Garden styles
The smaller the garden - the more it needs a distinctive 'theme’ to link the various plants and design elements. When you are deciding on a style, think about the way you want to use the garden and the amount of work involved in maintenance so you pick one that’s right for you. Cottage garden A cottage garden is a good style for an enthusiast who wants to shoe-horn lots of different plants into the space. Use a mixture of traditional perennials, old-fashioned hardy annuals or roses and wild flowers, with fruit and vegetables, and native species of trees and shrubs. You don’t need a quaint 'olde worlde' cottage as this style of garden suits most traditional houses. Five plants for a cottage garden Shrub rose, Rosa 'Fantin Latour' Meadow cranesbill, Geranium pratenses 'Mrs Kendall Clarke' Verbena, Verbena bonariensis Japanese anemone, Anemone x hybrida 'Whirlwind' Lavender, Lavandula 'Sawyers' Contemporary garden Contemp