You don’t need to love gardening to love your garden

Designing for real life, not just for plant lovers

Some of the best gardens I’ve designed have been for people who don’t actually like gardening.

They enjoy being outside, they love a cup of tea in the morning sun or watching the dog potter about. But pruning, feeding, deadheading? Not their thing.

And that’s fine because a garden isn’t a test.

It’s not a personality type, and it definitely doesn’t come with a rulebook that says you have to enjoy weeding to deserve a beautiful space.

The guilt is real… and unnecessary

You’d be amazed how many people tell me, usually in a slightly apologetic voice:

“We don’t really know what we’re doing…”

“I’m not very green-fingered…”

“It’s probably too small / too messy / too far gone…”

There’s this unspoken pressure that you need to love gardening to invest in your garden, that unless you’re out there every Sunday with secateurs, you’re somehow doing it wrong.

Let me be clear: that’s nonsense.

You don’t have to do the garden to enjoy it

What matters isn’t how much time you spend maintaining it. It’s how the space makes you feel when you step into it.

Calm, open. Invited, proud.Like it’s yours, not something you’re behind on.

And that’s where good design comes in.

Designing for non-gardeners looks a bit like this:

• Structure that does the heavy lifting - so it still looks good in the quiet seasons

• Planting that’s intuitive - low maintenance, but full of texture and life

• Spaces that flow naturally - so you don’t have to think about where to sit, stand, or store the bin

• A sense of ease - not another part of the house that needs “doing”
  

The goal isn’t to turn you into a gardener, it’s to create a space you want to be in, that makes sense for your lifestyle and that gives something back, without asking too much in return.

A final thought

You don’t have to be passionate about plants. You don’t have to have a Pinterest board or a Latin name in your back pocket. You just have to want a space that works, for you, your people, and your pace of life.

And if that’s where you are, that’s more than enough to start.