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English garden design layout


30 Elegant English Garden Designs and Ideas

Reviewed by

Debra LaGattuta

Reviewed by Debra LaGattuta

Debra LaGattuta is a gardening expert with three decades of experience in perennial and flowering plants, container gardening, and raised bed vegetable gardening. She is a Master Gardener and lead gardener in a Plant-A-Row, which is a program that offers thousands of pounds of organically-grown vegetables to local food banks. Debra is a member of The Spruce Gardening and Plant Care Review Board.

Learn more about The Spruce's Review Board

Peg Aloi

With its temperate climate and verdant landscapes, the "green and pleasant land" of England has long been associated with beautiful gardens. From the formal gardens on the grounds of castles and grand estates, to the humble cottage gardens in villages, to the allotments popular in many urban areas, England is a nation of gardeners. Specific styles and methods of gardening are associated with England, including the widespread popularity of the herbaceous border, which is full of flowers through three seasons and usually has plenty of winter interest. It's not hard to achieve the look of an English, though some knowledge of horticulture and design is helpful to help select plants suitable for your region and climate.

What defines the look of an English garden? A number of visual themes are seen again and again: large drifts of colorful perennials, color themes, and a fullness created by a wide variety of textures are all common sights. Authors such as William Robertson (The English Flower Garden) helped bring knowledge and techniques for creating herbaceous borders to the public in the 1800s, marking a modern trend away from the formal structure of classic European gardens. The legendary garden designer and author Gertrude Jekyll was celebrated for her bold approach to color, including single-color-themed gardens and the geometric diagonal shapes creating recognizable drifts of plants in borders.

Fortunately, with a bit of preparation and inspiration, the appeal of an English garden is not too difficult to achieve no matter where you live. Here are a variety of ideas here for you to create your own.

The English garden style is one of the most recognizable and well-loved in the world. Using a few basic design and horticulture principles, you can create many different English garden looks that are appropriate for a variety of landscapes and climates.

13 classic or informal looks |

English garden ideas have evolved from the classic combination of smartly clipped hedges, romantic meandering paths and lushly planted drifts of flowers that's known around the world, to embrace a more informal style, too.

The traditional English garden, perhaps with a whimsical folly or captivating piece of sculpture dotted here and there to catch the eye, creates a look that’s much admired and copied. But there is also a new style developing that embraces a looser and more natural style of planting. 

These most romantic of garden ideas don't have to be on a large scale either, as they can just as easily be incorporated into a small space.

English garden ideas

(Image credit: Mark Bolton/Future)

Traditional English garden ideas contrast soft and riotous planting in flower bed ideas with formal clipped hedges and decorative topiary; there's usually a stretch of lush lawn and a pretty water feature, too. 

There is also a more contemporary new English garden style as gardeners look to sustainable garden ideas. 

‘The aesthetic of the English garden is changing to a softer and looser look, not just in response to climate change, but creating an oasis for wildlife and a nectar rich space for biodiversity. There has been a definite move to a more naturalistic, informal style that is eminently adaptable to anything,’ explains garden designer Dan Pearson who has created a guide to naturalistic garden design for Create Academy .

1. Plant for extremes in weather

(Image credit: Dan Pearson Studio)

​​’Our planting palettes have had to adapt to increases in weather extremes – very cold and dry springs, hot Junes and lots of rain in the late summer. We now see plants which we previously wouldn’t have considered for English gardens ideas being a regular feature. Our selection of plants include olive to bay trees, agapanthus to astrantias, all of which are suitable for the ever changing climate,’ says award-winning garden designer and co-founder of Soto Gardens , Will Williams.

‘As the instances of weather extremes increase, especially within cities, planting palettes have had to adapt. The rising summer heat lends itself to more drought tolerant planting in some areas,’ explains Will.

'Use better all rounders, such as euphorbias, which, as long as we give them good drainage, can survive wet winters and adapt to dry conditions. Plants adapt quickly to climate change, so we will start to see more of those that can cope with the conditions,’ says Dan Pearson.

