Begin with the light and the wind

Before you buy a single pot, spend a week noticing what your corner actually does. A paved nook that faces east will catch soft sun until late morning, which is exactly what you want for a first cup of tea. One that faces north may stay cool and shaded all day — pleasant in a heatwave, gloomy in February. Watch, too, for the wind. Courtyards and gaps between buildings funnel breezes into surprisingly sharp draughts, and a spot that feels calm in July can be brutal by November.

Sit in the space at the time you intend to use it. Take a mug out at seven o'clock, on a weekday, in whatever you normally wear in the garden. You will quickly learn whether you need shelter behind you, shade above you, or simply a surface at the right height for a teapot. Design follows from that small experiment far more reliably than from any plan drawn indoors.

Choose pots that earn their space

In a small courtyard, every container is doing several jobs at once: holding a plant, creating height, screening a view, and softening the hard lines of paving. That means fewer, better pots rather than a scatter of small ones. As a rule, go bigger than you think. A container of 40–50cm across holds enough compost — roughly 30–40 litres — to keep a shrub or a small climber happy through a dry fortnight, whereas a 20cm pot will need watering twice a day in summer.

• Frost-proof terracotta for a warm, traditional look, though it is heavy and dries out quickly.
• Glazed ceramic in a soft grey-green or oatmeal, which reflects light gently and suits almost any planting.
• Lightweight composite where you need to move pots about, or where a roof terrace limits the weight you can load onto the surface.
• Square pots if floor space is tight — they fit together neatly and waste fewer corners.

Always check drainage. Raise pots on small feet so water escapes freely, and use saucers only where staining on the paving would be a problem. If the courtyard is enclosed on three sides, rainwater may barely reach the centre, so a watering can kept nearby saves endless trips.

Clothe the walls with climbers

Bare walls make a space feel colder and echo more. A climber or two will muffle sound, block an unlovely fence, and give you something to look at while the kettle boils. Fix horizontal wires or a slim wooden trellis to the wall, keeping it 5cm clear of the surface so air can move behind the foliage.

For scent in the evening, star jasmine is hard to beat, though it wants a sheltered, sunny wall and protection from hard frost. Common jasmine is more forgiving and flowers generously through summer. Honeysuckle suits a north or east aspect and will scent the whole corner after rain. Where winters are cold and the wall is shaded, winter-flowering clematis gives you small, nodding blooms in the darkest weeks. Keep climbers tied in loosely rather than tightly, and trim them after flowering so they do not swallow the light you designed the space to catch.

Get the bench and the table right

A bench is more sociable than a single chair and takes up less room than two. Look for a seat height of roughly 43–46cm, which lets you sit with your feet flat and your back supported; anything lower becomes uncomfortable after twenty minutes. A gentle backrest and a slight curve to the seat make more difference than expensive timber. Teak, oak and acacia all weather well in a British climate, and a cushion stored in a dry box will extend the season by months.

Add a small side table at about 60cm high — the correct height for reaching a mug without stretching — or fix a narrow shelf to the wall instead, keeping the floor clear. If the corner is tight, a folding table mounted on the wall folds flat when not in use.

Layer in scent, sound and winter interest

Quiet mornings are made as much by the senses as by the view. Scent carries best in still, damp air, so place fragrant plants close to where you sit rather than at the far end of the courtyard.

• Sarcococca or winter honeysuckle for scent in January and February.
• Lavender, rosemary and thyme in a sunny pot, brushed as you pass.
• Hellebores and snowdrops at ground level for flowers when little else offers colour.
• A small water dish or shallow bowl to catch birdsong and reflect light.
• Ornamental grasses for rustle and movement, which mask traffic noise.

A slow morning rhythm

Once planted, the courtyard asks only a little of you. Ten minutes with a watering can on summer mornings, a handful of slow-release feed in spring, and a tidy-up of spent flowers in autumn will keep it looking settled. Deadheading as you drink your tea is not a chore so much as a way of noticing what has changed overnight — a new bud, a visiting robin, the first frost on the rim of a pot.

That is the real reward of a small, well-made corner: it gives you a reason to step outside before the day begins, and somewhere comfortable to stay once you are there. Paving, pots and a bench are simply the invitation.