3 Overlooked Spaces Transformed Into Beautiful Garden Areas

Those with neat, airy spaces can easily create ideal gardens, but what about drafty side accesses or utilitarian stairways? These initially unattractive areas often become neglected, but with thought and careful plant selection, they become great garden assets. The key: decide what you need and be flexible. If space is too small for seating, it can still create an optimistic feeling leading to the house entrance or main garden.

Let's examine steps and stairways, passageways and side alleys, and difficult roof spaces transformed into gardens.

Doorsteps

The area between private and public space where no real front garden exists is often lost. It has utilitarian needs—safe access for deliveries, security—but we can claim it more constructively than a tired, stuck-in-a-rut look.

Concrete steps and walls could overpower the entrance, but clever planting softens the hardscape and creates a garden with its own style and atmosphere.

Planting alongside these steps is bold and architectural to balance the strong structural form—more than standard ground cover, it provides a real garden sense through flower and foliage choice.

Again, concrete steps and retaining wall could have been a lost area. The overhead walkway accesses the front door; steps lead to the lower level—making this the front garden. Planting now has dual viewing aspects: from the bridge walkway and from the steps.

Passageways and Side Alleys

Side alleys are often seen as mere access or storage for bikes and bins—the biggest challenge for gardeners. They can be too shady, very dry due to surrounding buildings, and cluttered with urban detritus. But for many city gardeners, this narrow walled space is all there is.

The solution is simplicity of design. Sett paving, corrugated fencing, and gray metal containers create unity brought alive by large specimen palms.

An almost instant solution: trough containers. They take little space but breathe life into sterile environments. Grasses create a maintenance-free scheme and bring movement via air currents.

For minimalists, this elegant solution addresses a long, potentially boring passageway. Repetitious bamboo in slate troughs interspersed with rusty metal panels. Wall color, flooring, and containers provide unity. Flush lighting between planters illuminates rusty panels for a great night feature.

Planting needn't be first. In this alleyway almost enclosed by a roof overhang, artworks are the main interest.

Side alleyways can create useful outdoor rooms. Wider side alleyways offer more scope for gardens with uses beyond decorative, though they share diminished light and dry soil problems.

This design draws the eye to a pergola-covered seating focal point, while lush evergreen planting intensifies the narrow space. Clean, simple design.

Focal points aren't just for bigger spaces. This formal traditional front garden (not strictly an alleyway) offers clues for evergreen planting in narrow areas. Topiary evergreens at different heights give structure; a bright deciduous tree provides a focal point at the brick pathway's end. In an alleyway, a focal point is essential—something for the eye to settle on.

Enclosed by tall fencing and overlooked by neighbors, this small space became a congenial spot for evening meals or quiet drinks. Whitewashed fir walls, sett paving with native moss joints, and colorful planting enliven the scheme.

Roof Spaces

A high balcony in central London enclosed by other buildings is challenging. Landscape designer Amir Schlezinger's solution: 21st-century topiary—a sculpture of evergreens next to a circular mirror pool.