How to lay out a long and narrow outdoor space? How to locate all the zones that you want, what landscaping to opt for and how to accommodate everything you want? It seems tricky to design such a space but it still has a lot of potential! Let’s find out how to make maximum of a long and narrow garden.
Create Different Areas
Don’t make your garden look like a tunnel. Split it into different areas so you can’t see everything at once. Use hedges, plants, arches, and trellises to create these zones. To create an impression of space, concentrate the vegetation in the backdrop and around the zone, so the garden will appear larger. Add some pretty spots where you can stop and enjoy the view.
A narrow garden with lush vegetation, a creative shaped garden path leading to a small sitting space in the corner.
A small cottage garden with green lawn, lush blooms, shrubs and trees further in the garden, closer to its end seems bigger.
A narrow garden with raised garden beds, some greenery and trees and a curved path leading to a small space at the end.
A beautiful blooming space with green lawn, flowers and shrubs and some trees closer to the fence, a small roofed space at the end.
A long and narrow garden wtih strategically placed greenery and flowers, some trees at the fence, a stone path and a dining zone at the end.
A narrow garden with pretty garden beds, greenery and flowers, a gravel path and stone edging, with trees at the semi-sheer fence.
Play With Shapes
Set out the garden at 45 degrees to the long boundary and make a zigzag journey to it, that will again help you avoid seeing a long view and create an impression that the garden is wider that it is. While making a garden path, lay plank-shaped pavers so the long side runs across the garden and the short side is parallel with the long boundary to create an effect of a wide space.
A shady garden with green lawn, greenery, shrubs and trees, a curved path and a wooden arch that helps diving the space into zones.
A narrow garden with a curved stone path to make it larger, greenery and blooms at the path and medium-height plants further.
A pretty and elegant garden with green lawn, a curved gravel path, greenery and flowers, a living fence and two trees.
A bright and vivacious garden with a curved stone path, greenery and blooms around, a tree, a gazing ball and some decorations to catch an eye.
A narrow slot with a stone path, a green lawn, ferns, shrubs and a living fence to make the space more natural and fresh.
Make A Curved Path
People like curves as such a shape is pleasing, and such a path will also make your garden seem larger. A curved path will draw attention to various points in your garden not letting you see everything at a time. Regular and straight lines aren’t a good idea for a narrow garden on the whole if you want to create an impression of a larger space. You should also consider curved garden beds and even furniture placing.
A narrow slot with a curved pebble path, greenery and blooms along it and some wooden arches to separate the spaces.
A narrow garden with pretty blooms and shrubs, a small tree, a dining zone at the end of the space.
A dreamy blooming space with a curved stone and gravel path, bright flowers around the path and some taller plants further to the garden.
A pretty and fresh garden with green lawn, with greenery and blooms around, with a sitting zone under the tree and an arch that leads to another part.
A small narrow space with a stone path leading to an arrangement of potted blooms and greenery, with a tall living fence and greenery around.
A bright narrow garden with green lawn, blooming bushes, a metal arch covered with flowers and greenery is a lovely space.
Blur The Boundaries
Avoid showing strict boundaries and entire zones, they can remind you the limitations of your garden. Use various textures and contrasting materials, so it will give the illusion of other parts of your garden coming to the fore.
Grow taller plants towards the back of the garden beds, medium height plants in the middle and low closer to the front. Such layering looks cool and breaks up the boundaries making the space feel deeper. Grasses will be a perfect choice to create a boundary feel but still letting you see through. Small trees like flowering cherries will also break up the garden view and let you see through, so this is a transparent boundary.
Using various types of hardscaping can also help you divide your garden into several spaces without setting strong boundaries. Use a green lawn and then stick to gravel to highlight the difference.
When choosing fence material, consider horizontal slats to exaggerate the width. Stain it with light colors to recede and cover the fences with climbers to make them invisible or partially invisible.
A narrow garden with a lawn path, some flowers in curved garden beds, shrubs and trees only at the fence to make the space larger.
A colorful garden with a green lawn, bright flowers growing along, some topiaries and trees at the fence covered with climbers.
A narrow slot with green lawn, hedges, shrubs and trees at the fence, topiaries and a sculpture at the end as a focal point.
A long and narrow garden with green lawn, gravel and stone path, grasses, a raised garden bed at the fence, a terrace with modern furniture.
A narrow slot designed in a diagonal way, with a terrace with modern furniture, greenery and trees, topiaries and a curved path.