2. Focus on diversity in planting

(Image credit: Beth Chatto's Garden and Nursery)

'Diversity in planting encourages wildlife. Traditional English garden ideas of lawn, box hedging and roses don’t create a great deal of diversity in a garden, whereas many gardens now, by introducing a broad range of plants, attract a wide range of wildlife,' explains David Ward, garden and nursery director at the internationally renowned Beth Chatto’s Garden and Nursery .

Wildlife garden ideas are becoming more of a priority for many gardeners one of the best ways to attract many birds, bees and butterflies into your garden is by including a healthy mix of wildlife friendly plants.

3. Paint pictures with English garden plants

(Image credit: Dobbies)

When it comes to essentials like choosing the right plants, look to legendary English garden style icons William Robertson, who wrote the definitive guide The English Flower Garden , and Gertrude Jekyll, who was instrumental in naturalistic planting designs with swathes of perennials known as ‘drifts’ that look like watercolor paintings.

Cottage garden ideas such as pretty perennials are the key players in English garden planting. A perennial is any plant that dies down at the end of summer and springs back up again the following year. They are generally easy to look after as long as you cut back any faded stems to keep them coming.

Deft use of color in the way an artist builds it in a painting is another key theme. To create a painterly effect choose washes of color with repeat flowering plants like lavender, echinacea, hardy geraniums, foxgloves, hollyhocks and daisies, as well as old-fashioned varieties of peonies and roses. 

Plant successionally so that as one variety comes to an end another one takes its place to keep borders looking full. 

Think seasonally by adding bulbs for spring and fall color, and ornamental grasses for a mix of golds in fall, as well as keeping the evergreen 'bones' going for year round color and structure.

4. Get the flower borders right

(Image credit: Mark Bolton/Future)

Robinson and Jekyll were key in helping to define the planting aesthetic for borders that still forms the blueprint for English garden design today. They led the movement away from the structured planting favored by Victorians and instead combined perennials in deep borders to create naturalistic looking long-lasting displays. 

More recently there’s been a fashion among English garden designers to add tall architectural plants and ornamental grasses to the mix.  

Repetition of plants in groups of three creates rhythm and a sense of balance. In a large border, different plants are used while in smaller borders, one or two long-lasting, structural plants work well. 

Layering of cottage garden plants is a key feature of English gardens. Trees or tall shrubs are used as the upper layer, while mid-height and low-growing shrubs mix with perennials and ornamental grasses to form the main planting. At the front paths are softened with edging plants like Alchemilla mollis that spill over.

5. Introduce a meandering path

(Image credit: Annaick Guitteny/Future)

Sinuous garden path ideas that wind past borders, with low foliage billowing over to soften the edges add an enchanting touch to English gardens, especially if you can’t quite see where the path leads to. Gravel paths are traditional English garden ideas, the perfect accompaniment to soft waves of planting.

In English garden design, paths and walkways are the means of progression from one distinct area to the next, helping to define different spaces. There is a naturalistic feel to the materials used, such as gravel, reclaimed stone or brick. Sometimes the path is simply mown grass.

Bold geometrical paved paths are also occasionally used, ideally using local stone to fit in with the local landscape, as well as providing a more sustainable option than imported materials.

6. Add an architectural feature or folly

(Image credit: Future)

Appealing garden structures and yard art ideas are a hallmark of English garden ideas and help to reinforce the geometrical aspects of the space. They don’t have to be grand. Even if your garden is on the smaller side, you can still add a focal point with a gazebo, pavilion or pergola idea. 

To succeed as a design feature aim to integrate the structure into the rest of the garden so it looks cohesive. Garden shade ideas such as these have a practical use too as a place for relaxing, entertaining or offering a retreat from the sun, as well as providing a framework for flowering climbers such as roses, clematis and vines to scramble over to create that wild romping look that's key to this design aesthetic.

