Down the side of our Victorian maisonette is a narrow alley way. It’s where I started our garden so I know its seasonal patterns well. The side wall is pretty much south facing so gets blasted with full sun in the summer. The alley is only 1.5 m wide at one end and 2m wide at the other. The six foot boundary fence creating full shade on the other side. This creates two opposing conditions packed tightly next to each other, something very common in urban gardens. Small gardens in towns and cities are often talked down but they’re a real opportunity to cram in a huge variety of plants. Below in our alley we have full shade loving ferns stretching out to touch the leaves of full sun loving Dahlias.
A great example of what you can do in a small urban space. Looks lush & inviting.
Thanks Julieanne 🙂 I always wanted it to be a corridor from that bedroom door so that people can step down into a colourful jungle
It reminds me of a great ‘garden’ I had in a basement flat. 1m x 4m. It had its own microclimate; sheltered, shady and a bit damp. It could have been horrid but a couple of giant hostas, ferns and a fatsia japonica turned it into a lush, green mini-jungle.
I bet that looked fantastic as well Judy! Isn’t it amazing how almost every space is an opportunity to grow something different and beautiful 🙂