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Before and after · small town garden · shade

Small shady garden ideas: an overgrown town garden redesigned around a winding path

A small town garden in the shade of its trees, with long grass and a hosepipe between the house and two chairs on the gravel at the far end. From one photo, it was redesigned around a winding stone path through grasses, hardy geraniums, masterwort and foxgloves, with the chairs, the gravel and the red peony kept exactly where they were.

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After: the same garden with an irregular stone path winding through grasses, white anemones, foxgloves and peonies to the chairs at the far end
Before: the owner’s photo. After: the design drawn from it.
How it works

One photo of your garden, redrawn with a finished design

Shown with another design from the gallery. This small town garden works the same way.

  1. A deep prairie border in a walled garden: purple salvia, orange geum, foxgloves, echinacea and lime green alchemilla spilling over a brick edge onto a lawn.The ideal design

    The garden you want

    A finished design from the gallery, with its planting and its materials.

  2. A different garden before any work: a plain rectangle of lawn between slatted timber fences, with a bench against a shed at the far end and two bare trees.Your garden

    Add your garden photo

    One picture of your garden that shows the whole plot.

  3. The same garden with that planting in it: a stone path winding to the same bench, echinacea, rudbeckia, liatris and grasses either side, the same fences, shed and trees kept.The result

    Your dream garden

    The same style of planting and the same materials, drawn around what was already there.

Transform My Garden like this First 3 designs free · no card · UK plantsOr start a design from scratch

This makeover at a glance

Style
Small town garden
Shape
A small walled plot under mature trees
Light
Shade
Started as
Long grass and a hosepipe, with two chairs on gravel at the end

Kept

  • The two chairs on the gravel
  • The red peony
  • The mature shrubs
  • The big tree and the trellis

Changed

  • A winding stone path
  • Forest grass and sedges
  • Geraniums, masterwort, foxgloves
  • Chairs, at the end of a path
In the design

Four small shady garden ideas from this makeover

  1. A winding stone path, close up in the design
    Long grass and a hosepipe, the same spot beforeBefore

    Long grass and a hosepipe A winding stone path

    A winding stone path where the long grass was

    Flat, irregular stones set into the ground like stepping stones, winding through the planting to the gravel at the end. The path winds rather than runs: a straight one shows the whole garden in a single look, and the bends make the walk feel longer than the distance and leave room for planting on both sides.

  2. Forest grass and sedges, close up in the design
    Long grass, the same spot beforeBefore

    Long grass Forest grass and sedges

    Grasses on both sides of the path: Japanese forest grass and sedges

    Mounds of Japanese forest grass, gold in the shade, with finer sedges at the path's edge. In shade the leaves do the work before the flowers do, and grasses give the garden its movement in the smallest wind.

  3. Geraniums, masterwort, foxgloves, close up in the design
    Long grass, the same spot beforeBefore

    Long grass Geraniums, masterwort, foxgloves

    Hardy geraniums and masterwort along the ground, foxgloves above

    Between the grasses, white hardy geraniums and dusky pink masterwort cover the ground, and foxgloves put their spires up through them beside the peony.

  4. Chairs, at the end of a path, close up in the design
    Chairs, across the long grass, the same spot beforeBefore

    Chairs, across the long grass Chairs, at the end of a path

    The two chairs on the gravel, at the end of the path

    The chairs, the gravel and the shrubs behind them are kept exactly where they were. What changes is the way to them: the path now gives the chairs a clear route through the planting, so it is easy to go and sit out at the far end.

Before: a small town garden gone over to long grass and weeds in the shade of mature trees, with a hosepipe across the middle and two chairs at the far end
Before: the owner’s photo.
Before

Long grass and a hosepipe, in the shade of the trees

Two chairs on gravel at the far end, a red peony and a bed of shrubs on the left, mature shrubs on the right, and between the chairs and the house, long grass with a hosepipe across it. The trees keep most of it in shade.

Under trees a lawn is green in patches however much it is mown, so the design gives that ground to plants that want the shade.

The design keeps the chairs, the gravel, the peony, the mature shrubs, the trees and the walls where they were.

In the beds

Planting under trees: the seven plants

Six plants for the shade of the trees, and the red peony that was already there.