A long plot with a curved path, blooms and shrubs, some tall trees that cover the borders of the garden so that it seemed endless.
A narrow garden with green lawn, bright blooms, a series of arches that make the space continous, a round slot at the end.
A narrow space with greenery and blooms and small trees is a lovely space, and if you add vegetation to it, it will seem larger.
A long coastal garden with a curved path, greenery and grasses and a gorgeous water view.
Go For Several Layers
Break up your slot into several vertical levels, even if you don’t have them naturally, you can build them up. Incorporating stairs will create a raised form of the landscape, and it will give you even more space for gardening and organizing various zones. Take a look at some multi-level gardens here.
A narrow garden with lush vegetation, a creative shaped garden path leading to a small sitting space in the corner.
A small cottage garden with green lawn, lush blooms, shrubs and trees further in the garden, closer to its end seems bigger.
A narrow garden with raised garden beds, some greenery and trees and a curved path leading to a small space at the end.
A beautiful blooming space with green lawn, flowers and shrubs and some trees closer to the fence, a small roofed space at the end.
A long and narrow garden wtih strategically placed greenery and flowers, some trees at the fence, a stone path and a dining zone at the end.
A narrow garden with pretty garden beds, greenery and flowers, a gravel path and stone edging, with trees at the semi-sheer fence.
A shady garden with green lawn, greenery, shrubs and trees, a curved path and a wooden arch that helps diving the space into zones.
A narrow garden with a curved stone path to make it larger, greenery and blooms at the path and medium-height plants further.
A pretty and elegant garden with green lawn, a curved gravel path, greenery and flowers, a living fence and two trees.
A bright and vivacious garden with a curved stone path, greenery and blooms around, a tree, a gazing ball and some decorations to catch an eye.
Use Repetition
Stick to just several types of plants and create repetitions to make your eye consider it a longer journey through the space. This technique will make your garden feel wider and create continuity. To make your garden non-boring still, play with the height of the plants to create interest and variety, and choose lighter colors closer to the house and warm-colored plants at the end. If you see some tall trees in your neighbors’ gardens, think of plating the same, so you eye will be tricked and your neighbors’ garden will seem part of yours.
A long pool can be a nice solution for a narrow garden, and it can be lined up with greenery and trees to make it look larger.
A beautiful narrow garden with a curved path, bright flowers and greenery, a tree and a living fence that make it feel larger.
A narrow garden with green lawn, greenery and bright flowers, a stone clad pond and tall grasses at the end to make the space seem bigger.
A long garden with a curved path, grasses and greenery and dark foliage planted strategically: the taller, the further from the path.
A narrow garden with green lawn, a curved path, a living fence with shrubs and trees, a sitting space at the end and vases for decor.
A narrow garden with a messy and curved stone garden path with groundcovers, greenery, shrubs and flowers along it, a pond with stone at the end.
A narrow slot with lush greenery and blooms, a series of arches with vines to make the space seem longer and cooler.
A modern narrow garden with a green lawn zone with greenery, a gravel zone with garden beds and greenery and a sitting zone at the fence.
A narrow refined English garden with green lawn, curved flower beds with blooms and topiaries, a living fence and some trees plus decor at the end.
A narrow split level garden with a sitting zone with modern furniture, an arch with vines and a dining zone at the next level and one more area at the fence.
A narrow garden with a stone path, greenery, shrubs and weathered wood chairs feels wider thanks to the smartly planted shrubs.
A narrow outdoor space with a stone path, blooms and greenery along the path, some shrubs, a dining zone and a garden shed at the fence.
A narrow garden with a curved stone path, blue flowers along it and some shrubs and trees plus an outdoor lamp.
A narrow garden featuring a curved stone path, greenery and flowers, some non-tall trees planted further to play with heights.
A narrow plot with greenery, pink and white blooms, topiaries and shrubs and a stone path with pavements placed horizontally to make the space feel wider.
A narrow slot with a curved brick path, blooms and groundcovers, shrubs and tall trees to make the space shady, some whimsical decor on the trees.
A narrow slot with concrete pavements, a modern pond, a slab bench, some shrubs and trees and a little garden house.
A narrow garden with a stone path, greenery and shrubs, a tall living fence and an outdoor living room plus one more zone at the fence.
A narrow garden with various areas, green lawn, a stone path and grasses, a poll space and a sitting zone that make this space larger.
A narrow slot with pebble and wood path, raised garden beds with grasses and flowers and a dining zone at the end of the space.