The best country garden designs

Country garden design offers oodles of opportunity to experiment with colours, shapes and plant species. The idea of throwing caution to the wind, like a packet of wild seeds, can be both liberating and hugely rewarding. But an overgrown border of wild blooms takes more work and planning than you might expect. Find out how to create cottage garden style - in dedicated areas or your whole garden, large or small - with these beautiful country garden designs - from delicate rose archways to spectacular borders bursting with colour...

White picket fence

The ultimate in twee - a white picket fence - avoids looking like something from an American cul-de-sac thanks to spear shaping on the panels and decoration from an abundance of flowers, including the delicate, bell-shaped pink and lilac Campanula and a scarlet climbing rose.
Poppy art

Create individual bursts of bright colour by mixing flower varieties in a border, such as this mixed planting of delphinium, papaver (perry's white, poppy) and tradescantia (trinity flower). Choose a range of heights to really fill the space.
Cut flower garden

An area dedicated to cut flowers will provide beautiful, year-round floral displays for inside the home.
Alliums

These exploding balls on delicate green stems are ideal for adding height and look stunning when clumped together. The variety pictured is 'Purple Sensation'.
Purple chaos

Purple alliums against pink climbing roses and purple lupins create a sense of organised chaos.
Meadow sweet

Large gardens can affect a meadow style with long grasses and intermingling sweeps of wild flowers. Pathways can be mowed in.
Rose archway

Rose archways can be both grand or dainty structures, depending on rose variety, frame and setting.
Deep borders

Deep, mixed borders of perennial plants create a symphony of colours. Typical wild perennial flowers include chrysanthemum, fennel foeniculum vulgare, daisy gloriosa and black-eyed Susan.
Flower shapes

A mixture of flower head shapes adds extra character to a colour schemed border. This purple and white summer border features white lupin, peony and purple cranesbill (Geranium).
Rustic features

A stone water feature creates a point of interest, surrounded by a mixed summer border of lillium, anthemis and dahlia. Ivy and roses climb the wall behind.
Wiley foxgloves

The proud foxglove is a mainstay of the cottage garden, growing wild in country roadside banks and ditches across England.
Contained country style

Small-scale country garden style can be achieved by planting a mix of herbs and shrubs including lavender, sage and rosemary to overflow from rustic style containers such as these galvanised metal pots, similar to those traditionally used on farms.
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