If space is tight a simple arbor will add charm and a vital design element that completes the overall look of your English garden. Whether festooned with climbers or left bare, they provide a simple architectural detail that works well. If there really isn’t enough room for any of these options, an English-inspired whimsical dovecote will work just as well as a real conversation piece.

7. Welcome a water feature

(Image credit: The Worm that Turned)

Cool and classic garden pond ideas are an essential design element in English garden ideas. If space allows opt for a traditional pond edged in reclaimed flagstones for a weathered-in 'been there for years' look. Otherwise, a water feature idea, such as a small fountain, water tank or ceramic bowl also works well.

The trickle of water adds sensory pleasure to your garden, introducing a reflective quality to the space. As well as the tranquil associations you get from the sound of trickling water, it will add a sense of movement as light and reflections dance on the surface of the water.

If you're aiming for a romantic space, choose a water feature that adds to this effect. A vintage water tank looks great and is good for attracting wildlife, too. Go for something sourced from an architectural salvage yard in materials like verdigris or ironwork for an authentic looking addition to your garden.

8. Choose clipped hedges and topiary

(Image credit: Annaick Guitteny Future)

Formal clipped green hedges and whimsical topiary offer a visual means of defining boundaries and delineating different areas of the garden that’s also easy on the eye. It also makes the perfect backdrop for flowers.

Living sculptures – as topiary is also known – date back to Tudor times when knot gardens created with clipped plants became popular. Then geometric parterre gardens featuring low clipped greenery featured widely as English garden ideas. Later the influential Arts & Crafts movement picked up the theme again by using topiary to create a sense of enclosure in ‘garden rooms’.  

Box was traditionally the most versatile species for snipping into topiary to create the English look. 'English gardens used to be underpinned by box, but due to box blight we are not using it now, which has contributed to the change in their aesthetic. Instead, I might use euonymus or yew. There is always going to be something to plug the gap, and that is the beauty of an informal garden style as you can readily fill a space with an alternative,’ explains Dan Pearson.

Privet and Japanese holly also work well. For fairly simple, rounded forms try holly, bay, myrtle, laurel and pittosporum. For low mounds try naturally small plants, such as Euonymus fortunei and hebe. For a less structured look that’s still smart, flank paths with low lavender hedges.

9. Pick a tasteful garden ornament

Stag by Cavendish Stone

(Image credit: Cavendish Stone)

Simple ornaments such as antique urns, stone bird baths or sundials will fit comfortably into the design aesthetic of English garden ideas.  Arched Gothic 'windows' (outdoor mirrors) also add an interesting element and use reflections to create the illusion of space where there is none.

Fluted or scalloped containers in iron or stone with an aged patina will also work well to add an Edwardian vibe, and look authentic grouped together around steps, doorways and water features to create a potted display.

Avoid new off the shelf statuary and garden figures which can seem out of place in English gardens if they're new and too perfect looking.

10. Grow rambling roses and other climbers

(Image credit: Mark Bolton/Future)

No list of English garden ideas is complete without rampant climbers, especially climbing roses, scrambling over arbors, pergola ideas and trellises. Interweave your planting with other climbers, like clematis and honeysuckle, to create a soft romantic look.

Choose a variety of roses, like ‘Madame Alfred Carrière’, a favorite of renowned English author and garden designer Vita Sackville-West who featured it in her famous garden at Sissinghurst and planted many other climbers to cover the walls there too.

Keep the color coming by extending the season and adding Virginia creeper into your planting mix for a stunning fall show.

11. Linger on the lawn

Lutyens style bench by Jo Alexander

(Image credit: Jo Alexander)

Choose the right garden bench and it will add a lovely detail that sounds all the right notes if you want to recreate classic English garden ideas. After all, you will need somewhere to linger to get close up to all your gorgeous planting.

Choose a timber style for a traditional touch. Wrought ironwork is also a good fit for English garden style. Site your bench on some lush cushiony lawn. Yours might not be a rolling one that stretches as far as the eye can see but all you need is a patch of green to get the right feel. 

