The more I garden the more I appreciate adorning small spaces. In small gardens, especially courtyard gardens, attention to detail is the focus. Larger gardens can get away with the soft-focus approach but when you rein in the size every choice becomes important.

The aim of courtyard landscaping is to produce a vista that makes the area appear larger and deeper than it actually is. It encourages the visitor to not only see the overall picture but to focus in on the detail.

The beauty of creating a small garden is that you have a very defined boundary that won't settle for a lack of forethought. Each decision needs to be measured and the problems associated with courtyard gardens are much greater than with larger sized plantings.

Here are some things to consider when landscaping your courtyard;

1. Accessibility - How are people going to move around your courtyard? There are two options to consider. The first is shall I make a platform for visitors to peruse the courtyard without having to physically move through it? This may be a good option if you want to have more plants, features etc rather than pathways.

The second choice is allowing people to move through the courtyard thereby gaining more points from which to observe and explore.

2. Shade - Many small courtyard landscapes suffer from poor light. Towering walls and roof structures keep the sunlight from entering your garden and stifle many choices of plantings. Some may see this as a benefit and further accentuate the shade by growing large trees or erecting overhead trellises.

Obviously dealing with shade creates other problems too such as moisture retention, a safe haven for snails and slugs, and an ideal microclimate for fungi to abound.

3. Height - Small gardens suffer from height problems because you don't have the room to grow large plants so the best way to counteract this is by growing many plants in containers. Container plants add multiple dimensions to a courtyard landscape by introducing more colour, shape, width and height and complement the style in which you've chosen to forge.

4. Maintenance - While access for visitors is a decision that needs to be catered for access for maintenance is also another consideration. Many small gardens that I have seen appear to agree with the set-and-forget principle - once the plants are added they should be able to look after themselves.

This is fine if you're happy with a roguish garden bed that lusts after more and more space but when it comes to maintaining your courtyard garden it become a sheer nightmare. Access into the garden seems harder than fighting your way through a Vietnamese jungle.

5. Purpose - What is the purpose of your courtyard landscape? Is it just for the garden or do you plan to entertain guests within it? Determing your small gardens purpose will define how you design it.

An entertaining courtyard may contain a barbeque, chiminea or outside pizza oven. It would most likely host a deck of some variety where people could mingle or even dance, if so desired. And it would most likely have some landscaped lighting.