Compact gardens are naturally intimate and cozy. Arriving at a heritage townhouse on beautiful Georgia Street in the east side of Vancouver, The Garden Guru was immediately inspired to transform it into a peaceful retreat.

It was a classic location for a water feature as the house’s kitchen and livingroom windows view the garden at all times. When using water features, The Garden Guru’s design maximizes the joy even when indoors. The client’s wish was to enjoy light gardening as well as to have family dinners and a relaxing place to chill and become rejuvenated.

With small patios, less is more. The Garden Guru used a bubbling ceramic urn and complimentary paving materials to define the dining space. She combined this with natural river rock in a variety of sizes and mixed ground covers such as Irish Moss Trailing Thyme and Corsican Mint to create a magical feel of relaxing sound, fresh fragrance and a great space to relax.

Elevations were created by placing clusters of mixed size neutral colours planters with bold colour shrubs, herbs and topiary in strategic locations to create depth and to allow for ease of refresh by changing the annuals seasonally.

The urn was placed under the Bloodgood Japanese Maple filled with Hostas, ferns, bulbs and seasonal flowers to give lushness and to be the focal point of the garden.