The Less Is More Garden: Big Ideas for Designing Your Small Yard

by Susan Morrison

Overview

“Big ideas for your small garden.” —Garden Design

When it comes to gardens, bigger isn’t always better, and The Less Is More Garden shows you how to take advantage of every square foot of space. Designer Susan Morrison offers savvy tips to match your landscape to your lifestyle, draws on years of experience to recommend smart plants with seasonal interest, and suggests hardscape materials to personalize your space. Inspiring photographs highlight a variety of inspiring small-space designs from around the country. With The Less Is More Garden, you’ll see how limited space can mean unlimited opportunities for gorgeous garden design.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781604697919
Publisher:	Timber Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	02/07/2018
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	7.60(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Susan Morrison is a nationally recognized landscape designer and authority on small-space garden design. She has shared her strategies on the PBS series, Growing a Greener World and in publications such as Fine Gardening. Morrison has also served as editor-in-chief of The Designer, a digital magazine produced by the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. 

Read an Excerpt

Preface
Once upon a time, small gardens were mainly confined to the condos, courtyards, and terraces of crowded urban areas. In contrast, the typical suburban landscape tended to be large and sprawling. But in the past forty years, America’s suburban lots have shrunk, from the Southeast to the Midwest to the West Coast. In fact, the term small garden is gradually losing its meaning, as many of us live on a quarter, an eighth, or even less of an acre. Urban and suburban aren’t so different anymore.

Small has become the new normal.

In my practice as a landscape designer, most of the backyards I design measure less than 2500 square feet; layouts are rarely more than 40 by 60 feet. I no longer think of that as small; it has become standard. Interestingly, while active gardeners are often concerned with fitting everything into a space that is generally smaller than the backyards they grew up in, I am just as likely to hear from homeowners more interested in creating a space that will be as simple as possible to maintain. In our time-crunched, overworked, two-career society, taking the time to envision, create, and maintain a garden can seem overwhelming. No one wants another to-do list item, but most of us want a backyard that’s a refuge: a place where we can unwind, entertain, and enjoy ourselves in whatever forms those pursuits take.

This shift in how we live, work, and play is what led me to develop the less is more approach to garden design and outdoor living. My clients want to spend more time enjoying the outdoors, but less time fussing with and maintaining their space. I understand what they’re looking for, because the hypothetical family I’ve described could be mine.

I spent my middle school and teenage years in a ranch-style home on a quarter-acre lot in Southern California. While the house was a mere 1600 square feet, the large backyard more than made up for the elbow bumping my family of four tolerated inside. We spent as much time as we could outdoors. Our backyard was home to a swimming pool, two full-sized patios, flower beds, fruit trees, and a vegetable garden, not to mention plenty of lawn on which to play games and run around. With that much space, it’s easy to accommodate an active, multi-generational, outdoor lifestyle. Of course, my childhood memories aren’t just about fun in the sun. Looking after a space that big took a lot of effort. Growing up as the designated lawn mower and pool cleaner meant my Saturday mornings weren’t exactly my own.

Fast-forward to my first house in a newly constructed development. Despite the fact that the backyard was a fraction of the size of my childhood home’s yard, I did what so many of us do, and modeled the landscape on what I had growing up. While I didn’t have the space or the budget for a swimming pool, I replicated the garden I remembered as closely as I could. I made sure there was lots of lawn, and surrounded it with beautiful flower beds. This only left room for one smallish patio, and no dedicated areas to grow a few tomato plants, or to enjoy a good book or a nap. As for practical considerations, such as privacy screening from my all-too-close neighbors, well, I didn’t think about that until after I’d filled all my planting beds with blooming shrubs and annuals.