The key to keeping your lawn looking good is regular maintenance. As summer rolls on learn how to fertilize a lawn and how to aerate a lawn. You should see an improvement within a week and your lawn will soon be worthy of an English garden.  

12. Leave the lawn to grow

(Image credit: Leigh Clapp)

There is also a new look to lawns in an English Garden. ‘There is a move away from pristine lawns. The ‘no mow May’ movement is brilliant as it gets everyone to look at what we require of lawns. If you don’t mow them, you start to see a peppering of daisies and clover, which provide for a host of wildlife,' says Dan Pearson.

'Once gardeners have keyed into the idea of gardens as environments to increase biodiversity then they become more forgiving and allow some areas of lawn to grow into a wildflower meadow,’ adds Dan.

13. Use the right materials

(Image credit: Mark Bolton/Future)

Whether it's old stone walls, reclaimed bricks or wooden trellises and fencing, the materials that you choose for your English garden should look like they have been there for years.

Use materials that complement the house too, preferably ones that are local and reclaimed. Aim for a weathered look to add character. Locally sourced stone, brick and gravel are favorites, as well as timber and metal that will rust to add an interesting patina.

This helps the garden to fit with the house and landscape around it so the whole English garden ideas look is pulled together for a natural fit.

What do you put in an English garden?

Include pretty flower borders with nostalgic old fashioned varieties, some clipped evergreens such as yew hedging for a formal touch, and as many romantic rambling roses and other climbers as you can fit in, and you will have covered all the main planting design points for English garden ideas. 

Also look to include plants and flowers that can cope with weather extremes, so look to include drought tolerant plants and best performers.

Obviously it depends on the season and your preferred color scheme, as well as right plant for the right place but choose from the following list and you will easily create the English garden look you're after.

Choose a mix of these flowers and plants to create an English garden look in your borders:

Hollyhocks are a much loved English garden flower

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Choose a mix of these leafy and evergreen plants to add the right foliage detail:

(Image credit: Future)

Add climbers to complete the look:

(Image credit: Future)

How do I make my yard look like an English garden?

(Image credit: Future)

How do you lay out an English garden?

An English garden lay out is typically relaxed, whimsical and meandering. A lawn will have an organic shape, overlapped by overflowing borders of flowers, paths will snake through the garden, perhaps past a curvaceous pond or water feature in a reclaimed iron container. Planting focusses on traditional blooms that will spill over containers, picket fences, pergolas and trellises.

10 basic elements of an English garden. English style in landscape design. Photo — Botanichka

The appearance of a traditional English garden with all its pastorality and harmony remains for many today not only a source of inspiration, but also a model of perfection. It is impossible to explain the magic of the English style of landscape design simply by climate or temperament. A unique sense of proportion, the ability to bring nobility even to the simplest flower beds, the art of using contrasts not for bright images, but for comfort and atmosphere, a special attitude to the balance of functionality and aesthetics has always distinguished an exemplary English garden. And today his canons remain unshakable and unique. But not so secret that the English design could not be recreated on your site.

English style garden

In any style of landscape design there are those elements without which a garden project will not succeed. The canons, or basic design principles that define the nature of the garden, are easily recognizable and inimitable, and do not violate even the most daring designers even in modern interpretations. There are especially many such "laws" and "rules" in the English garden. After all, the style of a traditional British garden is distinguished by the same stiffness that English interiors are famous for. True, it is not so easy to capture individual elements in this style: the atmosphere and sensations in an English garden are sometimes more important than specific means of expressing an idea. Let's try to outline 10 basic elements that underlie the English garden.

