BillyOh.com

50 Cottage Garden Ideas to Make Your Space Enchanting

Cottage gardens use an informal design filled with dense planting and timeless garden furniture pieces. Whether you have a very small garden or a long yard space, these ideas can come in handy!

We’ve compiled 50 design inspirations to transform your cottage garden into a homely, yet functional garden space you can enjoy.

Let’s take a look!

1. Flowers on iron arch

Place an archway at your garden entrance and decorate it with pretty climbing flowers for a beautiful walkway. 

Metal sun arch with rose climbers
Image Credit: Wonderlane

2. Lavender flowers

Add beautiful, fragrant flowers that add colour and scent to your cottage garden. 

banner content
Cotswold Lavender, Snowshill
Image Credit: Flickr, Amanda Slater

3. Wooden fence and entrance

Add a wooden picket fence or any garden screen ideas to the borders for a natural, informal look. Climbing flowers will bring beautiful, natural colour to your entrance. 

Chartist Cottage, WD3 Heronsgate
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

4. DIY raised trellis

You could craft your own trellis tent with different climbing plants or flowers to create a cute garden focal point. 

Clementi community farm
Image Credit: Flickr, Jnzl’s Photos

5. Bench under flowers

Grab yourself a seat in the shade beneath your flowering trees for a beautiful spot to relax and enjoy a cold drink on those sunny days. 

Wooden garden bench under a Wisteria tree
Image Credit: Pexels

6. Small path and flowers

Decorate the sides of your garden path with some pretty flowers of different colours, so you enjoy the natural look every time you take your afternoon walk.

Cottage Garden Flower Border in Suffolk, UK
Image Credit: Flickr, ukgardenphotos

7. Relaxing backyard with flowers

Sometimes, all you need is a comfy chair to enjoy the view of your garden and relax every day.

Almonry Gardens - Battle
Image Credit: Flickr, Mark

8. Colourful garden bed

Add a variety of coloured flowers and plants of different sizes to create a unique, wild-looking flower bed in your cosy cottage garden. 

Cottage backyard with rows of bright Fuchsia flowers
Image Credit: Public Domain Pictures

9. Glass and wood garden shed

A nice place to read or relax in the afternoons while still making the most out of the sunlight.

A dog peeking through a large cabin window
Image Credit: Pxhere

10. Cosy gardening patio

Make your patio more cosy with scattered plant pots, climbing vines, and a mini garden pond!

Cottage garden in Berkeley
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

11. Front yard flower garden

You could add a small bird bath amongst your colourful blooms to attract some winged friends and other wildlife to your garden.

The resident cat presides over the entrance to its front garden
Image Credit: Flickr, JR P

12. Cut flower garden

Start your own cutting flower garden today! Use flowers that are suitable for table arrangements and vases that will last a while once they’ve been cut.

Roses, sunflowers, sweet peas and tulips would make a great addition to your space.

Rosemoor cottage garden
Image Credit: Flickr, Howard Stanbury

13. Grass and flowers

You could go for a simple setup and have some neatly cut grass amongst your flower beds to enjoy in your garden.

Stone house cottage garden
Image Credit: Flickr, Tony Hisgett

14. Garden corner with tree

A tree will provide an area of natural shade in your cottage garden to enjoy on a hot, sunny day.  

Bird bath and garden beds beneath a giant English oak tree in the Gamble Cottage Garden
Image Credit: Flickr, denisbin

15. Garden backdoor with gravel

Decorate the entrance to your garden with some colourful flowers, and add a winding gravel path with stepping stones to avoid slipping on a rainy day. 

16. Shed and small table

Add a cosy seating area outside your shed to enjoy some fresh air while getting some shade.

Small wooden shed tucked in a cottage garden
Image Credit: Pxhere

17. Modern black shed

Give your shed a contemporary feel with a black finish to help your colourful planting stand out further. 

Black and white wooden house on brown grass field under white sky
Image Credit: Pexels

18. Garden door with trellis and flowers

Spruce up the doorway to your home with some trellis and pretty climbing flowers. 

Metal iron with pink rose climbers
Image Credit: Plantly

19. Old steps as vertical garden

A great way to give an old ladder a second life is by transforming it into a vertical garden to place your pots. This DIY project would look perfect in balcony gardens, as well!

20. Flowers and table on black wall

Some colourful or white flowers against a black fence or wall provide a beautiful backdrop for a seating area. 

21. Recycled staircase

Add some colourful flowers or plants and you’ll have an appealing garden decoration on a budget.

22. Blue tones

Try matching your garden furniture with your flowers to give your garden a colour theme. 

Seaside cottage garden with blue fencing
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

23. Colourful front yard

Passersby will stop and admire your front yard with an appealing flower arrangement like this one.