While we enjoyed our sunny backyard, my husband and I spent far less time outside than my family had while I was growing up. And because I had created a landscape that included two of the most time-intensive aspects of garden care — a lawn and fussy flowers — the small space required a lot of effort to maintain. This became a problem for two busy professionals who traveled a lot, as yard upkeep was constantly at the top of our chore list. (More so for my husband than for me. After all those years chained to a weekly mowing schedule, I refused to ever push a lawnmower again.) We eventually moved to a new home in Northern California, where we finally got it right. Our new backyard was even smaller — only 18 feet deep by 60 feet wide. But this time, I embraced the less is more philosophy. At its heart, this approach to garden design means:

• Less space, more enjoyment
• Less effort, more beauty
• Less maintenance, more relaxation
• Less gardening-by-the-numbers, more YOU

The pleasure I took in creating the garden of my dreams is what inspired me to trade in my business suits and briefcase for jeans and a drafting table. As a garden designer, I discovered many of my clients were making the same mistakes I had with my first garden. Despite living in California, my typical clients are not movie stars or dot-com millionaires. They are ordinary people just like me, looking to get the most out of modest-sized lots, while juggling jobs, kids, and busy lives. If this describes you, and you are hoping to get more out of your garden with less time and effort, this book will help you. Twelve years of designing gardens and consulting with homeowners has taught me that the same issues come up over and over again, regardless of budget or lifestyle goals. Whether you are designing a new landscape from the ground up, rehabilitating an existing one, or just hoping to take your current yard to a new level with a few easy fixes, the less is more approach to garden design will get you there.

Table of Contents

Foreword 9

Preface: The Less Is More Approach to Garden Design 10

The Lifestyle Garden 13

Design Templates for Modest-Size Yards 35

Streamlined Design 75

Small Garden, Big Impact 101

The Sensory Garden 135

Hardscape Elements 163

Beautiful, Low-Maintenance Plants 179

A Sense of Place, Regardless of Space 201

Metric Conversions 212

Additional Reading and Resources 213

Acknowledgments 214

Photography, Design, and Location Credits 215

Index 217

Editorial Reviews

Garden designer Morrison explains that the wonder of the small garden arises from its high degree of outdoor pleasure combined with the benefits of intimacy, manageability, and individuality. Her illuminating new book shows garden lovers the way to achieve the full measure of this effect. . . . The inviting use of more than 260 color photographs, in conjunction with planting charts and sample illustrations, creates an inspiring vision for even the most humble gardener who hopes to create a version of sustainable paradise.” —Publishers Weekly

“The Less is More Garden by Susan Morrison for Timber Press delivers what it promises—big ideas. . . . In design, constraints such as limited space often inspire creative solutions and great ideas. Morrison’s work is evidence of this premise, although I suspect she would shine in any setting.” —NYBG’s Plant Talk

“This book by Susan Morrison will give you big ideas for your small garden.” —Garden Design

“The Less is More Garden gives homeowners, gardeners, and plant enthusiasts solid ideas to help transform small gardens into a personalized, thoughtful, and unique destinations. Through well-chosen pictorial examples, and the comprehensive coverage of the major design considerations, Morrison demonstrates that an inviting, detailed, family-friendly, and even lush garden can be created with minimal space.” —Gardenista

“Gain valuable insights into developing a signature garden style.” —Garden Design Newsletter

“Yes, your minuscule yard can look this magical. . . . take a cue from gardening expert Susan Morrison.” —Architectural Digest

“Numerous practical ideas for fine-tuning the design of [your] outdoor world.” —A Way To Garden 

“Whether you’re designing your first garden on a small lot or downsizing from a large garden to a smaller space, you’ll find practical and helpful planning advice and inspirational photos in The Less Is More Garden.” —Digging

“An excellent resource for making gorgeous smaller gardens.” —Country Gardens

“Susan Morrison has a knack for creating lush, inviting gardens in the most awkward of spaces. Her most imaginative and unexpected tricks are found in this guide—the perfect combination of dreamy, aspirational, and doable.” —Amy Stewart, author of the New York Times bestseller, The Drunken Botanist

“Completely inspired! A wonderful book loaded with Susan’s wisdom, practical advice, and beautiful examples for achieving stunning results.” —Joe Lamp’l, host of PBS TV series, Growing a Greener World; founder of joegardener.com
 
“A superb and thoughtful boost of design inspiration to professionals and homeowners alike—a veritable abundance of simple pleasures!” —Lisa Port, national president of Association of Professional Landscape Designers

“Susan helps us see our gardens through the lens of simplicity and ease. Her tips are practical, fresh, and inspiring.” —Theresa Loe, founder of Living Homegrown
 

From the Publisher