In the heart of summer, London can radiate concrete and brick with every step. This is not just her imagination – it is the “Urban Heat Island” effect at work. Cities like London are significantly warmer than the surrounding rural areas, since hard surfaces absorb and store heat during the day and then slowly released them through the night.
Urban gardens are one of the most effective tools to withdraw against rising city temperatures. With thoughtful design, these green rooms improve far more than just the aesthetic-sie to regulate the heat, improve the air flow and bring up built-up environments.
We spoke to the landscape designer Georgia Lindsay based in London to uncover her top tricks to transform even the smallest garden into a cool, green retreat. Here are five ideas that you swear – demonstrably to hit the heat and make every urban square foot optimal.
1. Prioritize the shadow with multi -stage planting
Use leaves as a natural color for the landscape design of your garden.
(Photo credit: Natasha Nuttall Garden Design)
When it comes to cooling down an urban garden, Shadow is the first and most powerful tool to use. In London, where the room is often limited, landscape designers use the vertical stratification clever – starting with trees that provide an upper canopy of the terrace shadow. These trees let in the winter sun with a low angle, while they throw shadows and the perfect seasonal balance in summer.
Under these roofs, plant bushes with medium height and ornamental grass such as Miscanthus, Euphorbia or Pittosporum. “These not only offer structural interest, but also contribute to exciting the heat by a process referred to as transpiration – in which plants fill water vapor in the air and subtly lower the surrounding temperatures,” says Georgia. “This layer effect Ahmt Ahmt Natural Waldland and is the key to regulating a microclimate in tight city rooms.”
Climbing plants are often used to soften vertical walls and structures. Star jasmine or evergreen hinge can climb fences or pergolas and give more cooling green cover and at the same time improve privacy. When designing a small garden, every centimeter and the vertical planting maximize the space and the functional color, which makes the room particularly cooler.
Georgia is an award-winning landscape and garden designer with her passion for innovative, bold designs for outdoor areas in London and beyond.
Georgia's practice specializes in the design of imaginative spaces that combine a clever geometry with sensitive planting in order to create a coherent, yet functional space for your customers in order to relax and enjoy.
2. Exchange hard surfaces
Kies is a better hardcaping choice for reducing temperatures than the terrace.
(Credit: Future)
Urban gardens often suffer from an abundance of materials with heat that manage plates, concrete terraces, brick walls. These surfaces decrease warmth during the day and leave them out for a long time. To combat this, landscape designers are increasingly turning into permeable materials that reduce the surface temperature and at the same time improve water drainage and health of the plants.
“Gravel gardens and tone pavement with a spacer joints let water penetrate into the ground instead of packing or running. This not only reduces the ambient temperature of the garden, but also supports soil biology and root systems,” says Georgia.
The key is the balance: combine fixed surfaces for usability with enough softscape to compensate for the heat structure. These options not only cool down the room, but also reflect a more climate approach for the garden design.
3 .. Use water features to cool the air
The introduction of water into an urban garden can have a cooling effect.
(Credit: Georgia Lindsay)
Water features are an effective way to cool down the urban gardens. Through evaporation, water pulls heat from the surrounding air and creates a natural cooling effect that is particularly grumpy on hot days. Even a modest water feature such as a ceramic shell or a circulation water well from the Wayfair can significantly improve comfort.
Functionally, water features also attract birds and pollinators and bring wild animals and nature into the room. The gentle sound of running water can also mask the sound of the streets so much that a well -placed feature can even turn a small garden into a quiet oasis. The trick lies in scale and placement – too large and overwhelmed; Too small, and it loses its effect.
4. Color with a cool palette
Reflected in lighter colors instead of absorb heat.
(Photo credit: Rosanna Bosom Limited)
Color plays a surprisingly important role in the control of temperature perception – and the actual heat absorption – in a garden. Dark color absorbs more heat and radiate it back into the room, while lighter colors reflect sunlight and remain cooler. Landscape designers often choose pale, matt surfaces for walls, fences and even furniture to jump light and reduce the heat accumulation.
According to Georgia, white bricks, pale gray tones, cool green and soft blue are the best tones for reflection of heat. There is also a mental element to choose these colors because you can cause a feeling of freshness that is often connected to sea or alpine environments and causes the mind to feel cooler.
In tight gardens, in which there may only be limited, the visual lightness made by a cool color scheme makes a noticeable difference in how comfortable the room feels.
5. Plant selection
Plant selection is important in an urban garden.
(Photo credit: James Lee Design)
While it may seem contrary, heat -tolerant plants are essential to keep gardens cooler. Many of these species have developed clever paths to reflect on sunlight and keep moisture – characteristics that also make them excellent allies in urban design. Happy plants such as lavender with silver leaves, drought -tolerant salvias or aromatic herbs such as thyme and rosemary reflect light and do not require constant irrigation.
These plants are often grouped with others that lead moisture through the transpiration process. Ferns, hostas and hydrangeas that are planted in the shady areas of a garden contribute to the moisture content of the air and create a more balanced and more comfortable environment. Through the combination of plants in the Mediterranean style with locals or shadow -loving bushes, designers like Georgia create a climatic planting system that can handle warmth and at the same time cool the air.
Since the climate continues to change and the cities are becoming increasingly denser, intelligent garden design is no longer just aesthetics – it is about livelihood. These tricks offered by Georgia offer elegant and effective ways to exceed the heat. And in a city in which every cool breeze feels like a gift, they may be the smartest investments that an urban gardener can make.