Make small gardens look bigger with gardening expert Danny Clarke's genius trick

All you need is a tin of paint

The last thing you want is to feel pressed for space when you relax in your garden. However, with a splash of paint, you can make your garden feel more spacious with Danny Clarke's small garden trick.

Related: Avoid overwatering during the heatwave with gardening expert Danny Clarke's simple watering tip

Danny Clarke, also known as The Black Gardener, has made a career for himself transforming gardens into incredible spaces on the BBC show The Instant Gardener and ITV's This Morning. When it comes to making the most of a small garden on a budget, there isn't much he doesn't know.

Speaking to Ideal Home on behalf of Homebase's Great British Green-Up Campaign, the gardening guru shared his top to make a small garden look bigger. 

Danny Clarke's small garden trick

danny clarkes small in garden

(Image credit: Homebase / Danny Clarke)

'A good trick if you want to make your space seem bigger than it is, is to try and reflect what's going on inside the property on the outside,' explains Danny. 

'So if you had a red wall inside your property by the bifold doors, extend that perhaps to the fence or to the shed. That will lead the eye through and make space seem bigger than it actually is. Just a little bit of trickery really,' he says.

bifold blue door with plants

(Image credit: Future PLC/David Giles)

'Or pick another item in the house, it can even be the curtains,' he explains. 'You could have red curtains, so pick up on that colour, maybe on the shed or on the fencing.'

You are continuing the colour scheme from inside to the outside. You can do this with the colour of flooring, fence or even the plants. 

'If you have an indoor plant that's red or blue, extend that colour into the planting scheme in the garden,' adds Danny. 

small garden with wooden table and flower with vase

(Image credit: Future PLC/Colin Poole)

Danny Clarke is a big fan of adding a splash of colour to a garden, especially with paint. 

'For very little money paint can make such a difference to your space,' says Danny. 'You can paint your shed, you can even paint a tired old concrete patio.'

'Homebase supply many varied sorts of paints. I often go there and do my shopping. They supply a fantastic range of paint that are multi-purpose. You can put onto your fence, patios or walls.'

Related: TV gardener Danny Clarke explains the most common mistake in small gardens and how to fix it

Have you been inspired to get painting in your garden?

Rebecca Knight
Deputy Editor, Digital

Rebecca Knight has been the Deputy Editor on the Ideal Home Website since 2022. She graduated with a Masters degree in magazine journalism from City, University of London in 2018, before starting her journalism career as a staff writer on women's weekly magazines. She fell into the world of homes and interiors after joining the Ideal Home website team in 2019 as a Digital Writer. In 2020 she moved into position of Homes News Editor working across Homes & Gardens, LivingEtc, Real Homes, Gardeningetc and Ideal Home covering everything from the latest viral cleaning hack to the next big interior trend.