  1. Japanese forest grassThe gold mounds either side of the path, and the movement
  2. SedgesFiner grasses at the path's edge
  3. Hardy geraniumsWhite flowers over the ground between
  4. MasterwortDusky pink pincushion flowers
  5. FoxglovesSpires above the grasses
  6. Japanese anemonesWhite flowers into autumn
  7. PeoniesKept from the old garden, and the one red flower

With Pro, every design you make names every plant in it, how big each one grows, where it goes and when it flowers, so you know what to look for at the garden centre.

What you get

What comes back from one photo of your garden

  • Redesigned around your fences and trees. About two minutes after you add your photo, in the same style and materials as this garden.
  • Planting matched to your light and soil. Add your light and soil if you know them, and the planting follows them.
  • Every plant named, with Pro or Max. Pro is one payment: £29 for 20 designs over 14 days, two at once; Max, £49 for 50 over 30 days, four at once. Every one names its plants, how big each grows, where it goes and when it flowers.
  • Built by a professional gardener. Real plants that grow in UK gardens.
Transform My Garden like this First 3 designs free · no card · UK plantsOr start a design from scratch
Questions

Questions about this small shady garden design

What takes the place of a lawn where the grass will not grow?

In this design, a path and planting. The grass goes, and the ground either side of the path is given to plants that want the shade: grasses, hardy geraniums and masterwort along the ground, foxgloves and anemones above.

Does an overgrown garden need clearing before the app can design it?

No. This design was drawn from the photo above, long grass and hosepipe included. The app draws the garden around what is in the picture, so one photo of the plot as it is today is all it needs.

How much does a garden makeover design like this cost?

Your first 3 garden designs are free, no card required. After that, Pro is one payment: £29 for 20 designs over 14 days, two at once; Max, £49 for 50 over 30 days, four at once, every plant named in every one, and clean pictures to keep.

Is the after picture a real garden?

The before is the owner’s own photo. The after is the design Garden Design App drew from it, using real plants you can buy in the UK.

Keep reading

More before and after garden makeovers

After: the same strip as a planted courtyard, with a paved path through deep borders of lavender, purple salvias, coneflowers and grasses to a small table and chairs
Part sun · narrow plot

Wildlife garden makeover

A narrow strip of lawn, redesigned as a paved path between deep borders of lavender and salvias.

After: the same plot with a brick and stone path curving to the shed between deep borders of roses, delphiniums, lupins, foxgloves and peonies, with terracotta urns at the top of the path
Full sun · fenced plot

Cottage garden makeover

A bare, straw coloured lawn and a deck crowded with pots, redesigned as deep borders of roses, delphiniums and lupins.

After: the same garden as a Mediterranean gravel garden, with pale gravel, flagstone stepping stones, clipped olive trees in terracotta pots, drifts of lavender and a timber arch
Full sun · acid soil

Mediterranean garden makeover

A rectangle of lawn, redesigned as pale gravel, olive trees and drifts of lavender.

After: the same passage with a stone flag path running through deep shade planting of ferns, hostas, foxgloves, periwinkle and a Japanese maple against the fence
Deep shade · narrow run

Shady side passage makeover

The bit down the side where the bins live, redesigned as a shaded path of ferns, hostas and foxgloves.

After: the same yard with pale limestone paving, a curved lawn edged in brick and deep borders of catmint, salvias, coneflowers and climbing roses
Full sun · clay soil

Modern garden makeover

Slabs, bare soil and a blank brick gable, redesigned as curved lawn and deep planted borders.

After: the same plot as a meadow garden, with a stepping stone path through deep borders of purple salvias, crimson scabious, pink coneflowers and grasses, wisteria and clematis on the fence beneath the gable, and the deck edged with lavender
Part sun · clay

New build garden makeover

A rectangle of new turf beside a blank gable, redesigned as a meadow of salvias and scabious, with climbers on the fence and the shed.

After: the same plot as a white gravel garden, with one straight path of large grey slabs to a small patio under a white pergola, deep borders of white rock roses, lamb’s ears and white foxgloves along sage green fences, and agaves in terracotta pots
Full sun · clay

Long garden makeover

A long plot of grey gravel and slabs, redesigned as a white gravel garden with one slab path to a pergola at the far end.

