Double Delight Roses, Cosmos Blue Chinese Forget-Me-Nots, Eclipse Hydrangeas, Pink Camelot Foxgloves, Neptune Rose, sunflowers, Zinnia, Double Daylilies, Dahlias and a solar gazing globe come together in the Border Garden.

From Lawn to Legendary Dark Romantic English Fairytale Garden

I’m transforming my seemingly normal south suburban backyard into a Dark Romantic Fairytale Garden and I’m bringing you on this adventure with me.

It’s early in the evening on a long summer day. The sun is deep in the sky and setting fast. The last of the day’s strong golden rays of suddenly light burst forward blanketing the garden with in a veil of intense golden light. The garden ignites in a burst of colors of rich pinks and oranges, sultry reds, and deep oceanic blues and purple so dark they’re nearly black. The sun then fully sets, setting the sky into a rage of color. Evening settles in. Tiny pin pricks of fairy lights begin to glow all around the garden, the soft cast of each glowing light teases petals and every leaf it touches. A cool breeze rolls along the garden path, spreading the intoxicating scent of jasmine, lilacs, and rich roses. The moody garden comes to life, becoming the perfect setting for a dark romantic fairytale.

Er, rather that’s what I envision my garden to be: a Dark Romantic English Garden worthy of fairytales.

As someone who truly believes magic isn’t just for storybooks, I’m on a journey to weave Dark Bohemian Fairytale Romance into every aspect of my life, starting right here in my cottage I share with my husband, Max, and our Pomeranians, Aokū (Ow-Koo) and Louie, deep within the suburbs of Chicago.

Today, I’m continuing my quest of transforming my seemingly normal, small suburban back yard into the Dark Romantic English Garden I’ve read about in fairytales. During this stage of my adventure, I’ll be sharing my complete process of installing the Dark Romantic English Border Garden.

Be sure to catch up with this story

Chapter 1: My Dream Dark Romantic Fairytale Garden Begins

Chapter 2: Choosing My First Blooms: English Border and Cottage Garden Classics

At this stage in my life, I’ve learned that creating beauty around you is a powerful act of self-care and joy. I’m also old enough to realize that when you dream of something for several years, it’s time to put yourself first and finally take action to make dreams a reality. After coming home from my long 9-5 job, I want to smile as I step into my magical space where I enjoy unleashing my creativity and romanticize everyday living.

The Inspiration and Vision

My vision for the English Border garden begins with inspiration from castle gardens often depicted in the classic fairytale, Beauty and the Beast, the English gardens shown in Pride & Prejudice (c. 2004), and the magical gardens in nearly every romance fantasy novel (queue Spring Court vibes from “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sara J. Maas). I want to blend the richness of an old formal English garden with lots of roses, a small kitchen garden bursting with herbs, and plenty of cozy places to read, all within our small suburban backyard. The goal is to create a Dark Romantic English Fairytale Garden right outside my doorstep.

Planning and Installing the Dark Romantic English Border Garden

Taking additional inspiration from old Victorian walled gardens, the border garden will run along nearly the entire eastern part of our property's fence line , spanning approximately 60 feet in length and about four feet wide. I’ve decided to go with a winding garden edge that runs the entire length of the border garden which will allow for an abundance of space as the plants grow to maturity over the years…as well as room for more future plants (hehe).

The main functional goal of the border garden is privacy. Having a four foot wide garden will allow for a number of larger plants that will grow to be tall and whose leaves will densely fill out to block out our neighbor’s view. In addition to planting tall and dense foliage at the back of the border garden, I will install bamboo reed fencing to our existing stockade fence to offer even more privacy. With the reed fencing in place and a thick planting, the border garden should offer near complete privacy.

“Before” images of the backyard where the Border Garden is to be installed. Both images were taken in early May and you can see irises, hostas, and daylilies are well into their emergence from winter hibernation. Aokū is also seen here making her presence as Project Manager known.

What to Plant in The English Border Garden

When it comes to deciding what shrubs and plants to install in a garden, function, form, and color is at the forefront of the decision making process. Whatever is planted out in the back of the garden closest to the reed fencing should be the tallest and most dense to offer the most privacy first. It is also equally important to vary the green tones throughout the garden for visual depth, particularly when the flower-producers are not in bloom. Of course, the hues of florals should be carefully arranged according to a color story. Finally, all that is planted in our garden must be USDA Zone 5/6 tolerant as well as do best in full sun conditions.

For the tallest and thickest plants that will be closest to the reed fencing, I’ve selected to have:

Zebra grass

Pink Dinner Palate Hibiscus

Dogwood

Smoke bush

Lilac bush

The middle of the garden will provide the most visual interest throughout the year and so I’ve decided to plant out:

Roses

Hollyhocks

Hot Poker Bush

Sunflowers

Chinese Forget-Me-Nots

Delphiniums

Lupines

Foxgloves

Cosmos

Zinnias

Double Daylilies

These plants were selected because they are English garden classics, have excellent shape variation, and whose florals come in an array of deep dark color ways.

For specific varieties and colors of what I chose to plant in the border garden, read Chapter 2: “Choosing my First Blooms: English Border and Cottage Garden Classics.”

Arranging and Installing a Dark Romantic English Border Garden

Placement. Placement. Placement.

Viewpoints from Areas Along the Border Garden

There’s two general styles of ways to determine plant placement in a garden:

Do you want a gradual slope where the highest plants are in the back and least tallest in the front?

2. Or do you prefer height variation that may obscure some plants from one angle, yet are visible once a person’s viewpoint is changed.

Since the border garden runs nearly the entire length of the back yard and there will be multiple seating areas throughout the back yard, there will be multiple viewpoints. For these reasons I chose the latter planting style that will compliment the whimsy of varying plants both big and small next to each other in a single space, capturing the romance of an English garden.

Views of the border garden during the staging process as well as after several plants have already been installed. You can see in these images that the bamboo reed fencing has already been installed and has certainly added a large amount of privacy to the back yard. While the bamboo appears to be bright, it will quickly fade in the full sun and “silver up” to match the wood fencing. The winding border of the garden is visible, however, this will not be the final line of demarkation.

The Result

After six weeks of installing a plethora of plants, the result is a romantic English border garden brimming with foliage and florals. Reed fencing offers a near-solid background for privacy in addition to being a natural backdrop for the border garden. Deep midnight fountain grasses, rich hollyhocks and a smoke bush set the stage for jewel tone zinnias, dahlias, foxgloves, and English roses. Cosmos seeds scattered throughout add wispiness in between plants both tall and short, invite the viewer to continue along the garden to see what’s hiding behind.

As much as I would like to have my back yard completely transformed in one season, it’s quite possible this will take me the entire year to complete, maybe even longer. All in all, I feel I have a good vision of how I want the backyard to be experienced as well as a plan with practical framework in place for my backyard transformation.

I’m looking forward to continuing this journey of transforming my seemingly normal south suburban backyard into a Dark Romantic Fairytale Garden and I hope you’ll join me!

Adventure Awaits Us!

Chapter 3: Installing a Dark Romantic English Border Garden