Lots of good ideas here (which I will happily call upon), so well illustrated in Posy's beautiful garden. I particularly like the flowers-as-glitter concept, and I believe this to be useful in not only a small narrow garden, but medium and large gardens. I find the effect of tiny flowers sprinkled through plants - and the overall garden - both subtle and enchanting, whereas large flowers can sometimes be distracting and overwhelming. The trees in this garden also play a critical role and are very cleverly positioned to provide structure and screening. Thanks for this most interesting video, Alexandra.
Wonderful advice & inspiration as usual. This year, I had one Giant Mullein volunteer in my south pollinator flower bed this year 💖, southern Ontario, 🇨🇦 and it adds so much to the yarrows and coneflowers etc.
I had no idea Mulleins had wonderful frills running vertically up their stalks until I took a closer look. Such a charming surprise. When we lived in the country, the goldfinches loved the mulleins for their seeds; the male goldfinches are like flying yellow flowers.
Hello Alexandra, It must be inspiring to have a cup of tea sitting amongst the beautiful flowers in this garden. So beautiful. Thank you for sharing. 🥰👍🥰 Take care and God Bless, Chris-Raleigh NC
Gorgeous design. I love every inch of her space. I know that wide short gardens are less common, but I’d love to learn about similar approaches for them: What makes you NOT feel like sitting right in front of their far border and helps them appear more spacious?
I keep looking for a wide short garden to feature, but haven't found one to video yet. However, looking at the principles, I think they are similar - divide the space up into rooms and blur the boundaries. Transparent planting rather than big blocks of colour...I did once see a short garden with a huge tree bang in the middle of it, and although I don't think I'd ever recommend that, it did look great and certainly distracted the eye.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden I would find this helpful too. My garden is short and wide and you can see the whole garden at once. We have an open aspect over fields, but in my attempt to get some height and structure I have ended up blocking some of the view! Thank you for all your videos, Alexandra, I planted a cotinus Grace last year, on your recommendation. I have been making lots of notes from your videos on hydrangeas, conifers and alternatives to buxus for topiary, and have found them very helpful.
My garden is hardly seen from the house … only two high up bedroom windows … and my single storey steading house is long and narrow with the garden running like a corridor alongside it - barely 12feet from house to fence, and 60ft long. No chance to blur the edges. I’ve settled on a formal courtyard using the shape like an enclosed internal garden, not trying to hide the boundaries. I don’t think anything else would work and still allow space for dining, shed, drying space for clothes etc.
Oh my this is so helpful i will use these tips for my yard garden. I will use tall plants for my garden but its very shady because its lower down. Any sugges for flowers that grow happily in areas where there is less light?
There are some shady garden tips in this video: th-cam.com/video/-u6XUMJc6ME/w-d-xo.html and also in this blog post www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/a-shady-border-the-best-and-easiest-part-of-your-garden/ - I hope that helps.
Alexandra, I wanted to say thank you for your videos. I live in Atlanta and love to garden in my yard and I look for videos that are educational. I find your vlog is one of the best. You show beautiful gardens, bring in lots of experts and provide inspiring ideas. Keep it up thanks for your hard work.
I have stairs in my garden which looked like an ugly feature at first but then i decorated it with mosaic mirrors from behind. I have now hung some ferns unders the stairs but i am looking for more ideas
I love your eloquent and well-spoken style of commentary/narrative as much as the information and gardens you share. Thank you, Alexandra! Also, Posy's garden layout would work perfectly for homes with 20'-wide side areas. Lots of houses in USA have this much room each side, and are often left very bleak.
Normally I'd avoid planting a tree in a small garden. Nevermind 3 of them all together in a central position. But this works Therefore we ought not to always follow common sense all of the time when thinking of making a garden.
.."only twenty wide long and a hundred feet long".. That's six by thirty meters?! Most houses in the Netherlands, if they have a garden at all, have on five meters wide and eight meters deep. Say fifteen feet by twentyeight feet, to be generous. A twenty by hundred feet garden is a very, very large garden by Dutch standards.
All those little rooms with windows to the other rooms are delightful. Great idea to break up the space and I adore the purple chairs and table in one of those rooms. Such a relaxing yet exciting space.
