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The Cottage Garden

Originally laid out by Penelope Hobhouse in the early 1990s, the Cottage Garden blends billowing cottage-style plants with a formal layout

Looking its best in...

  • Spring Prunus pendula f. ascendens ‘Rosea’ blossom, alliums, Syringa (lilac)
  • Summer Rosa Wild Thing (‘Jactoose’), Geranium Rozanne (‘Gerwat’), lavender, Stipa gigantea
  • Autumn Autumn foliage of Prunus pendula f. ascendens ‘Rosea’

Charm meets formality

Beautifully chaotic, relaxed plantings soften the formal hard landscape of this charming garden, formerly known as the Country Garden. Plants from similar habitats and with the same cultural needs grow close together in an English cottage garden style, providing plenty of ideas that could be adopted in smaller home gardens.

The garden was designed by Penelope Hobhouse, who met the challenge of the sloping site by creating three horizontal areas on different levels, linking them with sloping paths to ensure wheelchair access. A gently cascading water feature adds to the appeal. 

Beauty all year round

An avenue of 16 Prunus pendula f. ascendens ‘Rosea (rosebud cherry trees), chosen for their spring blossom and autumn colour, flanks both sides of the garden, while eight 3m (9.8ft) tall pergolas draw the eye and support climbing plants.

The surrounding plantings are mostly herbaceous perennials and bulbs, with some shrubs. Through the growing season, the dominant colours change from misty blues, pinks and whites to glowing yellows, oranges and rusts in late summer.

Key plants include purple and white alliums, a named collection of Syringa vulgaris (lilac) cultivars and trained roses clambering up arches. 
 

For a classic cottage garden look, the arches into this garden are clothed with Rosa mulliganii which has a single white flower, borne in profusion in early spring. To extend the season of interest (as this rose only flowers once), the purple flowered Clematis ‘Wisley’ scrambles up through the lower parts of the arches, adding extra colour into the summer. 

RHS Garden Wisley Horticulturist

For a classic cottage garden look, the arches into this garden are clothed with Rosa mulliganii which has a single white flower, borne in profusion in early spring. To extend the season of interest (as this rose only flowers once), the purple flowered Clematis ‘Wisley’ scrambles up through the lower parts of the arches, adding extra colour into the summer. 

RHS Garden Wisley Horticulturist

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