A large and pretty cottage garden crammed with flowering plants, also veggies and fruit trees

Behind a picket fence and a lychgate draped with climbing roses, Claire’s cottage garden is filled with flowers and fragrance. Paths curve through beds crammed with a charming, colourful mix of roses, perennials and bulbs, including many old-fashioned cottage garden favourites. To the side, enclosed by hedges and backed by a bed of standard Iceberg roses, a small meadow garden with spring flowering annuals grows beneath a stand of 8 white-flowered crepe myrtle trees.

The front gives no clue about the scope of the beautifully laid out garden behind the house. A sweeping lawn is surrounded by generous garden beds planted with flowering shrubs, roses, iris, lavender, salvias and Claire’s collection of hardy geraniums (cranesbill).

Several large trees shade hellebores, hydrangea, aquilegia, lilies, camellias, foxgloves and other shade lovers. A glory vine grows over a bespoke iron-work pergola and shelters an outdoor sitting area that looks out over the garden.

Several arches support roses; Claire loves aromatic plants, and most of the 150+ roses in the garden have been selected for their fragrance.

A sturdy chook house provides roomy accommodation for several spoilt hens who can range in the small adjoining orchard. Fruit trees, including a huge plum tree, are dotted throughout the garden and in pots, and veggies thrive in six raised beds.  Claire’s charming ‘She Shed’, built by partner Paul and friend Scott, is a recent much-anticipated addition.

Claire’s garden is a delightful mix of cottage and country - much loved and well-tended!

Opening with Christine's Cottage Garden across the road at Number 17.