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Before and after · small back garden · part sun

Small back garden ideas: a strip of lawn redesigned as a wildlife garden

A strip of lawn between the patio and the back fence, with a barbecue on one side and a washing line in the middle. From one photo, it was redesigned as a wildlife garden: a paved path between deep borders of lavender, salvias and coneflowers, a bench beside the barbecue at the far end and a table and two chairs part way down.

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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
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 wildlife 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
Wildlife garden
Shape
A narrow strip between the patio and the back fence
Light
Part sun
Started as
A strip of lawn with a barbecue and a washing line

Kept

  • The barbecue corner
  • The patio by the house
  • The gravel strip at its edge
  • The houses beyond

Changed

  • A paved path
  • Deep borders both sides
  • Table and two chairs
  • Barbecue, bench, pergola
In the design

Four small back garden ideas from this makeover

  1. A paved path, close up in the design
    A strip of lawn, the same spot beforeBefore

    A strip of lawn A paved path

    A paved path where the strip of lawn was

    The grass goes and a path of paving slabs takes its place, running from the gravel strip at the edge of the patio to the far end. It gives the garden a route through the middle, so the borders either side can be deep without the plot feeling any narrower.

  2. Deep borders both sides, close up in the design
    A side path and a thin border, the same spot beforeBefore

    A side path and a thin border Deep borders both sides

    Deep borders of lavender, salvias and coneflowers on both sides

    Both borders run deep, the length of the path. Lavender and salvias carry the blues and purples, coneflowers and black eyed Susans the pinks and golds, and the depth lets the planting sit in layers, so the fence stops being the first thing you see.

  3. Table and two chairs, close up in the design
    Open lawn, the same spot beforeBefore

    Open lawn Table and two chairs

    A table and two chairs beside the path

    Part way down, the paving widens into a spot for a table and two chairs, with flowers on every side. A narrow garden needs somewhere to walk to, and a seat among the flowers is the simplest one there is.

  4. Barbecue, bench, pergola, close up in the design
    A barbecue by the fence, the same spot beforeBefore

    A barbecue by the fence Barbecue, bench, pergola

    A barbecue corner, with a bench beside it

    The design keeps a barbecue by the same fence, under a small pergola, and puts a bench beside it, so whoever is cooking has company. With the patio by the house, that makes three places to sit out where the lawn gave you one.

Before: a narrow strip of lawn between a paved patio and a close boarded fence, with a barbecue to one side and a few pots on the paving
Before: the owner’s photo.
Before

A strip of lawn between a patio and a fence

A run of grass with the patio at the house end, a paved path down one fence and a narrow border along the other, a barbecue by the fence and a washing line in the middle. A great many gardens look just like it.

The plot is narrow and the grass is the widest thing in it, so the border along the fence is a single row of plants, and the far end, where you might sit, is where the washing line stands.

The design keeps the shape of the plot, the patio by the house and the barbecue corner where they were.

In the borders

A garden for bees and butterflies: the planting

Seven plants do most of the work in these part sun borders.

  1. LavenderThe blues and purples, and the scent
  2. SalviasPurple spires among the lavender
  3. ConeflowersThe pinks, through late summer
  4. Black eyed SusansThe golds, through late summer
  5. YarrowFlat heads of flower that hoverflies land on
  6. Feather grassMovement, in the smallest wind
  7. HostasBroad leaves at the shadier end

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 back garden design

Can a small back garden work without grass?

Yes. This design takes the lawn out: a paved path in its place, deep borders on both sides of it, and the patio by the house kept for sitting out.

Will this design fit a new build garden?

The design is redrawn around what is in your photo, so a new build plot with a patio, close boarded fences and a rectangle of turf gets the same style of planting and the same materials, laid out to fit its own space.

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 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 garden with an irregular stone path winding through grasses, white anemones, foxgloves and peonies to the chairs at the far end
Shade · town garden

Small town garden makeover

Long grass and a hosepipe in a shaded town garden, redesigned as a winding path through grasses and shade planting.

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