Terraced Garden Ideas To Elevate Your Outdoor Space
If your terraced garden has multiple tiers, winding pathways, unusual nooks, or wasted space, it can be tricky to picture its potential.
A tiered garden, in reality, is an amazing foundation to design an incredible outdoor space. One major benefit to these gardens is the often ready-made structures and shaped areas that already exist.
Whether you are looking to maximise some wasted space in your garden or begin a complete overhaul, you can create a space you adore spending time in, all-year-round. Below, we look at 14 terraced garden ideas that can bring your space to life, and turn it into your favourite – and your friends – part of your home.
1. Install Decking for Structure and Beauty
3m x 6m Rectangular Pergola with 4 Drop Sides in Grey - £7,775
Create an eye-catching and elegant feature in your garden by installing rich, natural wood decking to raised levels. Decking is comfortable to sit on, extremely versatile, and can easily shape around stairs, garden beds, or awkward slopes.
Adding a luxury pergola to your decking gives you a sheltered space for dining, relaxing, or even for bringing out the yoga mat. By extending your functional space into your garden, your outside deck becomes so much more than somewhere to sit for two weeks of summer.
Explore the advantages of beautiful wooden decking with modern pergola ideas for a truly relaxing space that gives you shelter from the sun and lets you enjoy the hypnotic sounds of rain against the roof when the weather turns.
2. Create Different Zones in Your Garden
Riviera Luxury Outdoor Corner Group Set in Latte - £2,299
Terraced gardens can easily find themselves with neglected and unused areas. With predetermined levels and different ground surfaces like pavers and a lawn, it is often easy to not see past the first level.
By cramming every piece of furniture, garden equipment, and BBQ grill into the same cluttered area, any time you spend outside starts to feel the same. By treating your garden as a whole and creating different areas for outdoor dining, fireside evenings, growing a vegetable patch, and old-fashioned lounging, each area of your outdoor space provides a completely different feeling and experience.
3. Plan for the Long Haul with All Weather Fabric
Luna 8 Seat Outdoor Fabric Extending Dining Set in Grey - £3,299
Creating thoughtfully designed areas in your garden can dramatically alter the look of your space and change the way you spend time outdoors. By investing in garden furniture made with all weather fabric, you can enjoy your furniture at all times of the year. Easier to clean and extremely long lasting with more resistance to UV rays, fabric that is made to last in an outdoor environment allows you to enjoy your new garden design for years to come.
Looking for more inspiration? Take a look at our guide on garden furniture ideas for more.
4. Make Every Angle Equally Appealing
Luna 6 Seat Teak Firepit Bar Set in Grey - £3,339
PergoSTET 3m x 4m Rectangular Pergola with 3 Drop Sides and LED Lighting in Grey - £3,599
Using all areas of your garden to create outdoor spaces with variety, style, and function can open up a new world of outside time. As you craft each area of your garden, take a moment at different times of the day, to see how your design looks from each angle.
When your space looks and feels wonderful no matter which spot you choose, you are more likely to use all of the available space. Making use of structures like modern pergolas, ambient lighting, crackling fire pits, and outdoor kitchen options give you lots of opportunity to create eye-catching views wherever you look.
5. Create a Cosy Fire Pit at the Bottom of the Garden
Cosiloft 100 Black and Grey Fire Pit Table - £1,445
Introducing a fire or a fire pit table into your garden elevates your outdoor experience and extends the days you enjoy sitting outside. Designing a specific area for gathering around your fire pit with friends, or relaxing alone, helps you rediscover birdsong filled summer nights, and soul nourishing Christmas season evenings.
Surrounding your fire with comfortable, relaxing, all weather fabric covered chairs or daybeds lets you enjoy your fire nook without constantly moving furniture around. Fire pit ideas range from elegant dining sets, to wood burning traditional masonry options.
6. Using Existing Walls in your Garden Design
Many terraced gardens or houses are blessed with existing wall space, either from the back of the house itself, or bordering the garden. By using existing walls to design your garden space, you can add structures like mounted pergolas, install outdoor lighting, or mount wall heaters to bring extra comfort during colder weather.
By incorporating these design elements into existing walls, you can keep a clean, minimalist look to your garden while enjoying the benefits of shelter, heat and light. These clutter free options are perfect for lovers of more sleek design, or if you are working with a smaller space. Take a look at our guide for more warm winter garden ideas.
7. Mix Natural Materials
Monterrey 8 Seat Rope Rectangular Ceramic Firepit Dining Set in Grey - £3,399
Two tiered and multi-level gardens provide an amazing opportunity to incorporate elegant style elements. Sometimes we think about design concepts in more depth for the inside of our homes, but many of the same rules can apply to our outside spaces too.
By blending natural materials like sleek tile and rustic wood decking, we can create striking borders that separate areas, complement the space, and look beautiful. These details can make our garden space feel as put together as our homes’ interior.
