But the space I have, especially in back, is narrow and is divided into several compact, close areas with a lot of small elements, tight spaces and a busy mix of undersized plants.
Even my winding moss rock border between a mulched garden and a skinny pebbled strip next to a narrow walkway is made up of very small rocks. There is little visual weight anywhere.
All of my back courtyard is walled in by our garage wall, the stucco walls of neighbors' houses and garage wall, and further closed in by fences.
It's private, but totally surrounded by houses close in all around us.
Our patio sitting area is intimate and relaxing, but it, too, is walled in, surrounded in an alcove by three stucco walls of the house.
I get inspiration from seeing some neighbors' courtyards and the feeling they've achieved in their Santa Fe gardens.
Unlike Barbara's garden I have no grand view or wide expanse of stone and patio.
Unlike Joan's garden I have little flow and cohesiveness.
Unlike Andrea's garden I have no embracing enclosure or winding pathsUnlike Lucy's garden I have no open areas or large scale structures.
My back courtyard has no view or wide open space. Only the sky, which I don't want to block, even as I want more shade. My entire garden is walled in, my only view is what surrounds me.
Here's what I have that I want to focus on as more plants grow in and fill out:
The patio right off the living room sliders is nice and I love it. It actually feels better now that I added the umbrella there and rotating brown patio table chairs, so the space extends out beyond the vigas and fills the empty curved stone area.
Limiting the patio seating to just the glider and cushioned chairs tucked under the vigas felt cramped. Using the open space of stone out beyond the vigas makes it feel roomier. It's still a lot of small furniture in a 10 foot wide space but it's pulled together.
It flows nicely from the living room inside.
It now looks and functions as a defined outside room. We had two other couples over for coffee and it was tight, but cozy. Not cramped feeling, although it is small. Looking down the narrow back yard, the patio chairs and umbrella emerge from the sheltered alcove, no longer keeping the patio seating area tucked away unseen.
Then there is another small area -- the flat open deck, cantilevered a bit over the gravel, where I do like having only two bright red chairs and a table. It's a small deck, only 10 by 10 I think, and can't take seating for four or a big table, especially so near the patio seating area.
This works and the red is the one bold element in my garden. We do use it, Jim and I sit there together to have wine or on sunny mornings I have coffee there. But it's a small area, only enough for two people.
Beyond the deck is another small area, the curve of a "woodland" looking garden under the aspens, against a garage wall. It is lovely, coming in well, but like all my other spaces it is small and busy. The plants all have little leaves and delicate flowers, they are crowded together, and the moss rocks in the border are insignificant.
It's lovely now, but I want to edit it down when the redtwig dogwood shrubs (new this year) get full and when the boxwoods are bigger.
I'd like a quiet, more serene look in this little curve -- not so many small flowered, busy plants and hand-sized moss rocks. Something simpler, bolder and less close feeling.
Beyond this area is yet another distinct section of my garden - a step down to a very narrow strip where the potting bench is against a stucco wall. It's functional and I have a honeysuckle vine on the fence to draw the eye from afar, but it is again a tiny area filled with small things and enclosed by a wall.
I put the patio table and two chairs there and it's actually a nice shady place to sit.
It is lovely sitting just below the trees and looking back up the yard. But like everything in my back courtyard, it's a tiny space, and it's smack up against the fence.
At the opposite end of this lower level alley I have a sweet little garden outside the guest room window. There is a big pink rose, clematis under the arch it forms, and amsonias below. The Vanessa ironwood tree has become a beautiful big tree.
Again, this is a tight space surrounded by walls and fences, but the composition draws the eye toward it.
Looking back up the yard toward the garage wall, there is a separate small area I just created -- the birdbath garden. It runs from the garage wall to the patio seating area. It's brand new, everything is small, and the crabapple will need years to overtop and shade the middle of the back yard. When it does, it will tie areas together a bit.
This is a work in progress and will look much fuller and cohesive when it comes in and the trees grow up. The inner and outer planted circles around the birdbath are very, very close, though. Again, it's a small area, not big enough for the truncated circles I had to make.
We had two other couples over and as they admired this new garden with me we all had to stand lined up singly along the stone walkway, there was no room to group together. It felt awkwardly confined.
I had a table and four chairs there but it was so cramped and we rarely used it.
I like how the Turkish speedwell is spreading among the flagstones, and I added a beautiful little ironwood tree that will eventually get tall and narrow.
It's a great focal point seen from inside the living room sliders, even in winter, and it anchors this little square of open space.
It draws the eye from the fence -- a solid wall of green in summer and a brown mess all winter. The tree pulls the view forward.
It even gives a whiff of woodland composition in miniature.
It may never be much for shade on the patio, as it's so narrow, but it breaks up the horizontal, always my issue with the long back fence and neighbor's long house wall.
Without a view my garden has to rely on plants and structures for interest. Adding the colorful metal peacock on the corner of the deck was inspired. I love seeing it from the bedroom slider and it holds and catches interest in the middle of the long yard. And it's not a plant in a pot.
My back courtyard garden is small and completely walled in on all sides, reliant on interest from structures and plants close up in miniature. When the redbud and crabapple and the new ironwood mature, it will have a more sheltered and substantial look, but it will still be a walled garden.