Patio of the Week: Design Details and Lush Plantings
A landscape designer found on Houzz transforms a tiny space into an inviting multiuse outdoor living room
Landscape designer Georgia Lindsay’s clients had seen a project of hers on Houzz with similarities to their own tricky plot, and got in touch to see if she could help them. That other yard also was a small space and one into which Lindsay had packed a lot of functionality.
The owners needed their compact garden to include a family-size bike shed, a parking space and extra security. It also had to be a relaxing place where they could sit, one that would acknowledge their appreciation of stylish design and include bee- and butterfly-attracting plants.
The owners needed their compact garden to include a family-size bike shed, a parking space and extra security. It also had to be a relaxing place where they could sit, one that would acknowledge their appreciation of stylish design and include bee- and butterfly-attracting plants.
Lindsay’s visualization of her clients’ L-shaped space shows the redesign from above. The green area next to the car is the downstairs neighbor’s yard.
“It’s quite an unusual plot,” Lindsay says. The owners’ yard connects to their large upstairs flat. The original land was divided into two when the house was converted into flats. The result was an L-shaped plot that includes a metal staircase up to the owners’ floor.
Before Lindsay came on board, the yard had low fencing that wasn’t doing a good job of providing screening for either side. “Because of the layout, the owners and the downstairs neighbor felt very much in each other’s pockets,” she says.
The neighbor’s yard forms a rectangle nested inside the L. The aim was to create a sense of intimacy without feeling claustrophobic or hemmed in.
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“It’s quite an unusual plot,” Lindsay says. The owners’ yard connects to their large upstairs flat. The original land was divided into two when the house was converted into flats. The result was an L-shaped plot that includes a metal staircase up to the owners’ floor.
Before Lindsay came on board, the yard had low fencing that wasn’t doing a good job of providing screening for either side. “Because of the layout, the owners and the downstairs neighbor felt very much in each other’s pockets,” she says.
The neighbor’s yard forms a rectangle nested inside the L. The aim was to create a sense of intimacy without feeling claustrophobic or hemmed in.
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The standout feature is black fretwork screening, which Lindsay put up on two sides of the patio; one section of it includes a gate out to the parking space. The screening was added partly to conceal the car and trash containers from the rest of the space, and partly for added security. Previously, there had just been an open wrought iron fence between the old bike shed and the street, making the patio very visible.
This photo is taken from where the car would normally sit, looking toward the yard. The flooring is resin-bound gravel. “It’s a poured surface, but it’s permeable,” Lindsay says. “This is good for [allowing] water to go back into storm drains, and it’s great for driveways.”
Lindsay chose a gray gravel to complement the gray porcelain tiles on the patio floor. All the fencing is painted a darker gray.
Fencing and bike shed materials: The Garden Trellis, painted in Autumn Tide by The Garden Trellis
This photo is taken from where the car would normally sit, looking toward the yard. The flooring is resin-bound gravel. “It’s a poured surface, but it’s permeable,” Lindsay says. “This is good for [allowing] water to go back into storm drains, and it’s great for driveways.”
Lindsay chose a gray gravel to complement the gray porcelain tiles on the patio floor. All the fencing is painted a darker gray.
Fencing and bike shed materials: The Garden Trellis, painted in Autumn Tide by The Garden Trellis
Lindsay had a metal-frame hardwood seating area built in with planters at either end. The floating design creates “the illusion of as much space as possible, rather than one down to the ground that could have closed off the space,” she says.
This close-up of one of the planters shows it’s filled with a mix of spurge (Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii ‘Black Pearl’) at the back, two coralbells (Heuchera ’Blondie in Lime’ and ‘Obsidian’) more toward the front and creeping Jenny (Lysimachia sp.) tumbling onto the cushion. Each planter features a similar mix. “I wanted to get some real acid green color in there to lift the monochrome,” the designer says.
Many of the plants also will look good all year round. “In a very small space, it’s good to have a lot of evergreen foliage,” Lindsay says. “You can’t get away with bare patches in a small garden.”
This close-up of one of the planters shows it’s filled with a mix of spurge (Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii ‘Black Pearl’) at the back, two coralbells (Heuchera ’Blondie in Lime’ and ‘Obsidian’) more toward the front and creeping Jenny (Lysimachia sp.) tumbling onto the cushion. Each planter features a similar mix. “I wanted to get some real acid green color in there to lift the monochrome,” the designer says.
