Small garden design ideas from a recent Chelsea Flower Show that could be appropriate for a New York City garden design or any urban design where space is at a premium.

Interpret these flourishes for some help with your exterior landscape. 

The first garden design is the World Vision Garden by John Warland.  At the heart of the garden is a black ripple pool (reminiscent of Fletcher Steele’s obsidian reflecting pool).  The orange geum coloration is echoed in the cor-ten steel walls and container for the ripple pool. The slate labyrinth path appears like ripples emanating from the center ripple pool.  Other garden features and plants include the orange flowering Avens (Geum borisii) the medicinal Sweet Cicely (myrrhis odorato) the aromatic Sweet Woodruff (Gallium odoratum – love this plant!) and the Australasian tree ferns (Dicksonia antartica and Dicksonia fibrosa.

Well done on the the small garden design which recreates the inherent geometry of the space and leads your eye toward the center. The verticality of the space is addressed through the tree ferns, but I would have like to see a bit more complexity on the perimeter cor-ten steel walls.  Another level of design would be seating choices to enjoy this beautiful and tranquil oasis. 

A caravanning garden. 

Instead of a shade structure, home office, summer house, child’s playhouse, outdoor tea room, this outdoor room has a mini caravan within it. Brilliant!! Designer Jo Thompson creates a "stay-cation" – a twist on a traditional country garden, english garden design or perhaps a garden for a mobile home. 

The trees are Chinese birches (Betula albosinensis ‘Fascination). Echoeing the white bark is the Viburnum plicatum- a major shrub throughout creating structure. Perennials include Digitalis albiflora, D. excelsior, Polemonium ‘Purple rain’, Verbascum ‘Cotswold beauty. Various roses, paeonies, Nepeta and Salvia fill out much of the pink/cream/purple palette. The paths are sandstone, adjacent to a steel rill.

NYC Roof gardens or "vertical gardens" (as some may call them) are truly indicative of small garden design.

This show garden is the rooftop workplace of the future. It makes use of vacant urban rooftop space to extend the office space outdoors. This garden designed by Patricia Fox challenges our perception of the workplace and offers inspirational garden ideas for small spaces. There are living wall herbs, topiary and a canopy (above a desktop computer screen projection) creating a contemporary rooftop terrace.

Silver, grey blues and greens provide the color palette for these roof garden plants. 

Throughout history gardens have been the setting for discussion and decision-making.

This garden celebrates this role with an outdoor space designed for contemplation and communication. Garden designer Wilmott+Whyte were inspired by the villas of the Italian Renaissance.  This outdoor room could be a perfect roof garden design, brooklyn brownstone garden design or manhattan townhouse garden design.  Even as a small backyard design for an urban setting this works beautifully..  Recycled italian stone, evergreen hedging, flowing water, raised planters and corner seating contribute to this elegant, quiet meeting place.

This garden made me fall in love with Geums. Various cultivars are in this garden: Geum 'Beech House Apricot', G. 'Hilltop Beacon, G.'Marmalade', G. Totally Tangerine. As a New York City garden designer the cultivar most available in local nurseries that match these, is Geum 'Mango Lassi'.  Got to love that name!.. who doesn't enjoy a good mango lassi?

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