Edinburgh cottage garden

a country garden design in the heart of Edinburgh

This Edinburgh garden design project was a joy to work on from start to finish.

Our clients had recently removed a large extension from the side of their new home and their garden was in much need of a transformation. They asked us for a soft, cottage style garden with rich, abundant planting and traditional materials with a natural feel.

We were asked to redesign the gardens around the front, side and back of our clients' home.

They were very keen to have a garden full of plants and colour and with space to grow vegetables.

We began by creating a large patio in the space where the old extension had been. Kitchen doors open out onto a large seating and BBQ area surrounded by raised beds and a water feature.

The railway sleeper planters terrace the garden and are filled with summer loving perennials.

At the side of the house large tumbling sandstone boulders add a dramatic feel to the rock garden. The planting here is a delicate mix of grasses, umbellifers and structural domes of Hebe.

A gravel path leading from the driveway and garage journeys under a staggered pergola walk covered in climbing roses and Clematis.

It is surrounded by herbaceous borders filled with perennials in shades of white, blue and purple which progress into a hot border of yellow, orange and red flowering plants.

The planting design in the garden features a mix of herbaceous perennials, mixed shrubs and specimen trees.

We worked around the existing mature planting, removing what wasn't working and pruning and reshaping what was to stay.

before & design

We originally designed a Persian layout for the kitchen garden but this was later re-created as a simple vegetable garden with raised beds for our clients to start growing their own vegetables and fruit.