8. Use Raised Flower Beds or Standing Pots
Quay 4 Seat Rectangular Bar Set In Linen - £1,249
If your terraced garden feels square, empty and bland, you can create shape and separation by adding raised flower beds or large, standing pots – both fantastic garden screening ideas. Lush colourful flowers and evergreen winter plants can brighten your space and create eye-catching areas on an otherwise bland area.
Friendly to our pollinating bees, planting boxes and raised beds can also cover areas that have unattractive surfaces or wouldn’t be suitable for dining furniture or a fire pit. When we approach our space with a new perspective we can find potential for all areas of our garden.
9. Enhance your Entire Garden with Lighting
Höfats SPIN 120 Hanging Fire in Silver
As many terraced gardens have large square or long rectangular shapes, simply adding a couple of lights to your patio, can be soften overlooked when designing the ambiance of a garden.
Adding lights and lanterns to the lower tiers of your terraced garden is a fantastic outdoor lighting idea and a great way to make an inviting space you want to spend time in. Cosy lights combined with the enticing flame of an outdoor fire pit dining set create a warm and welcoming space.
10. Fill Awkward Nooks with Interesting Shapes
Globo Siena Uno Seat Weatherproof in Verde Green - £722
Unusually shaped tiered gardens often create small or awkward spaces that you aren’t always sure what to do with. These uneven nooks can be brought to life with stylish and bold pieces of furniture. Introducing interesting shaped chairs with all weather fabric, or hanging chairs for a gentle sway, bring focus and purpose to an area that would otherwise look bland or messy.
Paired with a source of heat like a patio heater, your formerly odd garden spot transforms into a wonderful reading area or perfect space for quiet and solitude, even during colder autumn evenings.
11. Add a Pond, Pool or Water Feature
Monterrey 6 Seat Rope Firepit Teak Bar Set in Grey - £3,499
Adding water – either flowing or still – breaks up a space beautifully. Whether you have the space for a small pond, a water feature, or a pool in your terraced garden, adding this natural element provides an eye-catching and relaxing focal point.
The sight and the sound of water calm us, and in the case of a pond, provides a wonderful little spot for nature to blossom. Possible ideas include adding rope furniture, a fire pit bar set, or other garden seating options alongside your water, you can create your very own garden oasis. Watch the sun dance off the water's surface in the summer heat, and enjoy it’s gentle sounds with a hot cup of tea on a crisp, cold day.
12. Maximise Space with Portable Outdoor Heaters
Bromic Eclipse Smart-Heat™ Portable - £3,835
If you’re excited about expanding your outdoor living space into something that feels like your style, you may be bursting with terraced garden ideas. One of the major benefits to a multi-level garden is the ability to create different zones for different activities.
Portable outdoor heaters allow you to bring extra warmth in colder seasons to any area of your garden. Whether you are entertaining on the patio or enjoying some lounging time at the bottom of the garden, you don’t have to choose a permanent position for your heater, or forgo your favourite activities on colder days.
13. Use Evergreen Hedges as Walls
Lavenham 2 Seat Sofa Set in Linen - £2,399
Creating separation of space is often the key to optimising multi-level garden ideas. Using traditional brick walls, stone walls, or short fencing can help to create distinct areas. Using hedges, particularly evergreen ones, provide a natural path through your garden.
Friendly to the environment and a source of constant colour, hedges can also provide shelter from the wind on cooler days and encourage visits from bird life. Create areas that feel even more nurturing, when paired with the shelter of a garden parasol, the light of a lantern, or the warmth of a patio heater. Incorporating greenery, flowers, and other natural pieces into our space is vital for connecting with the natural world and feeling part of it.
14. Enhance Terraced Garden Space with Stone Walls
Honolulu Corner Set in Grey - £2,225
To give your terraced garden a truly timeless, farm style look, use a crafted, dry stone wall to structure your space.
Sturdy and beautiful, this old English style blends seamlessly with lawn, tile, decking, or pavers. Paired with all weather fabric furniture and a stylish LED lighted parasol, sheltered areas behind your farm style wall can be enjoyed at all times of day.
Stone walls can be very effective for gardens with curved edges and winding pathways. An ideal backdrop for a fire pit or BBQ, this traditional choice of wall is safe from fire hazards, water damage, and sun exposure. They have adorned the countryside for generations and will continue to stand long after many modern options have broken down.
Final thoughts
A terraced or multi-level garden is an incredible base to build your perfect outdoor space. With unique features such as pre-existing walls, stairs, and structures, this type of garden is a wonderful blank canvas. Picturing the potential for year round enjoyment of your outdoor space becomes clear when you look at your garden through different eyes and see the possibilities.
As experts in style, quality, and function, Harbour Lifestyle has you covered for terraced garden ideas, no matter what the size, shape, or ground material of your current space.
