
“The garden had been a very boring grass rectangle with a narrow border up each side,” garden designer Paul Richards says. “The owners wanted a series of places to sit, lots of interest, and something to garden.”
“Because it’s a long, thin garden, we wanted to make it feel like a series of spaces,” Paul says, explaining how he managed to fit four seating areas into this petite patch.
“There’s a patio immediately outside the French windows, then a path leads to a second patio with a bench, then another path takes you to the deck by the pond, and finally there’s a seating area on the other side of the pond at the end of the garden,” he says.
Key to the design is the winding path, which meanders from side to side, connecting the flowerbeds and taking people on a journey through different areas, each with its own view.
Tour the whole of this small wildlife haven with secluded seating areas.
“There’s a patio immediately outside the French windows, then a path leads to a second patio with a bench, then another path takes you to the deck by the pond, and finally there’s a seating area on the other side of the pond at the end of the garden,” he says.
Key to the design is the winding path, which meanders from side to side, connecting the flowerbeds and taking people on a journey through different areas, each with its own view.
Tour the whole of this small wildlife haven with secluded seating areas.
Fatten the space with curves
London garden designer Kate Eyre frequently tackles long, thin gardens like this one attached to an urban Victorian semi. Nevertheless, each one requires a different approach.
Here, the owners wanted a lounging area, a dining space and a gym. Kate opted for a curvilinear design that moves your eye to the left and right to make the space seem wider.
“With long and thin, my recommendation is that you need to be pulled down the garden, and I suggested a destination point at the end by the gym,” she says. “If you don’t have anywhere you need to go, you don’t go down it.”
London garden designer Kate Eyre frequently tackles long, thin gardens like this one attached to an urban Victorian semi. Nevertheless, each one requires a different approach.
Here, the owners wanted a lounging area, a dining space and a gym. Kate opted for a curvilinear design that moves your eye to the left and right to make the space seem wider.
“With long and thin, my recommendation is that you need to be pulled down the garden, and I suggested a destination point at the end by the gym,” she says. “If you don’t have anywhere you need to go, you don’t go down it.”
This is the view from the back of the house and shows the seating area – the garden’s first “room”.
Up a level is the dining and cooking area, beyond which is a paved area and gravel. Beyond that is the cake slice-shaped lawn and, finally, the gym – a destination but, not being as pretty as the rest of the space, one you deliberately can’t see too clearly from this end of the garden.
Note how the curved shape begins here, with the combination of the porcelain and wood floorings.
Discover how sweeping curves made this long, narrow plot feel wider.
Up a level is the dining and cooking area, beyond which is a paved area and gravel. Beyond that is the cake slice-shaped lawn and, finally, the gym – a destination but, not being as pretty as the rest of the space, one you deliberately can’t see too clearly from this end of the garden.
Note how the curved shape begins here, with the combination of the porcelain and wood floorings.
Discover how sweeping curves made this long, narrow plot feel wider.
Fashion a sweeping path for seclusion
In this ‘before’ photo of the 6.5m x 16m garden Joanne Bernstein reinvented, the straight pathway is a prominent feature.
It was also one of the first things Joanne planned to dispense with, as it served only to draw the eye to the structures at either end of the garden rather than letting it linger on the planting in-between.
“If you divide a small garden like this, you emphasise the smallness,” Joanne says. “If you make it a uniform whole, it feels so much bigger.”
In this ‘before’ photo of the 6.5m x 16m garden Joanne Bernstein reinvented, the straight pathway is a prominent feature.
It was also one of the first things Joanne planned to dispense with, as it served only to draw the eye to the structures at either end of the garden rather than letting it linger on the planting in-between.
“If you divide a small garden like this, you emphasise the smallness,” Joanne says. “If you make it a uniform whole, it feels so much bigger.”
Hard to believe this is the same spot, right? The new curved path goes a long way to softening the space. Abundant planting, of course, is also key. “The owners wanted a garden filled with plants – an immersive experience,” Joanne says.
Joanne also removed the large – and unused – shed at the bottom of the garden, which had been hogging the sunniest spot. It had also been obscuring the view. “Behind is an old cemetery that has some lovely trees in it,” Joanne says. “Now [this] borrowed landscape is much more present in the garden.”
Read more about this small lush retreat with secluded seating areas.
Read more about this small lush retreat with secluded seating areas.
Go with the flow
This generously sized garden was already long and lawn-dominated when the owner bought another patch of land at the far end, extending the length by around 11m.
Designer Simon Orchard was called in to fuse the two gardens seamlessly into one, while also taking the focus away from the linear dimensions.
Simply removing the boundary between the two would have left the garden feeling very long and thin, so Simon used landscaping and planting to give the eye numerous places to land.
This generously sized garden was already long and lawn-dominated when the owner bought another patch of land at the far end, extending the length by around 11m.
Designer Simon Orchard was called in to fuse the two gardens seamlessly into one, while also taking the focus away from the linear dimensions.
Simply removing the boundary between the two would have left the garden feeling very long and thin, so Simon used landscaping and planting to give the eye numerous places to land.
Here’s how the garden looks now. In the distance, you can see the new plot, which begins at the point of a circular seating area with a firepit and spherical water feature.
“The garden already had curved borders, which I don’t usually do, as weak curves can look a bit wishy-washy,” Simon says. “So I exaggerated the ones that were there and flowed them into the new space.”
“The garden already had curved borders, which I don’t usually do, as weak curves can look a bit wishy-washy,” Simon says. “So I exaggerated the ones that were there and flowed them into the new space.”
Simon’s plan drawing shows clearly how the garden flows now. The curved borders and the “punctuation mark” created by the new patio in the middle transform the rectangular space into something far more intriguing; a garden to explore.
Tour the whole of these two gardens joined to form one leafy space.
Tell us…
Do you have a favourite idea from this selection? Let us know, and share your long, thin garden experiences in the Comments.
Tour the whole of these two gardens joined to form one leafy space.
Tell us…
Do you have a favourite idea from this selection? Let us know, and share your long, thin garden experiences in the Comments.
Before designer Barbara Samitier got to work radically reinventing this lovely garden, the long, narrow patch consisted of a shaded lawn, dull borders and a dying tree.
Now the garden is a series of outdoor rooms, each partially obscuring the next so as to create intrigue and interest. Closest to the house there’s a ‘living room’ area, complete with a corner sofa and oversized Anglepoise lamp.
Beyond that, tucked behind Phyllostachys nigra bamboo, the tall grass Calamagrostis x acutiflora, and Yucca gloriosa, there’s a decked dining area. The planting not only conceals this, but also the fencing beyond. “It makes the garden look bigger, as you don’t know where it stops,” Barbara says.