i toooootally agree on the lovely, but most of these don't look very small to me.

Thank you for posting! we are in the middle of doing our dead Brooklyn backyard, and there is a lot of inspiration here, I can't wait to bring it back to life this week.

The sitting area in two of the gardens seem to be on top of a base of gravel or small pebble rock. I like the look, but I'm wondering how practical it is. I would be concerned about tracking the gravel or rock into the house and scratching up the hardwood floors. Does anyone have actual experience with this type of patio?

Anyone have experience adding a tiny plot of grass to what anapanda called a "dead Brooklyn backyard"? We're looking to move to a new Brooklyn apartment that has a tiny concrete outdoor space, long neglected, and for both humans and dog, we'd so love to be able to plant some grass. The dog misses her beautiful California garden, and dearly needs a soft spot to daydream. Would have to get landlord permission, but don't want to pose the idea if it's really complicated to plant on top of concrete. Planters are fine, but don't really solve the comfort problem for the pooch, so any suggestions would be most welcome. If grass won't work, any suggestions about adding an um...drainage friendly place for the dog to do her business? We're conscientious about picking up after her promptly, but she's old and being able to open the sliding doors and let her out would be such a relief.

Beautiful!

I love the last one

#2 has to be faux turf, there's no way a lawn will grow between buildings like that. I have the same size space behind a townhouse, nice to have in the city, and eventually you get used to being a source of entertainment for those in the windows above you.

More of this!

@david: In my experience the gravel/pea gravel/small rocks used for yards like this don't get tracked in unless you have huge lug soles on your shoes. The trick is to pick a larger size of gravel and it'll stay put quite nicely and not get stuck in most normal shoe soles and then make a habit of checking your shoe bottoms before entering the house.

i agree that #2 looks like astro turf.

@david, i would also add that the stone area needs to be confined by stone or something so that the stones don't get tracked around. better yet if you step down into the area. ideally you want gravel/stone that is all one size, so no smaller stones or stone dust. rounded stones are always nice, but more expensive than crushed stone.

(stone confined by stone.. i mean the gravel/stone area confined by flagstone, curbing, etc..)

The first one is very trendy but doesn't really fit my idea of a London garden. Even in a posh neighbourhood I think your garden should compliment the outside style of your home.

Grass will grow in dirt on top of concrete. The thing to keep in mind is that the roots will only be as deep as the the dirt is deep. If it is shallow you will need to water often. If the dirt is deep you will be able to water less often.

Thanks for inspiring me!

Thanks for featuring two examples of our work, we're really excited to find our garden designs among such great gardens.