Hello All-
I'm interested in creating an English Garden for my wife and would
appreciate any pointers from you guys on how to do so. I'm pretty new to
the whole gardening thing.

The area that we want to put the garden is between the side of our house and
our walkway to the side door.

We currently have Rhodedendrons (sp?), Azeleas, a Holly Bush and some other
bushes. We're looking to add a lot of color and incorporate flowers that
bloom every year (perrenials?).

Can you guys point me in the right direction? Are there any websites that
you can recommend?

Thanks in advance.
Dan

Hi Dan,

Where do you live? (Ahh the irony, I always forget to state where I
live when I post). I would start by finding information specific to
your area, to find out what plants will grow well in your climate. You
can find information from a local agricultural service, or find local
master gardeners who can recommend plants to try.

Heidi








Danno wrote:

Hello All-
I'm interested in creating an English Garden for my wife and would
appreciate any pointers from you guys on how to do so. I'm pretty new to
the whole gardening thing.

The area that we want to put the garden is between the side of our house and
our walkway to the side door.

We currently have Rhodedendrons (sp?), Azeleas, a Holly Bush and some other
bushes. We're looking to add a lot of color and incorporate flowers that
bloom every year (perrenials?).

Can you guys point me in the right direction? Are there any websites that
you can recommend?

Thanks in advance.
Dan

Danno wrote:

Hello All-
I'm interested in creating an English Garden for my wife and would
appreciate any pointers from you guys on how to do so. I'm pretty new to
the whole gardening thing.

The area that we want to put the garden is between the side of our house and
our walkway to the side door.

We currently have Rhodedendrons (sp?), Azeleas, a Holly Bush and some other
bushes. We're looking to add a lot of color and incorporate flowers that
bloom every year (perrenials?).

Can you guys point me in the right direction? Are there any websites that
you can recommend?

Thanks in advance.
Dan

I assume you are going for the cottage style of English garden as few US
properties lend themselves to the formal layout of a stately English country
garden. There are no hard and fast design rules for this type of garden - they
focus on a riot of plants and plant combinations offering a long bloom season
and often allow for a lot of self-seeding plant material. Not all plants
suitable to a true English cottage garden will work in all areas of the country,
but most common cottage perennials should be applicable. Here is a short list of
some of the more standard cottage garden perennials:

delphiniums
Shasta daisies
Jupiter's Beard (Centranthus)
Dame's Rocket (Hesperis)
Rose Campion (Lychnis)
bearded iris
cranesbill (hardy geraniums)
Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla)
wallflowers
asters
peonies
mallow
violets
phlox
dianthus
bleeding heart
spring and summer bulbs
clematis and other climbers
and of course, roses.

You can incorporate any other perennials or annuals as you desire. The intended
effect is a lush, billowy, flower-filled garden - the precise placement of these
plants is much less significant. The above list focuses on sun lovers, but shady
areas also can be planted in this style with a different selection of plant
material. You should realize that this type of garden tends to be on the high
end of the maintenance schedule - the chaos is controlled, but just barely. For
best results the soil needs to be in prime condition and amended annually,
watering is frequent and deadheading and staking almost nonstop during the
growing season. It is always wise to incorporate some evergreen plant material
to give the garden substance in winter - sounds like you have a good start with
that, but you might want to bring in a few more small evergreens or even
evergreen perennials, depending on your location and their hardiness in your
area.

English Cottage Gardening for American Gardeners, by Margaret Hensel is a great
resource - lots of photographs, plant listings and sources for locating. Should
be available through Amazon.

pam - gardengal