Need ideas for a very small front garden please

My front garden faces south west and measures about 2m x 4m. It is just a patch outside a victorian terrace house - a low wall is at the front, it is raised up about a foot and there is a patch of concrete in front of the house so the soil does not go all the way up.

I have spent today ripping out the ivy that was suffocating bulbs that are underneath. There are a few plants already in there, a yucca that has huge spiky flowers, a sedum, a cottoneaster (that I don't like) and a couple of other non descript shrub things.

It is noisy around here and it would be great to have a tree, is that possible in such little space without loosing light? Could I have a magnolia maybe? I like things that smell good!

I need a new ground cover plan as well as the ivy just took over, any ideas appreciated.

Many thanks
Lisa

 

put tons of bulbs in to take you through winter and spring and then sow hardy annual meadow mix in april...not to everyones taste, certanly not a formal garden, but it will be humming with wildlife and bursting with colour.

 

You could go for the large pots idea - a small growing conifer in a pot, or even a couple, would give you a dense shield. You could then have pots getting smaller with different things in. You could even do a gravel base to make it easy upkeep. I know conifers get a bad name, but some are very pretty as a backdrop, and won't get out of hand in a pot.

May be totally not your thing, but just an idea.

 

I'd go with VP's gravel - laydown membrane first. Then pots. You can grow Acers in pots and it gives an instant height advantage.. Their are some lovely acers.

I wouldn't plant trees that close to the house.

 

Definitely agree with Acers - they are beautiful. A mix of different things in pots will enable things to make the best of each other. Different heights, textures etc. I think that's the key.

 

Magnolias can grow fast, depending what variety you get, therefore blocking out light into the house.

We have a similar sort of space as our front garden (the rest, sadly is paved for parking the car) and we went for low maintenance a few years ago - coloured gravel and Cordylines planted straight into the ground. I wihs we had put a membrane down first however as the gravel is now mixing into the (hard, clay) soil and is a pain to do anything else with. So the advice of the others to put down a membrane first is a good idea!

You could also go for the semi-formal look - lavender or box hedging in a mini parterre.

 

If you can afford it, the ball-headed trees/shrubs in pots. eg variegated or normal holly, bay

 

Right next to our library there is a house with a front garden approximately as tiny as yours. The owners haven't let the size bother them, they have a 3m tall star Magnolia in the corner AND a Formal Pond with a cherub fountain in the middle. Seasonal colour is provided with containers. Last summer they planted mini box edging to the narrow path and are clipping them to ball shape. I'm impressed, regadless the size they have created something unique.
(And I thought it's only Men who think the size doesn't matter... )