Small Space Garden Ideas

Philippa Pearson’s Small Space Garden Ideas is an archive of perfectly formed ideas for indoor and outdoor garden inspiration.

This book is arranged into six parts that explore inventive ways to pot up a vast arrangement of floral creations. It is targeted at all levels of gardeners, young and old.

The layout of the book is stylish as is typical of a Dorling Kindersley publication. It is filled with beautiful photographs and color panels with content that describes tools and equipment, tips and plant lists. Every creation is stepped out clearly with a list of equipment and plant suggestions.

Pearson’s ideas range from the sublime to the ridiculous, with highs that include the barnyard garden which is perfect for children. This is a miniature floral world created with scaled down plants for the trees; twigs become field fences and gravel marks out the paths.

Container ideas include everything from tin cans to lanterns. “Gourmet Microgreens” are propagators made from small plastic cups, which seems a bit daft yet ideal for fresh herb garnishes. Other container ideas are very pretty, for instance the colander does makes a perfect home for lettuce. But sadly the ugly prize must go to the lettuce in the plastic milk jugs hanging on the wall, practical yet not a good look!

The variety of plants used is very interesting and diverse. Succulents and air plants are well represented in the “Micro Garden” section at the beginning of the book with more challenging suggestions as the book progresses with terrariums, bonsai trees and culinary crops.

Some ideas in “Let It All Hang” reflect different cultural influences such as the Japanese inspired “Kokedama” (moss balls). These are very beautiful and so easy to prepare. Other ideas reflect urban living with the balcony planters which are wonderful and so practical for herbs and flowers.

The final section covers wildlife ideas that include an insect house with a green roof, which is so pretty and useful for any garden space. The wildlife hamper and bird stations are just adorable and ingenious.

At the end of the book “Plant Practical” is a detailed planting guide that covers horticultural information on plants, planting styles and their care.

Does this book deliver on inspiration for creating gardens in miniature? Certainly the sky is the limit for Pearson and with some imagination and compost, there is no reason why one could not recreate their own private hanging gardens of Babylon.