My garden lot is wide and short, following the lines of my house, a ranch-style, single storey. I would so much appreciate advice on designing a garden for this shape. Thank you for all the practical and beautiful inspiration!
False perspective could work to make your lot look longer. The width is an asset for creating "hidden gardens" towards the sides. Just my 5 cents worth of input.
What a Beautiful garden, had you not mentioned the size I'd never guess it was that small. The meandering path practically disappears, Love that too, I think that helps make the garden look bigger as well. Thanks for sharing...and using the measure of feet.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden, just noticed you mentioned that this time. Honestly, if I'm going to immerse myself into so many gardeners in the UK I should learn the metric system.
Your videos are so refreshing! Packed with info & no long intro or waffle. This is a particularly beautiful garden with many ideas I could use for mine, but I particularly love the shell path. Could you suggest anywhere I could buy similar shells? Many thanks xxx
Here in South east England I put 'cockle shell mulch' into Google to find companies that deliver. I don't think retail garden centres sell them, though.
Could you do a video for pet owners with small gardens? I rescue dogs and have six to ten at a time, none large, and love plants but do not know how to balance out dog and plant space. I live in southern Mexico in San Cristobal de las casas. I may rent a house with an ample small garden, at the back of which is a covered area for dog beds and a walkway to a narrow side garden. Any and all ideas welcome. Thank you.
I'll keep an eye out for one. In the meantime, this post on garden design applies to square gardens too and may have some helpful tips: th-cam.com/video/HtsqXEMeocM/w-d-xo.html
Some great tips here Alexandra. I've just taken down my cardoon which was looking a bit tired. I wonder if you'll be coming to the Malvern Autumn show ? Would be good to meet you, I'll be there on Sunday.
Thank you - and I haven't been to New Zealand although a great uncle emigrated there. Perhaps I have some very distant cousins! Sorry this is so late, I have just found a stream of comments that hadn't been visible before.
Thank you for the garden tips. I like that "if it is your garden plant it differently. " I am glad that U found your channel. I will try some of your tips in my garden in the city.
I did like the small garden approach. I enjoyed that alot and got some ideas I would like to try. I'm in the US I dont think snapdragons get that tall. Amazing.
Hello and thank you for sharing all of the gardens. I am moving in to a new garden later this year and was wondering if you have some ideas on rased beds. Maybe a Video? There are some restrictions and space is limited. I want to do veg and flowers. And I need to incorperate my fruittrees and blackberies. There are 4 little fruittrees and a smal Acer . All in pots, the Patio is full , but the Birds live it. Thank you for all the Videos and hope you are well and stay safe. Lots of wellwishes from Münsterland in germany. 🌻
Thank you. I will certainly think about a raised beds video. If you get the opportunity to install an irrigation system, this is often a good idea with a raised bed as they drain well, so can need a little more water. Otherwise, you can plant them as you would plant ordinary beds, and make sure you add a layer of garden compost or well rotted manure every year to keep feeding them. I hope you enjoy the move.
Hello and thank you so much. I am looking forwort to a Video on raised beds. I use to have some, so it is not totaly new. Water will not be a problem. I use rainwater and there is a well in the garden. 💗🌻 It is always fun to see what others do in and with there gardens. Take care and see you here soon again. 🌻
One of the reasons I call this The Middlesized Garden is that garden size is so relative. 20ftx70ft would be a 'big' garden in London, a 'small' garden in the rural countryside and a middlesized garden almost everywhere else! And professional gardeners will sometimes refer to a four acre garden as 'small'.
I was a bit startled to be told that four acres was a small garden once. It's actually the narrow 20ft that creates 'small garden' challenges when planting this garden.
I thought I had a medium size garden but seems mine is defined as small. It's weird because it's very wide but not that long and the front garden is the same size as the back. Front is south facing and back is north with two large lime trees. Very difficult to plan.
I asked garden designer Charlotte Rowe about planning wide gardens and she said it was important to interrupt the line of sight - so to have something (a sculpture, a border, an eating area, a low hedge) halfway between your house and the back wall. Sometimes people do that by designing on the diagonal (almost as if the garden had been turned sideways). I hope that helps, but I can see that it is tricky.
