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Plants in english gardens


12 Best Plants for an English Garden

By

Marie Iannotti

Marie Iannotti

Marie Iannotti is a life-long gardener and a veteran Master Gardener with nearly three decades of experience. She's also an author of three gardening books, a plant photographer, public speaker, and a former Cornell Cooperative Extension Horticulture Educator. Marie's garden writing has been featured in newspapers and magazines nationwide and she has been interviewed for Martha Stewart Radio, National Public Radio, and numerous articles.

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Updated on 03/10/21

The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova

Few garden styles are as romantic and welcoming as the English cottage garden. To create this look, you will need to choose plants that grow through and around each other, as though they have been growing together for years. Although the overall effect is casual abandon, English cottage gardens require careful editing, if you don’t want to end up with chaos.

Here are some top plants to achieve an English garden look.

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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. nine0003

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. nine0003

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.

English style features

An English garden is all about old-fashionedness, naturalness of 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. nine0003

Elements that make a 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. nine0003

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

Repeating materials like 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. nine0003

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. nine0003

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. nine0038

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. nine0003

  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. nine0003

  1. Concentrate on the inside view.

Secure climbing plants around columns and posts. It will look very impressive, as if they will soar in the air. Stylized ruins and statues can be placed in an English garden.

  1. Sun and partial shade go well together.

The English style landscape features shade-loving hydrangeas planted near the north wall and succulents that love bright sunshine. nine0003

An English garden: what makes it unique and what grows in it

It is hard to find an Englishman who is not interested in gardening. The weather and the garden are two things that people in England are ready to discuss endlessly. English gardens have always been a model of style and an example to follow. Green lawns and an abundance of flowers - it seems that everything grows by itself, but behind this is the great art of the gardener. Let's figure out how an English garden differs from others and what to plant in it first. nine0034

The evolution of the English garden

Garden fashion has changed from era to era - the very concept of "English garden" arose only in the 18th century.

Roman gardens were decorated with palaces and luxurious villas. An example is the partially reconstructed garden around Fishburne Roman Palace in Sussex. The conquerors of Britain preferred low hedges, symmetrically arranged around the perimeter of a huge garden. They must have had niches for fountains and statues. nine0003

Medieval gardens, on the other hand, were small, with an abundance of herbs, vegetables, and fruits. In many ways, they repeated the compact monastic gardens, where medicinal herbs and various spices were grown, and holly and ivy were sure to grow. The tradition, like ivy shoots, has grown throughout England. And although the fashion for monastery gardens has long passed, but ivy, obviously, does not know about it.

Tudor Gardens is a legacy of Italian fashion. Clear lines and proportions, numerous labyrinths of hedges, fountains, mounded paths... Such gardens are a work of art, and they certainly had to be admired from a balcony or other hill. Intricate hedge or lawn patterns can still be seen by visiting the palace and park ensembles of Haddon Hall (Derbyshire), Montacute House (Somerset) and Hampton Court (near London). The last king, Henry VIII, was presented by his favourite, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. By the way, it was in Tudor times that the “exotic” gooseberries, apricots, cyclamens and snowdrops began to be planted. The main flower, of course, was the rose. nine0003

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The Stuart Gardens were also distinguished by geometry and proportions, but without intricate patterns. Wide paths, large lawns framed by hedges, and a fountain or pond in the middle of the garden are required. You can see such gardens at the estates of Blickling Hall (Norfolk) and Melbourne Hall (Derbyshire) or at Chatsworth House Palace (also Derbyshire).

Back to nature

The turning point came in the 18th century. William Kent set the tone, having planned for his patron, Lord Burlington, a garden at Chiswick House. The architect moved away from clear and straight lines, and winding paths along which herbs and flowers grew created a feeling of naturalness. No hedges - groups of trees and shrubs interspersed with bright flowers. And, of course, lawns - now an English garden is unthinkable without them. You can see examples of the first English gardens at Burley House (Lincolnshire), Petworth House (West Sussex), Blenheim Palace (Oxon). Many contemptuously considered such gardens to be copies of nature, they say, no art and fiction. But this is the whole difficulty - to set up a garden that will look like a corner of wildlife. nine0003

We create an English garden ourselves

So, we have decided on the concept of the garden: a natural riot of colors, shrubs, flowers, trees - such as they are found in nature. As if a piece of wild nature was taken and transferred to your six acres. No beds and strict geometry, let the uneven edges of the lawns be framed with lavender and mallow. The garden should be pleasing to the eye and be a place for relaxation and solitude. A comfortable bench or a small table - there should always be a place for tea drinking. nine0003

Garden crops popular in England will play the main role in the garden. Let's name a few of them.

Lavender

Lavender is said to have come to Britain with the Roman legions. The soldiers always carried a "green first aid kit" with them and grew herbs where they settled: lavender, sage, rosemary. Lavender has been used as a sedative, as an insect repellent, and as an element of various rituals. By the 16th century, lavender was recognized as a herb of purity and tranquility, and it was used literally for everything: for fresh air, against moths, for brushing teeth, for baths, it was added to tobacco, it was used to rub floors and put babies to bed. nine0003

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Queen Elizabeth I loved lavender jam, Mary Stuart loved lavender oil, and Queen Victoria loved lavender jelly. During the Great Plague, marauders rubbed themselves with lavender vinegar for prevention and looted plague houses, and the demand for lavender skyrocketed like never before. History repeated itself during the First World War, when there was a catastrophic shortage of disinfectants.

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If earlier the tradition of growing lavender was more of a necessity, now it is just a beautiful plant with a pleasant smell. Lavender is good for filling the space between plants and framing lawns. nine0003

Digitalis or digitalis

These tall plants with bluebell flowers can beautify your garden and create bright accents on your lawn. In English, the flower is called foxglove (“fox glove”), which, of course, gave rise to many legends. For example, that a chanterelle puts flowers on its paws to protect them from morning dew. But there is another name - "dead man's bells", which indicates the poisonousness of the plant. The juice contained in foxglove leaves is used in small doses as a cure for edema, and in large quantities it can cause convulsions, hallucinations, and even a heart attack. So let's leave medical experiments - let foxglove just please us with its colors. nine0003

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Hydrangea

This spreading shrub with bright flowers is a godsend for any English garden. Pink, white, purple and even blue flowers are beautiful and unpretentious, so English gardeners love them very much. Despite the fact that the hydrangea is very popular, it came to England not so long ago. The plant comes from Japan, and the Land of the Rising Sun was previously inaccessible to foreign travelers, they could only get to Dejima Island in Nagasaki Bay. It was here that in the 18th century, Linnaeus's student Carl Peter Thunberg acquired several hydrangea bushes and transported them to Europe. There they were bought by Sir Joseph Banks and donated to the royal gardens of Kew. And off we go. The plant took root and became a symbol of the classic English garden. nine0003

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Rose

Do you remember Shakespeare's words: "A rose smells like a rose, call it a rose, or not"? The rose has always been a symbol of love, romance, beauty. At all times, men gave their beloved roses as a manifestation of their feelings. The rose was also a symbol of holiness and purity, so Elizabeth I made it her emblem.

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