Green garden design in the Cotswolds

This gorgeous little garden near Wotton-Under-Edge wraps around a tiny cottage built in 1804. With such a beautiful setting (and a Grade 2 listed building), the garden needed tweaking to lead the eye to the lovely views beyond the boundary , while providing a sense of seclusion from the road that passes directly in front. We used tall, airy plants to provide privacy without cutting off the views, added plenty of plants for pollinators and a stunning multi-stemmed hawthorn for the birds.

Eco-friendly upgrades:

Hedgehog home - if you’re lucky enough to live in the country, there’s a decent chance a hedgehog is visiting to help with slug control. We made a hog-sized hole in the fence, because hedgehogs travel a mile or more every night in search of food, snuffling along boundaries to find places they can squeeze through.

Food for birds - hawthorns provide berries in winter, pollen in spring and beautiful leaves in autumn. They’re a favourite food of many birds, and the food plant of many moth caterpillars. We also added teasel, which is an important winter food source for birds. Its dramatic stems look great all winter and provide sheltering spots for insects.