Good video but you speak far too quickly for me to digest the point you are making. It would have helped if you said what the trees were, and the types that work in a small garden. Still a fan of the channel despite these comments 😂😀
All constructive feedback is very welcome, and I know I sometimes speak too fast. In terms of trees for a small garden, there's a video here: th-cam.com/video/i3Om4PJRNMY/w-d-xo.html
❤to learn from your videos. It would be interesting, to learn more about Yews and learn strategies about how to integrate them to the garden as they mature over a very long time as they are shade loving and slow growing. Is it better to start with a large plant even if they are more expensive?
I haven't specifically grown yews myself but the general rule applies - trees establish better if they're planted young, and the RHS says that yews between 18"-24" establish best. If you want an immediate statement, then you can plant them the size you want them, but you will have to make sure you water regularly for the first few summers.
Hi Alexandra, any chance you could let me know the name of the three trees at 4:14 in the video? Looks like Birch but it’d be great to know which variety. Inspiring video as always!
Thank you! It's actually Chinese Red Barked Birch (I know it looks white, but it's red when it's younger). The full name is Betula albosinensis septentrionalis.
Lovely garden. Thank you for the video. Do you think you could superimpose some of the names of the plants on them ? I know it's a hassle but if we don't have a name we can't find them. Thanks again.
I called the vlog and blog The Middlesized Garden because everyone's idea of a 'small garden' and a 'big garden' is different. For a professional gardener, four acres can be considered a 'small garden'. Posy's garden is longer than average, but there are not many gardens narrower than 20ft wide.
I've enjoyed this video as I have a small front garden that I need to design on a budget and find your suggestions very helpful. I also need to redesign the "wrap around" small back and medium sized side garden as I was able bodied but now have health issues including mobility issues. Thank you for sharing your skills and knowledge ❤️ and please do make more videos as I really enjoy learning more about gardening and your voice is pleasant to listen to without any unnecessary background music. God bless and keep you safe, from Northern Ireland.
Everyone has a different idea of what a 'small garden' is, so it very much depends on where you live and how big the gardens around you are. But the principles here would apply equally well to a shorter garden too.
Ruby - imagine the line from back of the house to the back border to be a vertical line or the longest measurement. Arrange beds across that length rather than with it so the garden doesn’t look long and narrow. Isn’t that a gorgeous garden?! Cheers...
Oh, I'm sorry I didn't make that clear - as Jennifer says it's about designing borders so they go across the garden from side to side, rather than running down the sides. If you can think of a narrow garden design as being in horizontal stripes (a patio across from one side to the other, then a border from one side to the other with just a path etc), then it will make it feel less narrow.
Can you please tell me what the small pink pom-pom flowers on spindly stalks are? Also, the large mauve-pink ball flowers on long stalks are called. I live in a temperate zone in Oz and don't think I have seen either of them here. Oh yes, and the deep pink flowers on tall stems which appear to me to be very tall snapdragons.......what are they?
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden Hi Alexandra, and thank you for your reply. The pink fluffy flowers are displayed at 2.42min. mark and I recently discovered that they are called Thalictrum 'black Stockings' but I haven't been able to find availability here in Australia although there is a similar one avail. but it has green stems and doesn't appear to be as tall. I hope you don't mind but I have two more questions for you. Pansy's garden is exactly what I have been trying to achieve in my small backyard of 38' deep x 50' wide, and I have watched this video a number of times to pick up tips as well as try to identify plants that I think would be useful in my garden. Q1. At 1.20 min. mark there is a white climber next to and beginning to grow over the bench seat. Do you the name of it? Q2. At 5.29 min. mark there is, on the LHS, a tree with very long, weeping, sweeping branches (reminds of a weeping willow tree). Can you tell me what the name of it is? I love your website and look into it whenever I get time. There are lots of great tips for small backyards and lots of beautiful gardens that inspire.