A June front yard Cotswolds cottage garden.
Image Credit: Flickr, Ed

24. Path with flower arch

You won’t want to miss your afternoon walk passing below this beautiful, natural arch.

‘The Gardens of the Rose’, Hertfordshire, England
Image Credit: Flickr, ukgardenphotos

25. Fairy tale pergola

A simple, rustic wooden pergola is transformed into a beautiful walkway when it’s decorated with colourful flowers.

26. English cottage garden

Billowing beds of beautiful, coloured flowers will provide the perfect setting to complement the cottage architecture. 

Cottage Garden in Tissington, Derbyshire
Image Credit: Flickr, JR P

27. Gravel garden with pots

Gravel is a budget friendly way to overhaul your garden space. It’s easier to maintain than grass and you can still have plants or flowers using pots and raised planters.

28. Flower crate

Recycle an old wine box to create some appealing raised flower beds that you can place anywhere in your garden, or even inside your house.

Window flower crate with climbers on the left and a DIY trellis on the right
Image Credit: Pexels

29. Tiny cottage garden

Small, peaceful and colourful. You don’t need much else to have a cosy, relaxing spot in your backyard.

30. Bricks and flowers

These dazzling hollyhocks provide a beautiful border to this garden path. 

31. Plant and flower baskets

Recycle unused baskets as plant pots to decorate small spots in your garden, such as the area around the base of tree trunks. 

Various of flowers collected in one weathered rattan basket
Image Credit: Pxhere

32. Backyard rustic corner

Add rustic shutters and chairs to transform a corner of your cottage garden into a cosy seating area.  

33. Corner seating spot

Create your own cosy nook for a spot of reading and relaxation in an unused corner of your garden. Add some climbing vines to decorate your mini hideaway. 

Corner seating spot with a bistro table and rattan chair
Image Credit: Pxhere

34. Stone steps and grass

These unique circular stone steps are the perfect addition to a sloped garden to create multiple levels instead. The hidden planting between steps adds a splash of colour. 

35. Fence with flowers

Be sure to pick the right colours for your garden. With purple flowers, it’s best to go with a light wood fence for good colour contrast.

Front backyard fence with rose climbers
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

36. Small corner with gravel and table

If you’re short on space, be sure to make the most of every inch. Add a dining table and chairs to create a cosy nook for dinners with friends. 

37. White and green

If you prefer a more formal cottage garden, you could stick to adding white flowers amongst the greenery. 

38. Slim garden with deck and flowers

You could use weathered boards for your decked path and add planting of different heights and textures to complement the cottage garden theme. 

39. Bench with flower shade

Add some pretty flowers or a trellis above your garden bench to create a cool shade for when you’re relaxing on a sunny afternoon.

Wooden bench, arbour and native Azalea
Image Credit: Flickr, JR P

40. Lavender and brick path

Place a simple brick path in your garden so you don’t damage your grass when walking. 

41. Table under flower arch

Perfect for those outdoor meals whilst you enjoy the beauty and fragrance of the flowers.

42. Garden window or mirror

Place a window or a mirror in an unexpected wall of your garden to make it look bigger and add extra light in an enclosed area. 

43. Trees and plants in pots

Pots are a great choice if you don’t have much space to grow plants or flowers in your garden but you still want to add some colour against a plain backdrop.

Potted orange trees
Image Credit: Flickr, Choo Yut Shing

44. Heavenly arranged garden

For a more formal cottage garden, use symmetrical planting and simple colours to create a beautiful courtyard space. 

Cottage garden, RHS Wisley
Image Credit: Geograph UK

45. Raised garden bed for trees

Place a raised bed around the trunk of your trees to add some grass or colourful flowers for extra decoration.

46. Cosy cottage

Stepping stones make the perfect pathway for a natural cottage garden. Line the path with scattered flowers of different colours and heights.

47. Backyard garden with long path

Add a long path to reach every corner of your evergreen garden.

Miromesnil Garden with long, narrow path
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

48. Brick shed

Build a cosy, tucked away space that’s perfect to work or read a book in peace and quiet.

Brick shed
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

49. Stone path with small flowers

Plant some tiny flowers to grow between your stepping stones to create the most appealing pathway in the whole village.

50. Garden pond and bridge

There’s nothing like a water feature or stream in your backyard to help you relax while listening to the calming sound of running water. 

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens - Boothbay
Image Credit: Flickr, JR P

Round-up

Cottage gardens are seen as romantic, whimsical spaces with an informal feel and an ‘anything goes’ type of style. Whether you’re looking for planting ideas or the best suggestions for your cottage garden path, we hope you’ve found some inspiration in our list!

So why not sit out and enjoy your new cottage garden on some BillyOh furniture? Just click the button below to browse.

Shop Rattan Garden Furniture