Q: What is an English garden?
A: The earliest known English gardens were probably planted by the Romans. They were formally and symmetrically laid out with hedges and graveled walks. In the 18th century this formality was replaced by a move to make the garden appear more natural.
These English landscaped gardens were invented by two landscape designers who worked for wealthy landowners, William Kent and Charles Bridgeman. Their work displayed a move toward an idealized view of nature as the basis for the garden, as opposed to architecture.
The later development of the English landscape garden was influenced greatly by Lancelot “Capability” Brown. He sought to simplify the garden and make it appear larger, creating an idealized landscape. His Blenheim Palace garden survives today. These garden designs quickly spread throughout Europe, and their influence can be seen all over the world in public parks and gardens.
To the average home gardener, an English garden means an English cottage garden. This garden can be traced to Elizabethan times, when it had a more practical function than today. Primary were herbs and fruits, usually a well, livestock (perhaps a pigsty) and a beehive. Most flowers were functional rather than ornamental.
The cottage garden is considered more informal in design, although the informality often takes a great deal of planning. Today it is a seemingly casual mixture of herbs, vegetables and flowers. The style is renowned for its charm, not its structure, and rather than the grand open spaces of the landscape garden, the cottage garden is dense in its plantings and very often enclosed.
The English cottage garden reflected and appealed both to the Romantics and to the Arts and Crafts movements, the former because of its mystical, unrestrained quality, the latter because of its insistence on going back to nature.
One of the most prominent garden designers of the 20th century, Gertrude Jekyll, based her most famous ideas on the cottage style. And the most amazing aspect of all this is — anyone can do it. How? I would recommend finding a sunny spot and include roses, climbers such as clematis and morning glory, and tall plants such as phlox and holly hocks. If the sunny spot is next to a wall, plant flowers that will spill over it. Mix perennials with annuals and biennials, and add herbs like creeping thyme.
Think of color, too. Your garden could be all white like the famous Sissinghurst, totally multi-colored, based on one shade or anywhere between. Add a birdbath for fun (remember to keep the water fresh). Including an object like a gazing ball is also an option. The choices are endless because the only real rule is to plant densely. No bare spots allowed, which is great for another reason: fewer weeds.
— Judie Phillips, Master Gardener, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester