Side Spaces: How to Create Colorful, Inviting Garden Spaces in Your Side Yard

How to Beautify Your Side Yard

What lurks in your side yard? Is it a space to hide eye sores, like trash and recycling containers? Do you collect bits and pieces of lumber for ongoing home improvement projects? Or is it simply a bland pathway, leading from the front yard to the back garden, with a privacy fence sheltering your property from neighbors’ prying eyes?

Whether you live in a brand-new urban home with a small yard, a pretty cottage on a mid-sized property, or a renovated 1800s farmhouse on acreage, side yards are notoriously neglected. After all, the front and back gardens are the stars of most homes: the front landscape focuses on curb appeal, making sure the gardens and plantings show off your home to its best advantage, while the back garden showcases your favorite flowers, homegrown foods, hobbies, and relaxation retreats. Most homeowners think of side yards as simply a way to get from point A- the front yard -to point B—the back, without considering the aesthetic appeal.

But as new-builds lots shrink, every square inch of garden should be carefully considered for its practical, as well as pretty, integration into the landscape. And even larger landscapes benefit when side yards blend seamlessly into the overall design of the garden.

So, instead of relegating side yards to drab, unsightly spaces, create an inviting secret nook that’s ideal for reading a book, a pretty, practical pathway that leads to the back garden, or a whimsical, flower-filled space surrounding a potting bench where you can cultivate plants with pleasure. Curious how to create a gorgeous side yard?

Take a look at our hints to get started.

Just as with any garden space, test your soil before planting to determine its pH, as well to check if the soil needs any amendments.

A soil test typically costs about the price of a cup of coffee and provides a detailed analysis of what nutrients might be missing to help you better prep before planting. Most local university extension offices provide soil tests.

How to Design an Attractive Side Yard Garden

A well-planned garden contains an array of plants that provide structure, texture, color, fragrance, and flowers. In a side yard garden, you’ll benefit from choosing your plantings carefully, because most side yards tend to be narrow, giving you a more intimate experience with the plants.

Brush by a fragrant lily, notice the crinkled patterns of hydrangea leaves, run your fingers through grassy plumes—a well-designed side yard can provide a more personal experience than large landscape installations.

Before you order your first plant or head to the nursery, spend some time evaluating your side yard.

Consider the space. Measure the area, but also look at the light at different times throughout the day—as well as throughout the year. Many side yards are dark and narrow due to fences or shadows thrown by the house. Determine the amount of sunlight the space receives to help you choose plants that will thrive.
Determine the function. How will you use the side yard? Do you intend to create a beautiful path between front and back gardens? Is there space for a sitting area or a chair tucked into a nook? Can you place a potting bench–or add an entire garden shed in a larger side yard?
Dream a bit. Flip through garden design books. Take a garden tour. Create a Pinterest board and fill it with your favorite side yard images. Let inspiration from other gardens help guide your design.
Create a plan. Draw a rough sketch of the side yard, adding in the elements you desire. Can you create garden beds, or is there space for containers? Will you add vertical plantings along fences, walls, or even a chimney? Place products you’d like to incorporate, like chairs or art, in the sketch, as well as outline pathways.
Watch the scale. Select plants and products that work within the space. Be careful not to overwhelm small areas with bulky furniture—or bulky plants.
Let your personality shine. While front gardens tend to complement the home’s exterior, side gardens can get away with a little more whimsy. Add your favorite sculpture. Display a bevy of bird houses. Create a riot of color. Or, if you prefer, tie in your side garden to continue the front garden’s task of complementing your home.

The goal is to prettify a previously neglected space, so choose what appeals to you.

If your side yard garden is extremely narrow, avoid planting thorny, prickly plants that may snag your clothes—or your skin—as you pass.

Choose Features to Make a Side Yard Garden Feel More Spacious

Creating a side yard garden mimics many of the same strategies and components used when designing any garden space. An attractive mix of structures, hardscapes, plants, and accessories creates visual appeal. And because many side yards are small and narrow, often vertical elements help create a feeling of spaciousness.

When designing a side yard garden, consider:

Gates and Arbors: Not only do gates lend privacy to garden spaces, both gates and arbors help define the spaces, creating a notable entry into the side yard from other points in the garden. The height of arbors or pergolas draws the eye upward, giving the side garden a feeling of spaciousness. Allowing glimpses into the front and back gardens from the side yard gives the illusion of a bigger space.
Pathways: The side garden is a pathway between destinations, so why not make that pathway pretty? Whether you use gravel, bricks, pavers, or stepping stones, installing a curved pathway or irregularly placed stepping stones makes the side garden feel less tunnel-like.
Accessories: Adding touches like a small bistro table, a statue, art, containers, a bench, or a water feature provides a focal point, allowing the eye to rest. Be careful not to place too many accessories in a small side garden, though. Accessories should make the space feel interesting and spacious, not cluttered. Consider the scale of the pieces you choose to complement the size of the space.
Lighting: Pathway lights, uplighting, spotlights, string lights. Not only does lighting add ambiance to side gardens, but it also provides an element of safety when strolling along the side garden at night. (Just remember to turn off the lights during peak bird migration seasons.)
So many plants, so little space. When choosing plants for your side garden, keep in mind the scale of the space. Small, urban side yards require compact plants that won’t overwhelm the space—or whack you in the face as you walk along the path. Plants for larger side yards still need careful selection to ensure that they’ll thrive.

It’s OK to have only a single garden bed on one side of a wide walkway in a side yard garden. It’s better to design a wider walkway than include too many garden beds that make navigating a side yard difficult.

How to Choose Plants for a Side Yard Garden

As with any garden, spend some time analyzing your side yard garden space before selecting plants.

