Name: Kelly D.
Location: Seattle, Washington
Size: 210 square feet
Your Favorite Thing About Your Outdoor Space: I forget that I am in the middle of the city in my tiny slice of green.
Biggest Design Challenge With This Space: To make a 7' x 30' alley not look like a bowling alley and utilize native Northwest plants that would thrive in the tiny slice of light that this narrow Seattle garden receives.
Tips for Creating a Great Small Outdoor Space: 1) Look to big gardens for inspiration - Great ideas can be scaled down and have the same big impact, and 2) Take advantage of the structural constraints of your space - Make them your backdrop, not your limitation, and 3) Small outdoor spaces usually come with small homes - Make your outdoor space another room to expand your living space.
Thanks, Kelly, and good luck!
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I love you bestest!
LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! really, my favorite!
Great use of groundcovers and minimizing the view of the rain barrel. What's the steel trough next to the rain barrel? Overflow? Constructed wetland?
He should be calling it his "tiny slice of grey"
To Rana, embryoconcepts (I am a former Embryologist) and Sweet Tea: Feeling the love, thank you for your kind comments. The Steel trough next to the rain barrel is a 2' x 6' stock tank that I use for my garden bed. Lettuce, cucumbers, and bushels of herbs! Such a tiny area produces an abundance of food that I can barely keep up with. The rain barrel feeds directly into the garden bed for maximum functionality. To "herms", until you live in Seattle for 44 years you do not have the authority to use the term "grey" out of context and Kelly D is a she . . .
So happy to see a stock tank-rain barrel duo, and great use of the galvanized bucket for the hose!! What do you use to irrigate from the rain barrel?
We were hoping for a gravity fed soaker hose but there was not enough pressure in the rain barrel. After hand watering with a can for 3 months we opted for a submersible pump in the rain barrel attached to a standard garden hose.
Great idea, thanks!!
Missed the voting on this, but love this cool, shady space between two building -- a place usually ignored.