Strict framework for a colorful show

An English garden is, first of all, a garden with a thoughtful structure. Its main purpose is to create a walking area, such a landscape and a series of objects that you want to walk around endlessly and admire, against the background of which not only the body, but also the soul can rest. The "set" of mandatory zones and objects in such a garden is limited. And it is limited by a fairly strict list of generally accepted techniques that “repel” from home. A large lawn or lawn, a front garden, an arbor or a pavilion, an orchard or orchard with an ornamental vegetable garden, a pond - these are the objects that are present in a traditional English garden. Zones are separated by neat trimmed green hedges or stone walls. Brightly highlighting the main objects, such a garden creates a well-defined framework. And on the remaining territory, a game unfolds with picturesque ensembles, turned into an ideal park for walking, in which amazing harmony reigns.

The space between the structural elements is divided into walking zones and framed with the help of ridges and flower beds, interconnected by lawn, paved paths or soft paths appealing to gravel entrances. Flower beds are most often represented by a series of repeating flowerbeds framed by strict boxwood frames that create a simplified colorful labyrinth. But landscape and colorful borders always dominate in the English garden - one-sided and two-sided mixborders. Wide, unrestrained and so romantic, they are the hallmark of the English garden.

Garden in the English style

Classic and romantic in a square

When the English style is considered to be a landscape trend in landscape design, it is usually a bit cunning. After all, the English garden really brings the canons of park art closer to nature and its beauties, but it does it regally and so pretentiously that it is difficult to call such a garden a model of naturalness. In the English garden, in addition to those very strict lawns, trimmed fences and architectural elements, the whole space is indeed filled with free, landscape plantings. But they imitate not quite wild nature, as, for example, in a Dutch garden or in the style of a prairie, but a pastoral-fabulous picture, a kind of idyll of flowering nature in all its splendor.

Modest, almost wild plants and thickets, as if the gardener's hand had not touched them - not for an English garden. Here everything should be perfectly colorful. Even the contrast between the leaves of ferns and columbine in the shade or lavender and cuffs on a sunbed. This is a landscape luxury, which is not a sin to send on a postcard or poster of some exhibition. Therefore, keep in mind: the English garden should produce just such an impression - of aristocracy, which, having gone beyond the strict framework, has not lost its selectivity.

A similar approach - ostentatious, idealized selection - should be applied to the selection of plants. Classics from classics - that's what you need in an English garden. If shrubs, then roses or boxwoods, if trees, then catalpas, maples or ornamental apple trees. And from perennial partners, attention should be paid to untouchable, chosen favorites - lavender, catnip, veronica, delphiniums, geyhera, geraniums. Why, even among the bulbs in the English garden, only the classics are welcomed - tulips, daffodils, muscari. Exemplary, with an impeccable reputation, such plants have retained their status as fashionable for more than one century. And by no means boring. They should be recognizable at first sight, have a bright personality - texture, color, size, growth pattern. Nondescript and little-known plants are not suitable for this style: for the style of aristocrats, aristocratic plants are also needed.

Green planes

In an English garden, green always dominates. But not in ancient hedges and deaf yew walls, but above all - in lawns. Without them, it is impossible to imagine any project in this classic style. Carpets fill the space and balance lush, romantic, colorful and such textural flower beds and borders, serve as a "field", a canvas on which the pastoral of a colorful garden unfolds. Without this background, the charm and harmony of the design will be lost forever. If you want to create an English garden, then don't be afraid to use lawns. Create large strict lawns from them, decorate reservoirs with them, “tie” flower beds, form walking areas. In short, create a green backdrop, perfect for admiring magnificent perennials. And remember that not only playgrounds can be called a lawn, but also magnificent grass paths.

English garden

Individual approach to plants

Despite the fact that the English garden is distinguished by that special balance in which it is impossible to single out the main stars in the design, the basis of its success is precisely in a personal approach to each plant and respect for the need to study their features, character and preferences. There are no more or less important plants in any flower garden or rabatka in this style. Here everything exudes harmony and self-sufficiency, even tiny accents will get the attention they need. After all, any subtle art, including the art of decorating a garden, is built primarily on deep knowledge.