Factors to consider include:

Light. Many side yards tend to be dark and narrow, a small space crammed between a privacy fence and the exterior wall of a house. Plants that thrive in deep shade should comprise your shopping list for a dark side yard. Other side yards may be hot and sunny, with light reflecting off hardscapes. Choose tough, drought-tolerant, sun-loving plants for these spaces.
Soil. Is the soil rich and well-draining, or is it rock-hard, compacted red clay? Before you dig your first hole, assess the soil to determine its composition. A soil test is always a great idea to determine the soil’s pH and whether you need amendments. Choose plants with cultural requirements that match your soil’s composition.
Drainage. If deep shade is the reality of your side yard, the soil may tend to stay wetter longer—which is not great for plants that dislike wet feet. Check the soil and add amendments if needed—sand, gravel, compost—to help improve drainage.
Containers. Decorative containers add flair to the side garden and provide an easy way to control soil quality. Plus, containers allow you to easily change plantings throughout the seasons. However, make sure to select containers on scale with the space. Large containers overwhelm small side gardens.
Space. For truly space-challenged side gardens, focus on softening walkway edges. Add ground cover plants to create visual interest without overwhelming the space. Larger side gardens can support more plants—even shrubs and trees, when designed well. Limbing up trees allows the space to feel more open, drawing the eye upward.
Vertical Elements. Small spaces benefit by growing up: vines on an arbor, vertical planters on walls, window boxes on the house, espaliered trees against a fence. If you think you don’t have room in your side garden, always look up—the possibilities are endless.

Side Yard Garden Plants for Full Sun

Annuals

Calibrachoa LIA™ Abstract Lemon Cherry

Meet the LIA™ series’ stunning new addition! Its golden-yellow blooms with a bold cherry-red splash create an irresistible display. This 2025 People’s Choice Green Thumb Award Winner features a controlled, semi-trailing habit, perfect for hanging baskets and windowboxes.

Cosmos Sea Shells Red

Introducing a 2025 Professional’s Choice Green Thumb Award Winner! This unique flower features charming, tubular, seashell-like petals in soft pinks and whites, perfect for adding romantic flair to beds and arrangements. Enjoy its beauty indoors too, with a long vase life of 7-10 days.

Kinglet Calendula

Easy to grow and so rewarding, the new Kinglet Calendula boasts a vibrant topknot of crested petals in lemon, apricot, and mandarin. Just sow directly in your garden in early to mid-spring. It’s perfect for filling vases or sprinkling colorful petals on salads!

Perennials

Buddleja Little Rockstars Red is part of a new compact series of Buddleja.

Little Rockstars Red Butterfly Bush

Discover this new compact buddleia series! This 2025 People’s Choice Green Thumb Award Winner offers beautiful, large, cone-shaped inflorescences. This new series is perfect for small pots, providing a complete color assortment and all-season flowering.

Cinderella Swamp Milkweed

Vanilla-scented, deep pink petals with white centers bloom in two-inch clusters. This compact swamp milkweed, ‘Cinderella’, thrives in sunny, moist spots. It’s a vital host plant for monarchs, supporting both caterpillars and adult butterflies.

Sombrero® Mandarin Mambo Coneflower

This new coneflower boasts a bright orange hue that mellows to a lovely peach. With sturdy, well-branched stems, it offers next-level flower coverage, overwinters well for years of enjoyment, and is drought-resistant. Plus, its seed heads feed songbirds!.

Vines

Mandevilla Sun Parasol Giant Peach Sunrise Green Thumb National Garden Bureau

Sun Parasol® Giant Peach Sunrise Mandevilla

This stunning annual vine boasts multi-tonal peach blooms up to five inches wide, accented by darker throats. It’s a classic climbing mandevilla, perfect for containers, and a heat-tolerant and disease-resistant beauty for your garden.

Grefve Erik Ruuth Reblooming Clematis

This perennial offers large, creamy white, double blooms from late spring into early summer, brightening any garden. Growing 6-8 feet tall, its long-lasting flowers attract pollinators. Train this beauty on an arch, fence, or obelisk.

Passion Flower Vine

Bring exotic beauty to your garden with this vining perennial, reaching over 15 feet tall. It produces large, pale blue, four-inch blossoms, followed by edible, egg-shaped, orange Passion Flower fruit.

Groundcovers

Creeping Thyme

This low-maintenance perennial groundcover offers a citrusy scent and beautiful summer blooms. Perfect for pathways or the front of your side yard garden borders, it adds charm and fragrance with ease.

Amazing Grace Creeping Phlox

Welcome spring with white blooms featuring a vibrant magenta eye, often flushed with pink highlights. This plant forms a dense, needle-like evergreen groundcover, perfect for cascading over walls or lining pathways, and attracts butterflies.

Huntington Carpet Rosemary

This waterwise evergreen forms a beautiful carpet of deep blue flowers on needle-like foliage. It’s perfect for cascading from walls, controlling erosion, and its aromatic leaves add fragrance and culinary flavor.

Shrubs

Let’s Dance Sky View® Hydrangea

This new plant consistently blooms year after year, from Michigan to Florida, and is incredibly easy to turn blue. Its compact habit makes it perfect for containers or side yards.

Sonic Bloom® Punch Weigela

This brilliant, compact weigela offers incredible, vibrant punch-pink blooms that smother the plant in spring, then return through summer and fall. Its handsome, bronze foliage provides excellent contrast!

Carsten’s Wintergold Mugo Pine

This dwarf gold pine offers year-round appeal. Its dense, evergreen needles are green in warmer months, transforming into a rich gold with cold weather, creating a bold statement, especially in colder climates.