Cotswold Cottage

The owners wanted a garden that felt entirely at home beside their traditional Cotswold cottage.

The design needed to strengthen the connection between the house and its rural surroundings, while creating a beautiful and usable garden with greater value for wildlife. Biodiversity was central to the brief, rather than being treated as an addition once the main design was complete.

The cottage sits within a characterful rural setting, where the existing landscape and natural contours of the land played an important role in shaping the garden.

The opportunity was to create a stronger sense of structure and purpose without imposing a formal layout that felt disconnected from the property. The design needed to sit gently within the site, preserve its established character and allow the garden to feel as though it had evolved naturally over time.

The layout responds to the contours of the land, creating a series of spaces that feel connected to both the cottage and the surrounding countryside.

Routes through the garden are informal and immersive, encouraging movement through the planting rather than simply viewing it from the house. Areas of enclosure and openness create changing experiences, while carefully positioned planting helps frame views and settle the garden into its wider landscape.

Habitat creation was considered throughout the design, providing food, shelter and movement corridors for birds, insects and small mammals.

Natural, understated materials were selected to complement the age and character of the cottage and to weather gracefully within the landscape.

The planting combines native species, pollinator-friendly plants and loose naturalistic layers designed to provide a long season of interest. Structural shrubs and small trees create shelter and permanence, while flowering perennials and grasses bring movement, texture and changing seasonal character.

Together, the materials and planting create a garden that feels timeless, ecologically rich and closely connected to its setting.

Location: The Cotswolds
Year: 2023
Service: Full Garden Design
Landscape contractor: GEOS
Photography: Langlands Studio