The Rose Garden

After a recent visit to Anglesey Abbey (owned by The National Trust), I came home feeling inspired, thanks to the intoxicatingly sweet sensory delight provided by their rose garden. Although their formal layout is glorious to behold, I decided that a romantic rose garden designed in a cottage garden style would best suit our intended use, plot, and home.

I am keen to create a garden that will cocoon us with colour and scent through the summer, strengthened by additional planting to provide year-round interest when the rose blooms are not centre stage.

Here, I will record my journey in creating this garden, from the development of my brief, through the design stage, through to implementation. I hope you enjoy the journey...

1. The brief

Here, I lay out my brief. I consider the ways in which we intend to use the space, alongside the feeling that I hope to evoke. Within this context, I consider potential planting styles, colours, and changes through the seasons.

Coming soon...

2. Drawing up a plan

I'll need to make sure that my design fits the scale of the plot. Here, I will draw up a plan of the plot that we intend to use for the Rose Garden, and show you what space we are working with.

Coming soon...

3. Creating the design

This is one of the most fun parts of the process: dreaming of the possibilities, playing with ideas, imagining the space transformed in a multitude of ways through the seasons!

Coming soon...

4. Preparing the plot

Before we can truly get started, there are a few preparatory steps to take, such as lifting old materials off site, levelling uneven parts of the plot, and marking up the site according to the plan.

Coming soon...

5. Laying the foundations

Once the site is prepared, we can put the hard landscaping in place. This provides us with the bare bones to the new garden, and this is usually where you start to see things taking some shape...

Coming soon...

6. Planting the boundaries

The first plants to go into the plot will be the boundary plants. As the first plants to go into position for the Rose Garden, this moment will feel like a major milestone!

Coming soon...

7. Preparing the beds

Marking up the positions of the flowerbeds is the easy part...digging them and preparing the soil is where the workout truly begins...!