Hi again! This is one of my favourite videos you've done, along with the contemporary garden design one a few weeks previously I think! This garden is very similar to my own, I've watched it over and over, writing notes etc. What I would like to know is, what is this shrub in the pot by the bench please??? It has white flowers...and shows at 6 minutes 26 seconds in. Thank you again. Rob
I'm sorry I couldn't see that as 7.04 seems to be the end of the video but I'm wondering if the upright yew (Taxus baccata 'David') might be the plant you're referring to? It's got dark green evergreen foliage but the new foliage is a very bright yellowy green, and the plant itself is very upright and narrow. I hope that helps.
The Middle-Sized Garden Hi Alexander, thanks for your reply from a while back, I have only just seen it. The plant I was referring to is at 5.55 and about 4.21 also. 5.55 shows it better. Not sure why I wrote 7.04! It’s just so beautiful and I’ve been blindingly trying to find it here in Australia. Would it be a Chamaecyparis ?
Lots of good ideas here (which I will happily call upon), so well illustrated in Posy's beautiful garden. I particularly like the flowers-as-glitter concept, and I believe this to be useful in not only a small narrow garden, but medium and large gardens. I find the effect of tiny flowers sprinkled through plants - and the overall garden - both subtle and enchanting, whereas large flowers can sometimes be distracting and overwhelming. The trees in this garden also play a critical role and are very cleverly positioned to provide structure and screening. Thanks for this most interesting video, Alexandra.
Thank you - I do think Posy has a very unusual and clever eye for plants - I would never have thought of the 'glitter' concept.
Love the term “glitter “
I will be adding glitter to my garden too
What an enchanting garden! Beautiful!
This is a great example of a well planted small garden. Great design tips.
Thank you!
Stunning garden..
Wonderful advice & inspiration as usual. This year, I had one Giant Mullein volunteer in my south pollinator flower bed this year 💖, southern Ontario, 🇨🇦 and it adds so much to the yarrows and coneflowers etc.
I love Giant Mullein and it's volunteering in odd places around my garden too.
I had no idea Mulleins had wonderful frills running vertically up their stalks until I took a closer look. Such a charming surprise.
When we lived in the country, the goldfinches loved the mulleins for their seeds; the male goldfinches are like flying yellow flowers.
I love this just go slower .I love the description map of the whole yard . Please please make more of these.
Your garden looks amazingly beautiful and very clever design 😍😍
Thank you! 😊
I love your videos! Lots of helpful tips on color and size of plants and why you would do certain things. Thank you!
Thank you!
Excellent video - lots of valuable info in this. Enjoyed this really well presented episode Alexandra. You’re really hitting your straps...
S-o-o-o useful!
A really interesting garden, and your descriptions of the planting excellent🇨🇦
Glad you enjoyed it
Beautiful garden. As you said, you’d never know it’s long and narrow. And I oove the different rooms.
Thank you- she is such a talented garden designer
So helpful. Thank you!
Hello Alexandra, It must be inspiring to have a cup of tea sitting amongst the beautiful flowers in this garden. So beautiful. Thank you for sharing. 🥰👍🥰 Take care and God Bless, Chris-Raleigh NC
Thank you!
A huge change from your last video of Poseys garden! She is an artist. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Yes, I think the last one was over a year ago, and she constantly experiments. Thank you!
Gorgeous design. I love every inch of her space.
I know that wide short gardens are less common, but I’d love to learn about similar approaches for them: What makes you NOT feel like sitting right in front of their far border and helps them appear more spacious?
I keep looking for a wide short garden to feature, but haven't found one to video yet. However, looking at the principles, I think they are similar - divide the space up into rooms and blur the boundaries. Transparent planting rather than big blocks of colour...I did once see a short garden with a huge tree bang in the middle of it, and although I don't think I'd ever recommend that, it did look great and certainly distracted the eye.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden I would find this helpful too. My garden is short and wide and you can see the whole garden at once. We have an open aspect over fields, but in my attempt to get some height and structure I have ended up blocking some of the view! Thank you for all your videos, Alexandra, I planted a cotinus Grace last year, on your recommendation. I have been making lots of notes from your videos on hydrangeas, conifers and alternatives to buxus for topiary, and have found them very helpful.
