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Courtyard Gardens - Planning Tips
By Malcolm Kay, Fri Dec 9th
With an increasing tendency for empty nesters, young couples andsingles towards higher density inner city living, and the desireto spend minimal time on maintaining gardens or other outdoorspaces, most new apartments, townhouses and tend tohave only pocket sized backyards, courtyards or balconies. So itbecomes particularly important to make the most of such limitedareas by landscaping and utilizing the space in the bestpossible way. But you don’t have to be a professional landscape architect tocreate an inviting courtyard space - you just have to follow afew basic design principles. Whilst you can’t physicallyincrease the size of a small garden, you can certainly employ afew visual tricks to create the illusion of space. One important way of doing this is to create a thematic linkbetween the indoor and outdoor areas. Linking the backyard orcourtyard to the family room or kitchen, breaks down thedivision between inside and outside, making the total areaappear larger. To establish this link, try to use pavingmaterials that are similar to those used in the house. If youhave a tiled area inside, consider extending the same or similartiles outside. If you have a solid wood or wood laminate floor,one simple solution is to lay interlocking wood deck tiles onthe external patio or courtyard (see for examplewww.ezydeck.net). Although such tiles are best laid over aconcrete pad, they can also be laid over a level and wellcompacted gravel surface. And they can be moved and re-laid atwill should you decide to change
the design of your outdoorspace at any time.
Light colours in the paving and on the courtyard walls will alsocreate an impression of space, so lighter colored tiles wouldgenerally be preferable in small spaces. In confined spaces, more space should be devoted to sitting &walking areas than to plants which should be placed in wide,raided beds. Deck tiles could be used as “stepping stones” alonga pathway interspersed with gravel or stones and bordered byplantings. Don’t overdo the garden art. One sculpture or waterfeature is more than enough. Clan simple lines are generally better in small situationsrather than a “busy” appearance and a formal look is usuallymore suitable than an informal look. Several large pots orplanter boxes will look less cluttered than numerous small ones. Avoid using flowers with strong red, yellow or orange colours asthey tend to “advance” towards you. Blues, purples and grays arepreferable because they are not dominating. And make sure plantsare selected for all round appeal and not just for a brief burstof colour for a few weeks, but dull for the rest of the year. With a bit of planning, even the smallest of areas can be madeto look larger than you may think. About the author:Malcolm Kay is the CEO of Intex Pacific Pty. Ltd. an exporter oflandscape materials including modular decking tiles. For furtherinformation see www.ezydeck.net
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