Key elements of Arts and Crafts garden design can still be used to inspire modern gardens today.
The late 19th century movement produced some of the world’s most famous and influential gardens, which continue to have an enormous influence on how gardens are grown today.
Get inspired by arts and crafts designs and incorporate some personality into garden ideas for your modern backyard.
Here the UK’s National Trust gardener advises some key items to include if you’re planning a garden with a traditional appeal.
(Image source: National Trust Images / John Miller)
Arts and Crafts Garden Design – Where to start
An arts and crafts garden design is, of course, the perfect choice for anyone trying to create a backyard original to match the style of an arts and crafts home.
Rosie Files, Principal Gardener at the National Trust, explains that “our contemporary gardening approaches—such as gardening with awareness of nature, and thinking of the garden as an additional living space—come from the Arts and Crafts period.”
At the heart of the Arts and Crafts movement—as promoted by Morris & Co since the 1860s—was the reaction against industrialization and mass production. There was a desire to revive craftsmanship and restore simplicity and honesty in how buildings and furnishings were created. This extended to the Arts and Crafts garden – the most thought of British English gardens.
“Adapting the words of William Morris, You have nothing in your garden that you do not know is useful, or that you think is beautiful. The goals of valuing nature, simplicity, and utility are achievable in any garden, Rosie says.
1. See the garden as an extension of the house
(Image source: National Trust Images/James Dobson)
The arts and crafts garden is an extension of the home and an outdoor living and entertaining space.
When we use our barbecue outside, or include outdoor kitchen ideas that are close enough to the house for accessibility, we have garden and arts and crafts designers to thank for the idea.
“The garden was seen as a place for socializing, a recreational space with spots, or garden rooms to be enjoyed,” explains Patrick Swan, National Trust Parks and Gardens Consultant.
“The gardening industry has come to be based on a local type of garden, achievable in urban real estate by the average homeowner,” adds Patrick.
Embrace this aspect of arts and crafts garden design and incorporate ideas of patio for relaxation, or areas for sports and recreation and divide them into outdoor “rooms.”
“Think of visual connections through repetition from one house to the next,” Rosie adds.
2. Use natural, handmade items in the garden
(Image source: National Trust Images / Carole Drake)
Arts and crafts gardens incorporate the use of natural, often local materials, and traditional handicrafts, while respecting regional traditions.
“The gardens were created with natural finishes, in harmony with the built environment so that you can sit in your garden and relax,” says Patrick.
To mimic this style, use natural, handcrafted elements—”like willow and hazel trusses, or natural wood benches,” suggests Rosie Fyles.
When planning backyard landscaping ideas, look for local materials that complement and reflect the home’s texture.
3. Draw on the surrounding landscape
(Image source: National Trust Images / Jonathan Buckley)
The Arts and Crafts Garden will sit comfortably and harmoniously within the local natural environment.
Home and garden work together. It’s as if the house originated in the garden, explains Patrick Swan, and the house fits into the landscape, with farming wrapping its arms around the characteristics of the house.
When planning flower bed ideas, “paint the landscape around you where possible—link in color, texture, and even the varieties of wild plants found locally,” says Rosie Phyllis.
The whole garden should be in sympathy with its surroundings, with natural beauty and aesthetic effect, always combined with functionality.
4. Strong architectural style design for the garden
(Image source: National Trust Images / Ellen Rooney)
The Arts and Crafts gardens have a strong architectural style. “This is not only about hard landscaping, but also in using cut topiary, forming fast-growing hedges,” Rosie Fyles explains.
Built-in architectural elements include terraces, sometimes with steps and balustrades.
For example, the Goddards City of Arts and Crafts park has three terraces. The planting closest to home is formal, then planting becomes increasingly informal as you move away from home. Rosie explains that the low porch has winding paths and a rock garden.
“To create a modern arts and crafts garden, keep it simple, but make sure the garden has ‘good bones’—create an interesting structure with solid landscaping, trees, and shrubs,” she adds.
5. Abundant plant flower beds
(Image source: National Trust Images / John Miller)
The spirit of the Arts and Crafts era was to fill beds with abundantly flowering home garden plants.
These included romantic plants, such as roving climbers, foxglove drift, iris, roses, peonies, rosemary, lavender, nepeta, and delphinium. Rosie explains that the herbaceous border is planted in a natural style and closely planted in color drifts.
When choosing garden color schemes, the planting board will complement the building materials, helping the garden to sit comfortably and harmoniously with the house.
(Image source: National Trust Images/Robert Morris)
Many of the flowers selected were the same as would be used in home gardening styles of Victorian garden design. However, what characterizes the grassy borders of an arts and crafts garden are often the strong geometric lines of the beds, and the overgrown flowers combined with the solid landscaping.
“What I love about arts and crafts gardens is the attention to detail that goes into everything. Individual details are beautiful, but the sum of these parts together is food for the eyes and soul,” Rosie says.