My garden is hardly seen from the house … only two high up bedroom windows … and my single storey steading house is long and narrow with the garden running like a corridor alongside it - barely 12feet from house to fence, and 60ft long. No chance to blur the edges. I’ve settled on a formal courtyard using the shape like an enclosed internal garden, not trying to hide the boundaries. I don’t think anything else would work and still allow space for dining, shed, drying space for clothes etc.
Oh my this is so helpful i will use these tips for my yard garden. I will use tall plants for my garden but its very shady because its lower down. Any sugges for flowers that grow happily in areas where there is less light?
There are some shady garden tips in this video: th-cam.com/video/-u6XUMJc6ME/w-d-xo.html and also in this blog post www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/a-shady-border-the-best-and-easiest-part-of-your-garden/ - I hope that helps.
Alexandra, I wanted to say thank you for your videos. I live in Atlanta and love to garden in my yard and I look for videos that are educational. I find your vlog is one of the best. You show beautiful gardens, bring in lots of experts and provide inspiring ideas. Keep it up thanks for your hard work.
Thank you so much!
I have stairs in my garden which looked like an ugly feature at first but then i decorated it with mosaic mirrors from behind. I have now hung some ferns unders the stairs but i am looking for more ideas
Gorgeous and genius 😍
Thank you!
I absolutely love your videos! 🥰 Thank you so much for all your hard work!! Can you please tell me the gardening zone that your videos are in?
Thank you so much - we are more or less a 9 or maybe an 8A. It doesn't quite equate because our summers aren't as hot as Zone 9 summers in the US
Very nice 👍
I love your eloquent and well-spoken style of commentary/narrative as much as the information and gardens you share. Thank you, Alexandra! Also, Posy's garden layout would work perfectly for homes with 20'-wide side areas. Lots of houses in USA have this much room each side, and are often left very bleak.
Thank you, and that's an excellent suggestion
Normally I'd avoid planting a tree in a small garden. Nevermind 3 of them all together in a central position. But this works
Therefore we ought not to always follow common sense all of the time when thinking of making a garden.
Absolutely
This is perfect for me! Thank you very much. I am moving soon to a home with a long expanse. I will be thinking about this.
.."only twenty wide long and a hundred feet long".. That's six by thirty meters?! Most houses in the Netherlands, if they have a garden at all, have on five meters wide and eight meters deep. Say fifteen feet by twentyeight feet, to be generous. A twenty by hundred feet garden is a very, very large garden by Dutch standards.
Your video has most useful tips for designing a small garden. A great starting point.
Really beautiful. So glad I stumbled upon this channel; it is always informative, inspiring and delightful. Thank you Alexandra.
You are so welcome!
Such great tips! I didn’t plant gypsophila this year, but still have seeds. Will definately add some glitter next year with covenant garden.
It's a great idea, I think.
All those little rooms with windows to the other rooms are delightful. Great idea to break up the space and I adore the purple chairs and table in one of those rooms. Such a relaxing yet exciting space.
It is lovely, I think
Alexandra, I always enjoy your videos! Thank you so much for brightening my days!
Thank you!
Love that Hinoki False Cypress in one of her pots. They are a very beautiful tree, my favorite at the moment.
Yes, lovely, I agree.
My garden lot is wide and short, following the lines of my house, a ranch-style, single storey. I would so much appreciate advice on designing a garden for this shape. Thank you for all the practical and beautiful inspiration!
False perspective could work to make your lot look longer. The width is an asset for creating "hidden gardens" towards the sides. Just my 5 cents worth of input.
love your videos clearly explained, informative and inspiring.
Glad you like them! Sorry this answer is so late!
simply beautiful!
What a Beautiful garden, had you not mentioned the size I'd never guess it was that small. The meandering path practically disappears, Love that too, I think that helps make the garden look bigger as well. Thanks for sharing...and using the measure of feet.
Thank you - and I keep meaning to translate feet into metres as well, but I often forget!
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden, just noticed you mentioned that this time. Honestly, if I'm going to immerse myself into so many gardeners in the UK I should learn the metric system.