And if you are planning to recreate the charm of an English garden in your area, then first of all show respect for the plants used. And rely not on intuition, but on a scientific approach and training. Do not save time: study all the nuances of growing, all the features of specific species. Build schedules, compile catalogs, create entire “cases” for your flower beds and rabatkas. This is a fascinating process that will bring no less pleasure than contemplating your result. So you can always check the information, easily adjust the ensembles if such a need arises, you will always know what to do in unforeseen circumstances. Even cultures you know may surprise you, and their nature and features of agricultural technology are worth studying in detail.

Color balance

Harmony in an English garden reigns not only in structure or materials, but also in color. The ability to achieve balance and then "make" the garden not to lose it at any time of the year is truly unique. At the same time, the principles of constructing the English color scheme are so simple that they seem obvious and almost boring. But only in theory: in practice, achieving color harmony is much more difficult.

When you look at the panoramas of British gardens - famous cottage gardens, park gardens, and palace gardens - you can't help but compare with the paintings of the best classical landscape painters. And it is precisely the skillfully selected colors, which the artist seems to have mixed, that is the main secret of the English garden. It is not characterized by a boring, reserved, contrasting or pastel palette. Only gardens become English, where shades and overflows merge into a single picturesque picture. And where the contrast is based on the play of pure watercolor tones and colors with the unconditionally dominant calm green, for each too bright color there is a soothing counterbalance, for each light shade there is a deeper and more saturated tone. And you need to focus on the most advantageously combined shades of not one color, but neighboring colors in the color wheel.

So, pink is mixed with lilac, yellow with orange, blue with violet - different colors, but they are, nevertheless, especially harmonious and related in character. When choosing plants for an English garden, choose the most traditional and pure tones - if pink, then candy or rich, purple - perfect lilac, purple - cold and sparkling, blue - delicate and dreamy, and yellow - fruity and "juicy". In a word, choose classic and even old-fashioned colors. The purity of design in the English garden is embodied through the purity of colors.

An English-style garden with a pond

Not a relay race of flowering, but a relay race of images

In an English garden, one should strive to create not the effect of a continuous lantern show, but seasonality. You probably happened to admire the photographs of estates and cottages, which in spring seem to be surrounded by meadows of daffodils, and in summer they are adorned with royal roses that dominate the design. The main goal is to change the appearance of the garden from season to season, like a seasonal transformation of interiors. For spring, summer and autumn, a combination of the most beloved cultures is selected, which together create the perfect ensemble. Several plants become the main stars of the season, and with the change of seasons, another group blooms, not repeating either the character or the color palette of the first. Thus, in English gardens, they do not create the effect of constancy, but emphasize respect for nature and its metamorphoses. Yes, and thanks to this technique, it never gets boring: the garden changes images, remaining perfect in English, but always different.

A queen for a retinue of aristocrats

A plant without which an English garden would not work is the magnificent queen of garden shrubs, the rose. It is not by chance that she is called a garden aristocrat, it is the rose that perfectly demonstrates the beauty of plants typical of an English garden in both palace and cottage formats. Of course, in the English style it is worth using English roses - magnificent Austin with their old-fashioned romance, modern hardiness and strong aroma.

Both spray and climbing roses should be added to the look of an English garden. Miniature beauties will create luxurious borders, modern varietal wild roses - flowering hedges, ground cover roses will fill the space and create the effect of fabulous cascades on flower beds and in discounts. Lianas on arches and pergolas will add to the number of vertical accents and become a regal luxurious backdrop for benches and arbors. As for the classic shrub roses, floribunda, tea hybrids and other beauties, they will become the main soloists in flower beds and discounts. And with something, but with roses in the English style, you can not be afraid to overdo it: there are not many roses in an English garden. And it is roses - the real queens of the English garden - that will ideally reveal the beauty of plants selected according to the principle of aristocracy.

