Formal English Gardens

Guide to Formal English Gardens

There is nothing more English than an English formal garden. Something about the mixture of plants, the smells and the beautiful colors seems to resonate with people. In America there is a whole series of brochures advertising nothing but these beautiful gardens.

If you choose to make a formal herb garden in your own garden, it is best to spend an hour or so sketching out a rough plan of where you want everything to be. A great tip is to use colored pencils to make your sketch if the herbs have brightly colored leaves, so you can see how visually appealing (Or otherwise!) the colors look together. You also want to consider the height of the herbs (Taller herbs should be placed at the back and corners; smaller in the center), their texture and what you intend to use them for (Don’t put your culinary herbs in a difficult to reach location for example). Also now is a great time to think about something that you can place in the middle of the garden to act as a focal point such as a bird bath. This will really add to the charm and make the migrating birds happy forever grateful too!

If you want to make your garden look like something out of a brochure, consider adding some other touches to your garden. These may include:

  • brick/ gravel pathways
  • gates
  • stone walls
  • areas with bark for decoration or walking on
  • a pot full of herbs (Especially good for herbs that like to spread all over your garden!)
  • a sundial
  • some seats
  • interesting-shaped rocks
  • a frame possibly with roses, jasmine or honeysuckle growing over the top of them

Now is the time to plant the herbs. Usually plating in a row is easiest, so many gardeners choose straight edges such as squares for their gardens. Circles and knots are also easy to use as a scheme to plan herbs around.  Then begin to plant your herbs following this image. The ornaments should be added last as big objects can block sunlight. Before long the flowers will bloom in many different colors and smells and you will have a garden as good enough to put on the cover of any brochure!!!