Relax - let it flow
Spend a bit of time first off sorting out a good structure with some hedges and topiary or low walls, then let your planting run free. Use traditional cottage garden flowers like foxgloves and peonies to create a romantic ambience, and add ornamental grasses to bring movement and hold it together – especially if you plant them in drifts, swirling through the garden.
The plants in this type of garden can be chosen to attract pollinating insects which is great news for wildlife. And seeing bees and butterflies really adds to the appeal of this relaxed style.
Follow nature's lead
Let your plants ‘self-seed’ – this simply means allow them to set seed (no deadheading!) and then not weeding out their babies. This is a low-effort, high-reward way of making your garden feel natural and reconnecting with nature. Sometimes the most wonderful plant combinations are those that happen by accident.
Perfumed pleasures
Plant night-scented flowers like jasmines, nicotiana and stocks. At sunset on warm summer evenings, what could be more romantic than to head into the garden and sniff out fragrant flowers as the stars come out? Grow them close to doors and pathways for maximum enjoyment.
Light up your lawn
Lawns don’t have to be sterile green stripes. Leave part of your lawn to go wild and plant These are fleshy, rounded, underground storage organs, usually sold and planted while dormant. Examples include daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, lilies, onions and garlic. The term is often used to cover other underground storage organs, including corms, tubers and rhizomes.
Grow roses
What romantic garden could be complete without roses? There are many hundreds of varieties, many with French names that evoke another era, such as the deliciously-scented ‘Charles de Mills’. For the full rose experience, grow some shrub roses in the garden, along with climbers on arches or trellis. Why not visit a rose nursery in summer to sniff out your favourites?
Enjoy...