Your videos are so refreshing! Packed with info & no long intro or waffle. This is a particularly beautiful garden with many ideas I could use for mine, but I particularly love the shell path. Could you suggest anywhere I could buy similar shells? Many thanks xxx
Here in South east England I put 'cockle shell mulch' into Google to find companies that deliver. I don't think retail garden centres sell them, though.
The Middle-Sized Garden that’s where I am. Many thanks
I have a small garden...my whole front yard. Your video is very inspirational. Thank you!
Thank you - sorry to be late replying to this!
Could you do a video for pet owners with small gardens? I rescue dogs and have six to ten at a time, none large, and love plants but do not know how to balance out dog and plant space. I live in southern Mexico in San Cristobal de las casas. I may rent a house with an ample small garden, at the back of which is a covered area for dog beds and a walkway to a narrow side garden. Any and all ideas welcome. Thank you.
That's an interesting thought, and well done for rescuing the dogs. Both our dogs have been rescues, and we have so appreciated them.
What does this garden look like in the winter ? pretty desolate I would think.
No more so than most gardens I see. It has some good structure, with trees and fastigiate yews, but winter isn't a great time for most gardens.
Such a beautiful and substantive video. Tried and true principles and fantastic ideas. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you!
Best channel ever! 🌲🌳🌿💚💚💚
Thank you!
I really enjoyed your video, helpful advice and you have such a nice voice
Glad it was helpful!
Would appreciate a post on very small square gardens.
I'll keep an eye out for one. In the meantime, this post on garden design applies to square gardens too and may have some helpful tips: th-cam.com/video/HtsqXEMeocM/w-d-xo.html
Some great tips here Alexandra. I've just taken down my cardoon which was looking a bit tired. I wonder if you'll be coming to the Malvern Autumn show ? Would be good to meet you, I'll be there on Sunday.
I don't think I'll make it as very snowed under but hope to meet you soon.
I adore this garden- every inch of it! Thank you!!
What are the hot pink spiral flowers in the beginning of the video? 2:02
Amazingly they are just common snapdragons. Posy bought some a few years ago and they self-seeded. I think they look great.
Love it!!! ❤️
Really lovely garden, I thought
Love that walkway.
Have you been to New Zealand. You so remind me of someone we met.
Love your TH-cam channel
Thank you - and I haven't been to New Zealand although a great uncle emigrated there. Perhaps I have some very distant cousins! Sorry this is so late, I have just found a stream of comments that hadn't been visible before.
Thank you for the garden tips. I like that "if it is your garden plant it differently. " I am glad that U found your channel. I will try some of your tips in my garden in the city.
Thank you!
I did like the small garden approach. I enjoyed that alot and got some ideas I would like to try. I'm in the US I dont think snapdragons get that tall. Amazing.
What a lovely garden!
Beautiful garden, just the type I love, thanks for sharing 👍❤️😊
Thank you!
Love everything about this garden. We're the four petal white flowers, hydrangea?
No, Cornus 'Norman Haddon'
100 foot is considered a small garden ? Lol. Mine is 30 foot long.
Hi Alexandra, can you please tell me the name of the huge shrub at 0:27 on the right?
If it's the one with spiky grey leaves, it's a cardoon. They're amazing, although they're not shrubs, they're usually grown as annuals.
Another fabulous video. Thank you, Alexandra🌷👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
Beautiful!
Hello and thank you for sharing all of the gardens. I am moving in to a new garden later this year and was wondering if you have some ideas on rased beds. Maybe a Video? There are some restrictions and space is limited. I want to do veg and flowers. And I need to incorperate my fruittrees and blackberies. There are 4 little fruittrees and a smal Acer . All in pots, the Patio is full , but the Birds live it. Thank you for all the Videos and hope you are well and stay safe. Lots of wellwishes from Münsterland in germany. 🌻
Thank you. I will certainly think about a raised beds video. If you get the opportunity to install an irrigation system, this is often a good idea with a raised bed as they drain well, so can need a little more water. Otherwise, you can plant them as you would plant ordinary beds, and make sure you add a layer of garden compost or well rotted manure every year to keep feeding them. I hope you enjoy the move.
