How To Design An English Cottage Garden

Val bourne reflects on how it s evolved over the years and suggests eight plants to try in your garden.

How to design an english cottage garden. The patio is an important area which not only brings people together but it also provides a place for you to sit and look at your garden from and is the perfect home for beautiful english plants in pots. To create layers a feature of english gardens taller trees are used as the upper layer while mid height and low growing shrubs mix with perennials to blur transitions. The cobblestone path was softened with edging plants like alchemilla mollis artemesia silver mound salvia x s and snow hill.

Try honeysuckle wisteria morning glory or clematis. Cottage gardens have always fulfilled a need and they always will to better understand these quintessential english gardens that won t be constrained by design or definition and stand in complete contrast to the grand schemes that molded wealthy estates it s useful to cast a look back over their evolution. An influential writer praised the virtues of gardens without pretension that were cultivated by cottage owners as a reaction to the artificiality of the large country garden houses.

Think old fashioned favourite cottage flowers including geraniums roses and foxgloves to create an informal casual atmosphere and plant them close together ignoring standard spacing. How to create a beautiful cottage garden. Tips for how to create an english cottage garden including classic plants and flowers planting methods and money saving advice.

No english cottage garden is complete without a place to enjoy afternoon tea in the sun. In keeping with the homespun quality that the english cottage garden seeks to present twig built features are highly suitable as are fences and gates made of natural wood. Picket fences and lattice painted white or green and interposed with climbing plants can be used to good effect.

Voluptuous effervescent fragrant and self seeding choices will help you create the look. Any growing space large or small can be transformed into the cottage garden of your dreams. Combining generous flowers with traditional designs your cottage style garden can be the oasis of your dreams.

Don t forget this key staple of cottage garden design. Use these creative garden ideas to customize your own garden and create the charming. It may come as some surprise to discover that even as we head towards the second decade of the 21st century the good old cottage garden is alive and well.