Courtyard Garden

Your stylish, off-beat garden is a rich, deep oasis of green, full of exotic greenery and heady scent. It's a secluded space to sit in the evening or heat of the day, surrounded by dramatic foliage plants and elegant flowers in a subtle and sophisticated palette. The underlying structure is formal, and there's a strong visual unity, and satisfyingly robust planting, in a wealth of beautiful pots and containers. You enjoy the unusual, and don't desire your garden to be read in one glance. You delight in choosing uncommon plants and creating surprises.

A green and jungly oasis in the town or city is easy to create by planting a mass of luxuriant climbers and broad-leaved evergreens. Choose summer jasmine for its rampant, feathery foliage and sublime, heady evening scent, or Japanese honeysuckle, an evergreen honeysuckle with small, sweetly perfumed yellow flowers in late summer.

Mass pots and containers of all sizes, filling them with seasonal interest and moving them around for maximum effect. If you have a sunny wall, figs grow well in pots, have large, shade-giving leaves, and of course deliciously sexy fruit.

Annual plants can give instant effect, and if it's height you're after for privacy or shade, you'll be delighted with Morning Glory. It soon climbs to a great height, and carries the most outrageously stylish white, blue or rich purple trumpets. Sow Nicotiana in lime green or white for its almost luminous quality at night, coupled with an intense and heady scent.

Use the gentle rhythm of running water to drown out the sound of the traffic: whether your style is formal or contemporary, ready-made water features are everywhere these days, and are a great stress-reliever as you sit with that long, cool, after-work drink. Install it against a wall to save space, and surround it with exotic-looking evergreen ferns for a really soothing, nurturing experience.

You can start creating your courtyard garden today! Our Design Your Garden pages show how we can help you makeover a whole border in your chosen style, from design and planting plans to buying all the plants you'll need. Like to take a look? Go there now!

There are five other dream garden styles for you to browse through if this isn't quite what you're after.
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