Our country is rich in cultural influences, though it is rare for an Indiana client to pine for a backyard that channels a different country. However, our client is a landscape architect who married an Englishman, so it makes sense that she would think outside the box. She created a lovely English landscape design that would give her spouse a space that made him feel more at home. She did a lot of the early installation but has also brought us in to provide heavy maintenance and supplemental plantings over the years.

When we think of English gardens, there are typically two ways to go: the cottage garden or the formal garden. The cottage style has a free form look, lush with flowers, bushes, garden gates and trellised vines. The formal design has a cleaner look with a focus on symmetry to add a sense of order. Balance is essential to both designs, but the difference is in how symmetrical elements are used.

Our client created a formal garden by creating many straight lines throughout the space. From the back of the house, there is a row of deciduous trees and beds with perennials for color. Beyond lays a center rectangle of turf that offers a beautiful view to the back of the garden. In the midst of the long lawn is a lateral access to the left and right aspects of the design. These lines of turf create four planting beds, filled with a plethora of plant varieties.

Placing trees, bushes and plants in the large beds was done purposefully. Large trees served both as anchors – driving the main theme for each bed – and floating trees – those planted outside the beds to bring additional visual interest.  Within each bed she planted roses, grasses, flower trees, and varying flowering shrubs. One of the things we loved about our client’s design was the whimsical and wild look of the plant choices within the formal footprint. There was no plan for topiary and other highly sculpted plants, rather a more natural look that would not be seen in true formal gardens. Best of both worlds, in our view!

We thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of helping create a formal landscape. This project is still the only one that required me to use a string line to ensure the beds were exactly straight! As the years have progressed, we have helped her make other changes to her backyard. Last year we removed honeysuckle that had taken over the back corner of the landscape and prepped it for a more free-form garden she had designed. She also helped her prep her yard for flower farming. It is a joy to be a part of all the iterations of this lovely landscape design.

Questions about this English landscape design project or what we can do for your backyard? Send us an email or give us a call at (317) 997-4803.