15 romantic design ideas for garden beds and borders
Late summer is the perfect time to think about creating a border ready for autumn planting. (That said, you can prepare your beds and borders over winter for spring planting as well). Whenever you decide to tackle the task, however, there are a few things to bear in mind.
In her brilliant article How to design a garden from scratch in 17 steps, the designer Angel Collins advises that for most borders, it is best to start with the principle of a front, middle and back row, where you there are three different height requirements: tallest at the back, shortest at the front.
Arne Maynard rarely draws out plans for his borders. Once he has decided on his species and quantities, he lays out his plants by eye. ‘I like using them like a paintbrush, creating a picture and placing them in a way that feels natural,’ he says. For Arne, a border or bed isn't just about the flowering plants, of course. Foliage can be just as important, adding different textures and shades of green. Designer Arabella Lennox-Boyd agrees. 'Foliage shape and texture is just as important. And I always try to mix shrubs into my herbaceous borders,' says Arabella. ‘They provide contrast in shape and texture, as well as creating a good background for other plants’.
Depending on their shape and how they are planted, a border (or multiples of borders and beds) can add a sense of formality or fluidity, they can disguise an eyesore or enhance a feature. That's the function bit they perform. For many gardeners though, the border is the ultimate expression of gardening artistry, botanic knowledge and skill: a place to show off or experiment, to juxtapose shapes, colours and textures.
As you'll see from the examples below, borders and beds can be any shape and any size - the only limitations are your imagination and the amount of space you have in the garden. And the amount of upkeep you are prepared to commit to, too. Because there is no getting around the fact that borders and beds can require a good bit of work throughout the year. Providing structure, colour, interest and scent, however, they are absolutely worth it.
Eva Nemeth1/15This large, curving border in our garden editor Clare Foster's garden was created from scratch in spring 2018. With the help of her family, Clare dug over the border, enriched the soil with compost and planted it with a mixture of grasses and herbaceous plants, carefully chosen to ensure interest in each season. Shown here in July, it includes magenta Penstemon ‘Garnet’, pale Scabiosa ochroleuca and tall spires of Verbascum chaixii ‘Album’ in a haze of Stipa gigantea.
Mimi Connolly - Photography,Marcus Barnett Studio - Garden Design.2/15In this Cotswolds garden by designer Marcus Barnett, a steel-edged reflection pool has been softened with naturalistic planting in the bed to the left and beyond. At one end, a Malus ‘Evereste’ creates an elegant focal point, its multi-stem form allowing views across the garden.
Sabina Ruber3/15Kiftsgate in the Cotswolds is a 100 year old garden famed for its roses which have been cultivated by three generations of women. The beds of the exuberantly planted sundail garden are filled with Paeonia lactiflora ‘Bowl of Beauty’ and Rosa ‘Rita’ whichprovide vibrant splashes of pink.
Simon Griffiths4/15Clipped box balls add to the sense of undulation in the serpentine herbaceous borders in the gardens of Bloomfield, an extravagantly romantic garden set against the dramatic landscape of New South Wales.
Andrew Montgomery5/15The slate-clad terrace of the garden designer Marcus Barnett's small urban garden is surrounded by borders containing soft-textured herbaceous plants and grasses, with box spheres and hummocks for structure.
Andrew Montgomery6/15One of the most striking elements of Marcus's garden is a fence with a curving motif made from steam-bent iroko wood. The border planting is low maintenance, with many of Marcus's favourite herbaceous plants, such as pale yellow Achillea 'Taygetea' and starry-flowered Astrantia major 'Large White'.
Alexander James7/15A curved bath swings by architectural elements (including a climbing frame for the children) and planting including white gaura, pink echinacea and ornamental grasses in this garden designed by Miria Harris.
Eva Nemeth8/15A relaxed terrace, where pale gravel brings light to the area sheltered by a mature crab apple. In this Emily Erlam garden in London simple, comfortable furniture is nestled against a wall created from a bed of Trachelospermum jasminoides and a clipped structural planting of box, Ilex crenata and Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Golf Ball’ in terracotta pots.
Rachael Smith9/15This view from Louise Jones' garden back towards her house shows us just how a west London home can have all the charm and comfort of an English country cottage. It is planted with roses, geraniums and penstemon in shades of pink and violet.
Rachel Warne10/15Sam McKnight's maximalist garden has been designed to be filled and it has been generously planted with dahlias, lilies, crocosmia and other herbaceous perennials.
Ngoc Minh Ngo11/15A limestone terrace at the front of the house at a Dartmouth project by Dan Pearson is bordered by mounds of clipped Phillyrea angustifolia and softened by Erigeron karvinskianus, Verbena bonariensis and white lavender. Magnolia x loebneri ‘Merrill’ provides a taller accent.
Ngoc Minh Ngo12/15Alongside the pool is a luxuriantly planted bed with Dierama pulcherrimum, Dianthus carthusianorum, agapanthus and salvias among a sea of grasses. Lined in the same grey limestone as the paving, it is a calm body of water that reflects the trees and sky. ‘We pared the hard materials right down – the landscape here is king,’ explains Dan Pearson.
Andrew Kearton / Alamy Stock Photo13/15Gravel gardens are all the rage. This one at RHS Bridgewater, Worsley is filled with drought tolerant plants including yellow mullein, lavender, Stipa tenuissima and Stachys byzantina.
Andrew Montgomery14/15With views of the Dorset hills beyond, Jasper Conran's cottage garden borders offer a succession of blooms for him to enjoy picking throughout spring, summer and autumn. In early summer, a romantic tangle of roses, foxgloves, lilies, forget-me-nots, lime green Euphorbia polychroma.
Andrew Montgomery15/15In Pip Morrison’s garden, designed by Kim Wilkie, borders come into their own in high summer, with a rich mixture of cottage-garden favourites, including magenta Dahlia ‘Admiral Rawlings’, pale pink rose ‘Souvenir de St Anne’s’ and Phlox paniculata‘Doghouse Pink’. Flowers such as cerise Phlox paniculata ‘Wenn Schon Denn Schon’, spiky Eryngium giganteum and vibrant hollyhocks, grown from seed collected in France, mix in abundant profusion.