Hello and thank you so much. I am looking forwort to a Video on raised beds. I use to have some, so it is not totaly new. Water will not be a problem. I use rainwater and there is a well in the garden. 💗🌻 It is always fun to see what others do in and with there gardens. Take care and see you here soon again. 🌻
Only 20ft wide? That's still 1m wider than the typical Dutch suburban garden. Not to mention length.
One of the reasons I call this The Middlesized Garden is that garden size is so relative. 20ftx70ft would be a 'big' garden in London, a 'small' garden in the rural countryside and a middlesized garden almost everywhere else! And professional gardeners will sometimes refer to a four acre garden as 'small'.
Sorry, but I stopped watching after the description of this SMALL garden: 20 ft x 100ft.
I was a bit startled to be told that four acres was a small garden once. It's actually the narrow 20ft that creates 'small garden' challenges when planting this garden.
I thought I had a medium size garden but seems mine is defined as small. It's weird because it's very wide but not that long and the front garden is the same size as the back. Front is south facing and back is north with two large lime trees. Very difficult to plan.
I asked garden designer Charlotte Rowe about planning wide gardens and she said it was important to interrupt the line of sight - so to have something (a sculpture, a border, an eating area, a low hedge) halfway between your house and the back wall. Sometimes people do that by designing on the diagonal (almost as if the garden had been turned sideways). I hope that helps, but I can see that it is tricky.
Good video but you speak far too quickly for me to digest the point you are making. It would have helped if you said what the trees were, and the types that work in a small garden. Still a fan of the channel despite these comments 😂😀
All constructive feedback is very welcome, and I know I sometimes speak too fast. In terms of trees for a small garden, there's a video here: th-cam.com/video/i3Om4PJRNMY/w-d-xo.html
Wonderful video . So many great ideas. Thank you Alexandria xx
❤to learn from your videos. It would be interesting, to learn more about Yews and learn strategies about how to integrate them to the garden as they mature over a very long time as they are shade loving and slow growing. Is it better to start with a large plant even if they are more expensive?
I haven't specifically grown yews myself but the general rule applies - trees establish better if they're planted young, and the RHS says that yews between 18"-24" establish best. If you want an immediate statement, then you can plant them the size you want them, but you will have to make sure you water regularly for the first few summers.
What is the large bush like (evergreen) with the white flowers with 4 petals called? Time stamp 4:24
That's Cornus Norman Haddon, a wonderful plant.
Great tips, I do a lot of these subconsciously. Sweet alyssum = glitter
Excellent suggestion!
Lovely garden.
I would love to see more small cottage gardens.
One coming up soon!
Beautiful beautiful video!!!! I love her garden!!!
Hi Alexandra, any chance you could let me know the name of the three trees at 4:14 in the video? Looks like Birch but it’d be great to know which variety. Inspiring video as always!
Thank you! It's actually Chinese Red Barked Birch (I know it looks white, but it's red when it's younger). The full name is Betula albosinensis septentrionalis.
Lovely garden. Thank you for the video. Do you think you could superimpose some of the names of the plants on them ? I know it's a hassle but if we don't have a name we can't find them. Thanks again.
I will try to do more of that, because I agree it would be more helpful.
That’s a big garden compared to mine.
I called the vlog and blog The Middlesized Garden because everyone's idea of a 'small garden' and a 'big garden' is different. For a professional gardener, four acres can be considered a 'small garden'. Posy's garden is longer than average, but there are not many gardens narrower than 20ft wide.
Loving all your videos.... Just amazing ideas that are so full of life..
Glad you like them!
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden Thankful to you for bringing out such a wonderful collection of garden ideas... mesmerizing videos
Great
I've enjoyed this video as I have a small front garden that I need to design on a budget and find your suggestions very helpful. I also need to redesign the "wrap around" small back and medium sized side garden as I was able bodied but now have health issues including mobility issues. Thank you for sharing your skills and knowledge ❤️ and please do make more videos as I really enjoy learning more about gardening and your voice is pleasant to listen to without any unnecessary background music. God bless and keep you safe, from Northern Ireland.
Thank you! I find background music too complicated to organise!
Love this garden
honestly 20 ft x 100ft is not a small garden
Everyone has a different idea of what a 'small garden' is, so it very much depends on where you live and how big the gardens around you are. But the principles here would apply equally well to a shorter garden too.
