Cottage Garden – East Lothian

The garden owners in this quiet East Lothian village had recently retired and were looking to create a cottage garden. With their love of gardening and the outdoor life, they were keen to make the most of their outside space. They recently built a garden studio at the end of their garden for painting and enjoying a glass of wine. However, a large rambling rose was taking over the garden and the planting was becoming overgrown. The vegetable beds were also in the shade and so not as productive as they might have been. Thus, it seemed like a good opportunity for a fresh start and rethink of the garden layout with a garden design.

The garden is now a far more interesting outdoor space. From the kitchen window, these art lovers look out down the garden path to a galvanised steel fern sculpture. The studio has been incorporated into the garden via a series of paths and nestles among the planting. The clients now spend far more time outdoors, entertaining friends on the patio among the long flowering planting schemes. They are self sufficient in the summer, growing vegetables in their sunny sandstone raised bed. They enjoy evenings out in the studio looking out over their garden. A beautiful new trellis fence covered with pretty fragrant blush pink roses blurs the boundary with the trees beyond. The utilities have been tucked out of sight behind the outhouses.

The planting scheme is light and airy and frothy in keeping with a cottage garden style. Pastel colours predominate in the borders, which flower for most of the year. It also incorporates heritage fruit trees to add to the productivity of the garden.