Whether you crave the orderliness of neatly-clipped boxwoods or the charm of flowers spilling over gravel walkways, English gardens have an undeniable charm that’s impossible to resist. They are full of dreamy roses rambling over stone walls, garden benches that beckon you to sit a spell, and a lush array of cottage garden flowers from spring-flowering bulbs to delphiniums to hollyhocks.
While you may not be able to jet off to England this summer to visit these gardens in person, you can mimic some of their design elements, plant combinations, and colors that make English gardens so alluring. Add these elements to your own back yard in the form of perennial borders, roses, water features and benches, and meandering paths.
English gardens don’t have a set of rules. Rather, there are many different styles of what we think of as English gardens, from pretty and functional kitchen gardens to exuberant plantings of cottage gardens. It’s not about creating a full-fledged estate garden (unless you have a full-time gardener and staff!), but rather of pulling out the elements you love to incorporate into your own garden.
Ahead, read on to explore our favorite English gardens– whether it’s simply for daydreaming or for borrowing these ideas for your own garden spaces:
