8 of the Smallest, Cutest Gardens and Outdoor Spaces

You don’t need an inexhaustible amount of acreage to achieve the home garden you’ve always dreamed of. Limited as their square footage may be, compact outdoor areas can be every bit as aesthetically pleasing as their sprawling counterparts. They also benefit from a creative use of space. After all, they can sprout up anywhere—on a stoop, in a narrow passage between buildings, in a seemingly nonexistent backyard—and often employ an unexpected use of materials and plantings. The trick is to impart lushness with an abundance of flowering blooms and a thicket of greenery. Here, we round up eight small gardens, from a minimalist rooftop gathering spot to a verdant alley, to admire—or inspire—your next outdoor project. They certainly prove that what petite plots lack in size they can more than make up for in style.

Renowned architectural landscape firm Reed Hilderbrand created this serene patio garden, which is bordered by a privacy wall of greenery. Stone architecture delineates a casual eating area.

For this 180-square-foot New York pied-à-terre, Jacqueline and Damien Harrison gave the homeowner a streamlined space where, according to them, “flexibility was key.” Built-in seating allows for small and larger groups, and low-maintenance shrubs add color to a minimalist material palette.

Elisa Baier of San Francisco’s Small Spot Gardens was the creative force behind this diminutive plot, a multi-functional entertaining space for a young couple. The shed doubles as an office, while the grounds are filled with abundant citrus trees, drought-tolerant California natives, and grasses, as well as two vegetable beds.

Durable fiberglass planters disappear against the lush blooms on this New York terrace by Dennis Walker of Urban Green . Boxwood and dwarf evergreens mix with perennials, such as lavender and sage, as well as flowering annuals and tropical plants, including lantana, bougainvillea, petunia, and African daisies.

Minimalism is the reigning aesthetic in this meticulous outdoor space, designed by Hendy Curzon Designs Limited in Oxfordshire, England. Sculptural potted shrubbery provides textural contrast to the sleek lines of the garden’s stone tile, paneled wood, and neatly manicured grass area.

Just outside her 362-square-foot canal house in Venice, California, creative director Whitney Leigh Morris created what she calls a “peaceful sanctuary” on her back patio. The nine-foot-wide space serves as an extension to the baby nursery she built out of her closet, thanks to a rocking chair, lanterns, and outdoor rugs.

For a city residence in Providence, Rhode Island, New England landscape designer Andrew Grossman anchored a casual dining area with a pea-gravel patio and surrounded it with stately boxwood hedges, hydrangeas, roses, and perennials to achieve the feel of a secret garden.

A stone wall covered in climbing ivy boughs forms a classical backdrop for a petite seating nook, also by Hendy Curzon Designs Limited , in Oxfordshire, England. The brilliant-blue door and an ornate metal settee add contrast to the monochromatic palette of evergreen foliage.