Outstanding!
At 1:10 what does “go across it” mean?
Ruby - imagine the line from back of the house to the back border to be a vertical line or the longest measurement. Arrange beds across that length rather than with it so the garden doesn’t look long and narrow. Isn’t that a gorgeous garden?! Cheers...
Oh, I'm sorry I didn't make that clear - as Jennifer says it's about designing borders so they go across the garden from side to side, rather than running down the sides. If you can think of a narrow garden design as being in horizontal stripes (a patio across from one side to the other, then a border from one side to the other with just a path etc), then it will make it feel less narrow.
Does anyone know which plant is in the pot in the bottom right corner at 6:14? Could it be an umbrella plant?
I'll ask Posy and get back to you, I don't think it is.
I Love Her Style
Can you please tell me what the small pink pom-pom flowers on spindly stalks are? Also, the large mauve-pink ball flowers on long stalks are called. I live in a temperate zone in Oz and don't think I have seen either of them here. Oh yes, and the deep pink flowers on tall stems which appear to me to be very tall snapdragons.......what are they?
The deep pink flowers are definitely snapdragons, but could you let me know at what time the video is on the other flowers as I'm not quite sure.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden Hi Alexandra, and thank you for your reply. The pink fluffy flowers are displayed at 2.42min. mark and I recently discovered that they are called Thalictrum 'black Stockings' but I haven't been able to find availability here in Australia although there is a similar one avail. but it has green stems and doesn't appear to be as tall.
I hope you don't mind but I have two more questions for you. Pansy's garden is exactly what I have been trying to achieve in my small backyard of 38' deep x 50' wide, and I have watched this video a number of times to pick up tips as well as try to identify plants that I think would be useful in my garden.
Q1. At 1.20 min. mark there is a white climber next to and beginning to grow over the bench seat. Do you the name of it?
Q2. At 5.29 min. mark there is, on the LHS, a tree with very long, weeping, sweeping branches (reminds of a weeping willow tree). Can you tell me what the name of it is?
I love your website and look into it whenever I get time. There are lots of great tips for small backyards and lots of beautiful gardens that inspire.
🌼🌺🌿🎋🌳🌸PRETTY 🌸🎋🌳🌺🌼
Does anyone know what that pink plant is at the bottom of the screen at 0:54? It looks amazing.
It's Thalictrum - I'm not sure which variety, but it could be Thalictrum 'Black Stockings'. Thalictrums are beautiful.
I really love this one it has to be one of my top five videos
thank you!
I love small gardens!
Lovely to see this garden. Very special.
Thank you!
Beautiful garden
Awesome advice and beautiful garden.
So nice of you
Congratulations for your great video.
Thank you very much!
Lovely ,lovely garden and thank you 💕💕👏👏
Thank you!
Thanks
Thank you so much!
Hi again! This is one of my favourite videos you've done, along with the contemporary garden design one a few weeks previously I think! This garden is very similar to my own, I've watched it over and over, writing notes etc.
What I would like to know is, what is this shrub in the pot by the bench please??? It has white flowers...and shows at 6 minutes 26 seconds in.
Thank you again. Rob
Thank you! I've just contacted Posy, whose garden it is, and it's a Perle D'Or rose.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden Thank you!! Loving your videos as always! I'm learning! 😊
Could someone kindly tell me what the beautiful plant with both a yellowy green and darker green foliage is at 7:04?
I'm sorry I couldn't see that as 7.04 seems to be the end of the video but I'm wondering if the upright yew (Taxus baccata 'David') might be the plant you're referring to? It's got dark green evergreen foliage but the new foliage is a very bright yellowy green, and the plant itself is very upright and narrow. I hope that helps.
The Middle-Sized Garden Hi Alexander, thanks for your reply from a while back, I have only just seen it. The plant I was referring to is at 5.55 and about 4.21 also. 5.55 shows it better. Not sure why I wrote 7.04! It’s just so beautiful and I’ve been blindingly trying to find it here in Australia. Would it be a Chamaecyparis ?
Just your typical council house