After: the same plot as a cottage garden, the lawn replaced by beds of delphiniums, foxgloves and roses either side of a stepping stone path to a metal bench, climbing roses on the side fences, catmint at the foot of the wall, a terracotta pot on the step and thyme in the joints of the patio
Part sun

Tiered garden makeover

A slab patio, a step and a raised lawn, redesigned as a cottage garden with roses on the fences for privacy and a bench at the top.

After: the same plot as a cottage garden, an oak framed gazebo with a slate roof where the summerhouse was, a teak table and chairs under it, a gravel path through lavender and catmint, borders of pink roses, blue delphiniums and silver lamb’s ears on both sides, clematis and roses on the black fence either side of the gazebo
Full sun · dry

Gazebo garden makeover

A lawn gone brown and dry and an old summerhouse, redesigned as a cottage garden with an oak gazebo and a gravel path through lavender.

After: the same view with the pergola in full wisteria flower over the deck, a lawn with curved edges and deep borders of foxgloves, mullein, geum, catmint and black eyed Susans, a path of sandstone slabs through gravel to a small sandstone patio with a bistro table and two chairs to the right of the lawn, and the brick walls and back shrubs where they were
Full sun

Wisteria pergola garden makeover

A patchy lawn under a wisteria pergola, redesigned as a curved lawn with deep borders for bees and a sandstone patio to the right of the lawn.

After: the same view with a path of grey and buff stone laid in herringbone curving down the middle to the foot of the spiral staircase, borders of Mexican feather grass, Japanese forest grass, blue fescue and heuchera on both sides with blue delphiniums and purple top verbena rising through them, lavender beside the path, lilac clematis and pale climbing roses on the fences, and the staircase, the brick house and the shrub where they were
Part sun · clay

Urban garden makeover

A narrow strip of artificial grass under a spiral staircase, redesigned as a curved herringbone path through borders of grasses and perennials.

After: the same view with paths of pale gravel winding out from the patio between drifts of purple salvias, lavender, pink coneflowers and yellow black eyed Susans, a small pond with a pebble edge and a stepping stone on the right, an untreated oak bench against the back fence, the fences stained a warm brown behind blue Californian lilac and orange firethorn, and the tree, the conifer and the patio where they were
Full sun · clay

Wildlife pond garden makeover

A wide lawn scorched brown, redesigned as a gravel garden with a small pebble edged pond, drifts for bees and an oak bench at the far end.

After: the design drawn from the patio edge, with a winding path of buff gravel held by low stone edging, deep borders on both sides of pink and white roses, astrantia, catmint, white foxgloves, blue delphiniums, sea holly, white brunnera and lady’s mantle, a white clematis over the trellis on the left, the yew where it was, the fences stained a warm brown and a weathered teak bench under the trees at the far end.
Full sun · acid

Winding path garden makeover

A lawn beside a patio, redesigned as a winding gravel path with low stone edging through deep borders of roses and catmint, to a bench under the trees.

After: a design drawn from the owner’s photo, with large grey slabs laid at an angle with dark pebbles between them, curved beds edged in metal holding New Zealand flax, agave, yucca, purple salvias, orange geum, white gaura and Mexican daisies, the fences stained charcoal with star jasmine on the right one, an L of teak seating built round a gas fire pit in the back corner, an olive tree in a tall planter beside it, the boarded wall and the potted shrub where they were, and the neighbours’ brick houses and roofs beyond.
Light and soil not recorded

Fire pit garden makeover

A lawn gone brown between a boarded wall and a fence, redesigned as a paved garden with slabs floating in pebbles, architectural planting and teak seating built round a fire pit.

After: the same garden drawn as a cottage garden, a flagstone path down the left, a circular lawn in the middle, deep borders of blue delphiniums, pink and white foxgloves, purple hardy geraniums, pink and peach roses, catmint and box balls, espalier fruit trees on the wall at the back, a timber arch, oak table and chairs on pea gravel at the far end, and roses and lilac clematis on the warm stained fence.
Full sun (the design’s notes) · soil not recorded

Cottage garden plan makeover

A lawn beside a concrete path, redesigned as an English cottage garden: a circular lawn in deep borders, a flagstone path, espaliers on the wall and oak seating on gravel at the end.

Transform My Garden like this