50 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 JULY 2019Cottage gardening is brought up to date in this sloping garden, says Sue Bradley
E
DIBLE crops combined with
ornamental borders is the
hallmark of the traditional
cottage garden, but Andy and
Sue Green have brought theirs up to
date with subtle 21st century additions.
Triangular raised beds, weatherproof
outdoor seating, a greenhouse and a
rill that uses a ‘flowform’ sculpture to
manipulate the direction of the water
are just some of the modern touches
they have brought to their space.
Nevertheless, the garden, in Bussage,
near Stroud, Gloucestershire, remains
stylistically in keeping with their
18th-century stone cottage.“When we came here 11 years ago,
we gave the garden a couple of years to
see what came up,” explains Sue.
“The stone terracing at the top was
already in place and while it’s slightly
higgledy-piggledy, we’ve tried to work
with it. However, we didn’t try to restorethe large 1960s waterfall. We also
inherited a pair of yew trees, after
which the cottage takes its name.”The lawn had to go
One thing that did have to go was a
lawn at the top of the terracing, which
was replaced with a productive fruit
area and cutting garden, the latter
providing Sue with plenty of blooms
for flower arrangements.
“We quickly decided that lugging a
lawnmower up to the top of the garden
wasn’t for us,” laughs Andy.
The Greens had a head start when it
came to their collection of apple trees,Choose shrubs and perennials for their
attractive foliage as well as for their
flowers. Here, a berberis contrasts
beautifully with the long and thin
leaves of crocosmiaIdeas for gorgeous gardens
Get lookthe
Combining old and new
“Triangular raised
beds provide a
good harvest”
Photography by Peter Chatterton