Many of the plants also will look good all year round. “In a very small space, it’s good to have a lot of evergreen foliage,” Lindsay says. “You can’t get away with bare patches in a small garden.”
The vine seen here is clematis. The screening provides a good structure for it to grow upward.
Arabic fretwork steel screen: Decori
Arabic fretwork steel screen: Decori
Another key design detail is a tiled “rug” with a plain porcelain tile surround, which helps to define a seating area. The patterned tiles are also porcelain, designed to resemble traditional encaustic ones. “They’re printed to look encaustic, but they’re much more hard-wearing and don’t need sealing every year,” Lindsay says.
Porcelain encaustic 3D tiles: Alhambra Tiles. Plain porcelain tiles: London Stone; stool: Made
Porcelain encaustic 3D tiles: Alhambra Tiles. Plain porcelain tiles: London Stone; stool: Made
Here’s a close-up of the tile “rug.”
A significant existing feature was the wrought iron staircase up to the owners’ flat. The underside of the stairs is used for storage, and the neighbor’s back door is behind the stairs.
To screen all this, and to incorporate some greenery into the area, Lindsay clad the risers with artificial maidenhair fern panels. The faux fern comes on grids and was fitted behind the metal mesh of the risers and pulled through the gaps. “It was quite a job,” Lindsay says.
“I don’t usually like to use artificial, but sometimes in the setting it can be very effective,” she says. “And a real fern would have taken a battering here. It gives the illusion it’s real, because there’s lots of real planting in the garden as well. Also, it remains dense, it doesn’t deteriorate, and you don’t have to worry about stepping carefully. It was a good, robust solution.”
To screen all this, and to incorporate some greenery into the area, Lindsay clad the risers with artificial maidenhair fern panels. The faux fern comes on grids and was fitted behind the metal mesh of the risers and pulled through the gaps. “It was quite a job,” Lindsay says.
“I don’t usually like to use artificial, but sometimes in the setting it can be very effective,” she says. “And a real fern would have taken a battering here. It gives the illusion it’s real, because there’s lots of real planting in the garden as well. Also, it remains dense, it doesn’t deteriorate, and you don’t have to worry about stepping carefully. It was a good, robust solution.”
Many of the planters contain the same types of plants, but this one, next to the bike shed, also includes bee- and butterfly-attracting verbena (Verbena bonariensis). Unlike the rest of the plants, it dies back in the winter.
The planters themselves are fiberglass and are just 3 millimeters thick, allowing more space for growing. They’ve been spray-painted to complement the floor tiles.
The planters themselves are fiberglass and are just 3 millimeters thick, allowing more space for growing. They’ve been spray-painted to complement the floor tiles.
This view is pulled back to show the position of the staircase in relation to the rest of the patio. The stairs are just visible; this is the other side of the L, which also contains a custom-designed bike shed. The shed is the full height of the fence for maximum storage and accommodates the whole family’s bikes and other outdoor storage items.
The right-hand fence separates the space from the downstairs neighbor’s yard.
The right-hand fence separates the space from the downstairs neighbor’s yard.
The bike shed has a green roof, which adds biodiversity and a permeable surface to the garden. It also boosts the view of the garden from the owners’ kitchen window, which overlooks it.
Patio at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their two daughters
Location: North London
Size: 431 square feet (40 square meters)
Designer: Georgia Lindsay
“It’s not that I specialize in small spaces,” Lindsay says, “but I’ve done quite a lot of them, and I really enjoy the challenge.”
Lindsay trained as a theater designer and says she likes creating spaces that are multipurpose, as is often the case with a stage set. “You have to be much more inventive in a smaller space,” she says. “Things have to double up — a coffee table that’s also a fire pit, or a cupboard door dropping to become a bar area. Every surface is within eye level, so attention to detail has to be very precise because of that.”
The redesigned area may look like a typical outdoor living space, but Lindsay points out that it’s actually not, since it takes quite an effort to reach it. “You can’t just nip out of your bifold doors to get to it,” she says. In fact, the owners’ flat is up a flight of stairs, at the top of which is a little balcony, which they use quite often.
So they wanted the patio on the ground level to become a secondary space where they could enjoy nature for brief periods and have a drink, as well as store their bikes and car. It also needed to look good from the balcony and as a transitional space, since the family members walk through it to get into the apartment if they’ve been out in the car.