Today’s photos are from Vince in Sussex, United Kingdom.
Just before COVID, I started the Instagram account @small_magical_gardens.
The account has always been a hobby and faceless, as it’s about gardens and not me. It is not for personal gain. Drawing on my previous horticultural experience, I have a passion for sharing practical, realistically attainable ideas for smaller spaces.
I started the account initially as a bit of a journey following our move to the country. We purchased a tiny neglected Victorian cottage in a small Sussex village on the banks of the river Rother. Life now includes beekeeping and campanology in the little church next door. COVID was really the time when the garden revamp took place after house renovations had taken their toll on the previously neglected garden.
Here are some shots from our small garden.
This view of part of the garden space shows that even a narrow area can be full of flowers and romance.
A climbing rose (Rosa hybrid, Zones 6–9) and clematis (Clematis, large-flowered hybrid group, Zones 4–10) grow together backed up by the colorful foliage of a kiwi vine (Actinidia kolomikta, Zones 4–8).
One key way to make the most of a small space is to grow up. Climbing roses turn walls into additional garden space.
An ornamental onion (Allium hybrid, Zones 4–9) stands in the foreground of a beautiful garden scene.
Even a small garden still needs a space to sit and enjoy the beauty.
What a beautiful way to add color and interest—a small structure with a variety of potted plants growing on the shelves, with petunias (Petunia hybrid, annual) providing lots of flowers.
Every surface and edge of the path is a spot to put a plant to make the most of the garden space.
A developing gourd (Cucurbita pepo, annual) is surrounded by a cloud of clematis.
Airy tall verbena (Verbena bonariensis, Zones 7–10 or as annual)
The front of the cottage—with an unusual sight in an English village: Buddhist monks from the nearby Chithurst monastery.
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