The cottage garden design style will always be a popular one, characterised by a wonderful sense of informality within a naturalistic layout… but don’t be fooled by its seemingly casual nature that it’s an easy look to achieve!
You need to ensure that you have a solid structure and base upon which to work from before you start bringing in your favourite plants and this is where hard landscaping proves invaluable.
Here are some top tips from the LW Landscapes team to help you get this look just right.
1. Bring in winding curves
No garden is ever complete without a pathway or two! Adopt winding curves made from irregular materials, or wood chips and loose gravel to encourage a slow meandering exploration of the space. You don’t want anything too uniform or exact.
2. Embrace imperfection
If you’re a fan of clean lines and sharp geometry, the cottage garden look is perhaps not the one for you.
The idea here is to lean into imperfections wherever you find them, so don’t tidy up too much, let plants spill over onto paving and paths, and introduce weathered and reclaimed materials to avoid a contemporary feel.
3. Think vertically!
It’s easy to forget that you can garden in a vertical way, as well as horizontally, but planting upwards works beautifully with the cottage garden aesthetic. Introducing arches, pergolas or arbours will provide a wonderfully romantic aspect once covered in climbing plants.
4. Go for a picket fence
Picket fences are a lovely traditional addition to any cottage garden but they work particularly well in smaller sites, enclosing the space while giving you additional opportunities for planting, providing much-needed support for vines and climbers.
We hope you find these four ideas inspirational… but, as ever, if you need any further guidance or advice, just give the team here a quick call!