From Gray to Green: 3 Successful Garden Makeovers

If you've just moved, your yard is often not quite the way you'd like it to be. Many gardens in our country are heavily paved, so there’s a good chance your new garden has mostly tiles. Usually, the house takes priority, which means it can sometimes take quite a while before your garden finally becomes a pleasant, green space—exactly the way you’d like it to be.

Renovating an existing garden is quite a task. It will take quite a few hours of work to turn it into your little paradise. In our own Facebook group for small gardens, we regularly see fun projects and makeovers pop up. Here are 3 garden makeovers where the garden owners have done their best to make their new gardens much greener.

Jennyfer's Patio Garden (48 m²)

From a minimalist (and bare) patio garden behind a former neighborhood store to a modern patio garden with green borders and plants in large pots.

Jennyfer first placed her plants in pots to see where she wanted them and where they would thrive in her new garden. She really wanted more greenery, because the walls felt very overwhelming to her. This turned out to be quite a challenge, because several doors open onto the patio, so the passageway had to be kept clear.

The following year began with removing tiles to create a long, raised flower bed against the 4-meter-high wall. This turned out to be a very difficult job, because there was a very thick layer of concrete underneath the tiles. Because the space had previously been used as a neighborhood store, concrete had been poured to create a sturdy foundation for the milk cart and, later, a small truck. It turned out that as much as 40 cm of concrete had been poured!

The garage was then converted into a lovely garden room. They now love spending time there, and you can even enjoy the sun in the evening.

Despite its northwest-facing location, it’s a fairly sunny garden and can get quite warm there. A large umbrella provides protection from the sun, but a shade cloth was also recently installed.

In just a few years, the garden has transformed from a dull, gray patio into a much greener space. The plants have had some time to grow nicely. Birds, butterflies, dragonflies, and bees now frequent the garden as well.

Perhaps in the near future we'll be able to let plants grow over the pergola as well, making the garden even greener.

Loes' Green Plant Paradise (37 m²)

In about four years, Loes has transformed a dull and almost completely barren garden with a garden shed into a green paradise, full of plants and flowers, bees and butterflies, and even a hedgehog. She has made clever use of the materials that were already there. Yet you can hardly recognize the garden anymore!

The garden as she found it…

The green paradise that Loes managed to create in just four years, full of blooming plants! Isn't it much nicer to sit there?

Grada's Backyard (54 m²)

We regularly see beautiful photos of Grada’s flowers and plants shared in our group. In two years, she and her husband Klaas have transformed their garden from an overgrown patch of land into a beautiful, colorful garden full of gorgeous flowers.

As much material as possible was reused. The dilapidated fence that was there was turned into a small fence to surround the garden. All the tiles and stones were reused, and Klaas built an insect hotel out of scrap wood. Even bamboo from the neighbor was used: it was turned into plant supports, the pyramid for snow peas, and a small rack for the zinnias.

Here's a glimpse of how the work began and what the garden looked like back then. It turned out to be quite a challenge to get the neglected garden back in shape.

Although Klaas had no previous experience building a shed, he built it entirely on his own.

The flower beds feature a natural, informal planting style, with plenty of space for plants that self-seed easily. The 9-by-6-meter garden also features a mini vegetable garden and a cozy patio for sitting. The bamboo trellis spans a curved section where Grada has sown zinnias and is intended to keep cats away. The garden overlooks the public green space, making it appear much larger than it actually is.

Grada’s vision is a lush flower and vegetable garden, full of variety and vibrant color. The natural look—as if everything is growing entirely on its own—is the starting point (she calls this “ordered chaos”). It can take a few years to achieve this look. But even until then, the garden is a delight to enjoy.

Two years have passed since then, and a lot has been accomplished: what a difference! It’s also a learning process for Grada, because she used to garden exclusively in clay soil. Now she’s working with sandy soil, which requires a completely different approach to gardening and means she has to figure out all over again which plants thrive here (and which ones don’t). It’s fun and fascinating… but sometimes also quite exhausting. Fortunately, both Grada and Klaas really enjoy gardening.