Flower garden with roses in an English style garden

Careful selection of height

Lush flower ensembles that fill the strict structure of the English garden give not only the impression of seasonality, pastorality, pastelness, but also unprecedented splendor. All flowering plantings in such a garden should look like flawless, filled with dozens of plants, but at the same time - not too complicated. Lush landscape thickets of flowering beauties are created thanks to the skillful combination of plants in height. So that no free soil is visible under the plants, they must complement each other and hide flaws. The main principle of creating both flower beds and rabatok in the English garden is a strict increase in height from the foreground to the back in one-sided objects and from the sides to the center in two-sided mixborders. Do not think that such a strict selection will be boring: the textures of plants and the difference in the density of crowns and sods fully compensate for the lack of interest in the vertical structure.

Even if you break the rules in an English garden, you should stick to the canons. The only way to deviate from the principle of low to high is to place high accents among short partners or soloists who stand out sharply from the background. Such cultures can be conditionally called “living sculptures”: they really, like a statue on a lawn, rise against a luxurious background and bring even more classical motifs to the compositions. A sheared ball of boxwood or a pyramid of yew, a standard rose seem to hover over the compositions and place architectural accents in them.

Not a garden, not a museum

Another element that no English garden can be without is the skillful selection of accessories. For garden ensembles they are selected with no less taste and care than for the English interior. Each piece of jewelry should be a true work of art and an important detail that emphasizes and sets the mood.

You can't get by in the English style without garden sculpture - classical and somewhat old-fashioned. A simple statue immersed in a rose garden, a small fountain or stone feeder marking the intersection point between flower beds, skillfully shaping a curve in a path, or drawing attention to a far corner of a garden—each example of a large and small garden sculpture should be placed so as to crown the ensemble and give him a new, aesthetic perfection. Do not neglect accessories in the form of properly placed lighting, a skillfully hidden bench, funny characters, animals or household items that have received a new life - for example, an old broken service or a teapot. They can become little touches that fill the garden with English charm. The main thing is not to overdo it and place them in the most visible place.

English style garden

Careful care

An English garden is a landscape surrounded by love. This is a style for those who enjoy even the most ordinary procedures, who have the time and desire to cut roses and mow lawns. And the more regular care and love is invested in such a garden, the more beautiful it becomes. Indeed, a project that combines such a number of trimmed objects and flowering plants will have to be looked after constantly. And the English garden cannot be attributed to the styles “for the lazy”. True, the right choice of plants and their species will help simplify life, but you should not forget about timely care anyway.

Neither beautiful lawns, nor flower beds in boxwood frames, nor inimitable "calling" discounts will look good on their own for years. Even one neglected plant, from which wilted inflorescences were not removed or dry shoots were forgotten to be removed, will spoil the whole picture. And weeds or untrimmed hedges are out of the question ... So care is the most important element of any English garden.

how to create an English garden with your own hands. Photo of an English garden.

The English Garden is designed to make everything seem natural, so that there is room for reflection. English style appreciates naturalness. The landscape of the English style counts on maintaining a balance between the ceremony of the English, and wildlife, adding elements of romanticism and mystery to the landscape.

Making an English garden is real, even if you haven't been to England. The right use of color, materials, decorative elements, fittings and plants will turn any garden into a well-groomed, stylish and impeccable place.

England's park and garden heritage

Our ancestors perceived nature as an unfriendly place. It was England that changed our attitude to our environment. They began to appreciate the world beyond the threshold of their home, realized the importance not only practically, but also aesthetically.

The English-style garden has added many details that seem banal to us.

Previously, the English estate included:

Pond - should have been in every English garden, however small and with winding outlines.

Hedge - such a fence was used to prevent animals from getting close to the house, and also not obstructing the entire view of the area.

Hilly Lawns - English landscape design is characterized by alternating plains and embankments. The hills reflect the natural landscape better than a flat field that looks dull.

Groves of trees - planted near the house. The trees looked great with the lawns on the hills.

