The Instant Garden

"I wanted to make something small but exquisite on a modest budget," explains fabric designer Michael Devine. "We had to use a lot of imagination, and I devoted myself to the details." Devine's vision would have to be packed into this less-than-fantastic space, a skinny plot just 25 feet wide by 120 feet deep. But the designer proceeded, undeterred, and his devotion paid off. Today the old yard is gone, a lush garden in its place. A tiny wood building — a prefabricated shed, customized with French doors and a roof that looks thatched — stands at one end of the space, where Devine and his partner, interior designer Thomas Burak, host friends for dinner on summer nights. At the opposite end sits a terrace where the couple drink their morning coffee and read the paper. These two spaces are linked by four raised, willow-trimmed beds filled with tidy rows of vegetables and flowers. The beds' jewel-box chic is enhanced by Devine's technique of "mirror planting," so that the spacing of the rows in the right- and left-side beds lines up across the grass path that runs between them.

Steal this idea: Two architectural mirrors create a trompe l'oeil window effect.

"The blossoms are small, cute, and just as delicious as the vegetables themselves. We like to fry the flowers up in a beer batter."

Don't be fooled by the beauty here: This garden works as hard as any farm. Growing vegetables organically, without pesticides, was a must for the designer, who harvests from late April (peas and greens, like lettuces, chard, and sorrel) into summer (tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers) and early fall (turnips and tubers).

"It's shocking how well these took off — they started from seed and shot up to be 30 inches tall. Salvia is easy to maintain and great for cutting. We'll scatter the seeds around the fence this year."

"We love to use these pink flowers in bouquets around the house; they're great on the bedside table. They remind Thomas of growing up upstate."

Michael Devine (foreground) and his partner, Thomas Burak, relax in their backyard garden.

"The seed package promised pale-yellow blossoms, but orange appeared instead. Still, I think they'll look marvelous cascading down from our flower boxes on the second floor."

"After a hailstorm destroyed our purple Brussels sprouts, we used these to fill in with deep-colored foliage. It was an ideal, quick emergency fix."

"We grow these because they say 'summer' to us — plus the flowers last a really long time."

Devine says he's learning to be a disciplined gardener, as strict with his plant choices as he was with the garden's layout. "In a space so limited, I can't afford plants that don't produce," he explains. After a little trial and error, he now plans to introduce more herbs. "Yes, these strawberries taste delicious — but they take forever to pick, and we planted only enough to yield about half a coffee cup of berries, which is barely enough to put in a bowl of cereal. So as much as we enjoyed them, they simply aren't worth the trouble."

"The petals look so delicate and airy, but they're actually quite sturdy, and very easy to grow."

"We chose this pea variety because it's so compact. We eat the vegetables raw, sprinkled on salads."

Devine draped the walls and table inside the shed with his own linen fabrics. The flea market chandelier is powered by good old-fashioned candlelight.

Prettier raised beds: Raised beds give gardeners greater control over soil makeup and condition, but they rarely look this fine. Devine's inspired trick: He faced his utilitarian, rot-resistant cedar frames with ornamental willow fencing (from $36 for a 4- by 8-foot sheet at mastergardenproducts.com) — the outdoor equivalent to icing a cake. Just be sure to stain the boxes before nailing on the fencing, advises Devine, so the not-so-lovely lumber won't peek through.

The ultimate outdoor retreat for less than $1,000! Follow Michael Devine's lead by turning a workaday storage shed into a gorgeous garden getaway. This 12- by 8-foot Heartland Stratford model from Lowe's costs $998 and arrives as a kit that includes a wood floor, a window, and prehung doors. Though the building doesn't require a foundation, it should be sited on level ground. For an extra $800, builders from Lowe's will install the shed for you.

(CL Deal — save $100: To get $100 off the installation price in May, bring the May 2009 issue of Country Living to the store when ordering.)