Creative Small Courtyard Planting

The main element in a courtyard is that it is an enclosed space.




 
The degree of enclosure will vary, but in a small courtyard we can expect it to be quite marked. How can you choose plantings that help to dispel any tendency to claustrophobia? Here is a possible treatment for a city courtyard six feet wide by ten feet long.

• First emphasise the horizontal dimension, since the enclosing walls already strongly define the vertical. In such a tiny space, likely to have limited exposure to the sun because of the shading effect of the walls around it, avoid (as much as possible) dark tones and all clutter.
• Begin by defining a straight path of two foot width across the centre. Whether it is ten feet long or six feet long will depend on the orientation of the yard to the sun - aim for the best fit to a north-south orientation. The path needs to be paved in a lightly toned colour, with materials chosen according to budget.
• There are now two areas for development, each of twenty or twenty-four square feet (depending on the length of the path).
• Against the walls, on the perimeter of the courtyard, plant shrubs that will grow to an eventual height of no more than five feet.
• Plantings should also have due regard to drains and other services.
• Exact species will depend on the sun/shade mix they receive, but will include specimens such as chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa), golden leaf dogwood ( Cornus alba aurea), and burning bush (Euonymus). Look for shrubs that will provide autumn colour following summer flowering. Prune if necessary, to limit growth to the five-foot mark.
• Divide each of the two major areas into successive diamonds - a diamond with a distance of about one foot across its widest point, and sides perhaps eighteen inches long in the centre, then progressively larger diamonds moving towards the walls and the central path.
• Fill most of these diamonds with mass drifts of perennials and annuals - low growing pansies, violas, impatiens nearest to the path, taller salvia, asters and chrysanthemums next, and so on successively, ending with Japanese anenomes, hydrangeas and alstremerias along the back.
• In amongst these plants place spring flowering bulbs: gladiolus, freesia, ranunculus and the like.
• Aim to always have colour on display to draw the eye down, away from the enclosing walls, to give a sense of meadow space, but with an imposed order.

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