Imagine spending a beautiful summer day in a magnificent English country garden amid roses running amok and surrounded by towering lupines. Imagine sitting in a classic English country garden for a delicious charcoal barbecue surrounded by highly colored and scented plants.
Such gardens are richly planted with herbaceous perennial plants and an artistic addition of annuals. The dazzling beauty that spills over with delicate delphiniums, lavender, lilies, salvias and the like.
Such gardens are havens for small birds and beautiful butterflies. The main character is the buzz from bees that inhabit the recessive green framework of shrubs.
It’s a style that inspires keen gardeners all over the world, especially with the traditional blooms, box balls, hedging of yew, pittosporum, and hornbeam.
Designing an English Garden
Exquisite English gardens come in an assortment of distinct styles, which include English Country Garden, The English Cottage Garden, and The Classic English Garden.
In spite of the names, anyone anywhere in the world can enjoy magnificent gardens incorporating various features of these tried and true styles.
Related: How to Design a Cottage Garden
The English Country Garden
This style has undergone a series of transformation. Gardening in England that came to be known as English Country Gardening in the 18th century may be considered to be a deliberate rebellion against the rigidity formal French gardening design in the 17th century. The style came to romanticize the natural beauty of the typical English countryside.
Elements of an English Country Garden
With patience and determination, English country gardens can be recreated anywhere on earth to include their distinct features such as:
Pathways
Well-worn pathways in a tender and short glass have the potential of bringing about different elements of interest in the garden.
Hedges
Meticulously avoid topiaries and clipped hedges to create an open landscape that is airy and natural.
Lawns
Large stretches of modeled lawns make up the most substantial portion of this garden style.
Garden Structure
Common garden structures tend to resemble a Chinese pavilion or Greek monopteros. Statues and consciously constructed ruins add some elements of interest to the landscape.
Water Elements
Artificial ponds designed to look natural or natural lakes are mostly part of garden designs. They often include a footbridge across the pond or lake, or a pier overlooking them.
Flower Beds, Shrubs, and Trees
Flower beds have no place in the English country garden. A mixed planting of native shrubs left to grow and bloom will spread naturally. Occasional trimming is necessary.
The Classic English Garden
After the 18th century romantic spell of remodeling the landscaped countryside scenes. The landscaping slowly returned to formality with the artistic addition of flowers and color.
This took place during the Victorian Era. Refinement and meticulously manicured looks characterize the classic garden. Geometric shapes provide a systematic framework for a carefully selected area of ornamental flowers, trees, shrubs, and even herbs.
Related: 5 Garden Styles that Homeowners Love
Elements of a Classical English Garden
Pathways
Horizontal graveled pathways usually connect the entrance and the exit of the garden in a straight line.
Hedges
They resemble those in the classic English garden but often clipped to form a geometric framework. Main pathways have hedge borders. Taking into account the need for privacy, display of the beautiful flowers, and space constraints, they can either short box hedges or tall yew hedges.
Lawns
Perfectly laid out lawns are the most important aspect of the classic design. The space between the hedges is filled with well-trimmed and deep-green grass, except where vegetables or herbs are planted. Each lawn is designed with a unique feature such as a gazebo, an open seating area, a pool or a glass house.
Garden Structures
All structures such as a gazebo, seating arrangements, arbors and the likes that enhance outdoor living spaces, collectively known as “Outdoor Room”, is a must for any classic English garden.
Water Elements
Designed at the center of the garden is usually a foundation or birdbath. Additionally, a circular, or rectangular pool at the center of the lawn in the classic English garden constitute the water element.
Flower Beds, Shrubs, and Trees
Flower beds are either planted in rows next to low hedges or a circular pattern in the middle of the lawn. Traditionally, gardeners preferred pastels over brighter colors, but different varieties currently in fashion often come into play and are taking center stage in the gardens. Larger shrubs planted in small groups or singly along the length of the hedge or dotting the lawn creates a classic English garden design.