Features of the English style

The English garden is old-fashioned, natural colors and materials, romanticism and attraction to antiquity. The English style landscape blurs the line between nature and modern progress. This is the success of the style, and its constant popularity.

First of all, the English garden is based on geometry that is not conspicuous. Seen from above, the paths meet at the same center, and the rectangular shapes and circles are combined to give the landscape a sense of order, completeness.

Elements that make the garden truly English:

  1. Hedges and flower walls.

Avoid wild, overly lush borders.

The English landscape is represented by geometric figures like a circle, an oval, a square and a rectangle.

  1. Several types of plants.

Monoconcept when choosing plants for a flower bed is the main feature of the English style. Don't plant everything, focus on 2-3 species, and use different shades of them. You should have a contrast between the variety of colors and the tranquility of the place around you.

  1. The same elements in the decoration of the surrounding space and the house.

Repeating materials such as brick or stone in columns, garden walls, fountains and pools will help bring garden and home together.

  1. Lush flowering of annuals.

They bloom for 4 months, something that a perennial plant or shrub cannot boast of. Use annuals in paths, along the edges, or in the center of the flower bed.

Tracks

It is hard to imagine an English garden without garden paths. The material for the tracks is simple and can be found in any household: tiles, bricks, gravel. The paths can be parallel to each other or single, then the ridges and lawns planted between them will be harmonious.

The general rule is to narrow the path if it leads to a secluded and cozy place, and make it wider if the path comes to an open place where people gather.

Gravel path

The English style design is the gravel garden path, which is the easiest and easiest to build. A limestone or stone border will give the path a finished look and allow it to fit into an English garden.

The English garden is characterized by paths made of stone and paving slabs. These materials are durable and do not require special care. The shape must be rectangular or square.

Paving slabs are decorative and will be a great addition to an English garden. It will last for several decades.

Reservoirs

An English garden cannot be imagined without water. In the gardens of England you can see a pond in the very depths of the garden, with benches around. The pond should not be deep, and a hedge or tall shrubs and perennials should be planted near it.

The classic English garden is a place for relaxation, so noisy waterfalls and fast streams of water are not suitable for it.

Perennial flowers, trees and shrubs in an English garden

In order to create the casualness of an English-style landscape, plants should be planted in layers. The tallest ones should be planted at the back, the lower ones should be in the middle, and the small ones on the edge. Follow the color scheme. Choose either only cold shades (purple, white, blue, cool pink), or warm ones (orange, yellow, red). So you design a single concept of the English garden.

English people love romantic, old-fashioned flowers. An English garden cannot be imagined without roses (very popular varieties of David Austin), daylily, delphinium, mallow, peonies, foxglove, snapdragon.

An English park cannot be imagined without trees. Yew, hornbeam, oriental thuja, boxwood, magnolia are suitable for hedges. They perfectly tolerate shaping and shearing, suitable for the formation of topiary figures. Will close the fence evergreen spruces, junipers, pines.

Create an English garden with your own hands

With the help of 6 simple steps you can create an English style in any summer cottage.

  1. Plant several types of plants, only in large numbers.

For example, New Dawn and William Baffin rose varieties, which, due to their volume, can decorate large areas of the garden.

  1. Create combinations of contrasting shades.

An English garden needs the right use of color. Lemon and yellow daylilies are in perfect harmony with purple and violet alliums.

  1. Set the boundary.

These can be hedges, paths, bird feeders. They fit perfectly into the space, creating the entire integrity of the composition. Fences and wrought iron bars will separate one piece of the garden from another without blocking the entire view.

  1. Make your garden furniture stand out.

In the landscape of the English style, instead of the usual colors - green, gray, brown, bold, bright shades that attract their attention prevail. A red table and an orange bench will not let you get bored, even when nothing blooms on the site.

And do not forget about the old days - the older things look, the better they are.

The metal swing will add a romantic touch to the garden. It is best to place them in a shady corner of the garden.

  1. Concentrate on the inside view.

Secure climbing plants around columns and posts.

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