Beginner Gardening: suggestions for narrow garden beds?, 1 by katboyd

katboyd wrote:
I live in Brooklyn, NY, and have a patio behind my brownstone apartment with planting beds bordering three sides – 13'x16’x13’. I’d love to brighten up this rather dismal looking space, perhaps with a mix of perennials and annuals.

Here’s my problem: The planting beds are very narrow – 19" deep on two sides that butt up against fencing and 17" deep on the third side that’s against an ivy-covered brick the wall. I don’t know how to design a space that narrow – how to group things for visual interest so it doesn’t just look like a long line of random plants on each side. When I read suggestions on how to design a border, the assumption is that the border is at least two or three feet deep, and that you can plant shorter plants in front and taller in back, etc. I’m not sure I have the space for that kind of design.

The two 19" sides get indirect sun most of the day, with some direct sun in spots. The 17" side gets 6 hours of direct sun in the summer months (late morning and afternoon).

Any suggestions for how to group plants in an interesting way in this space? Or, any ideas for something simple that would have lots of impact?