How to Create a Romantic Garden | Jo Thompson

If you are creating a garden from scratch, resist the temptation to reveal everything at once, and create glimpses rather than full views. Larger spaces may offer more opportunity for this, but the principle is the same - whatever the size of your garden, you can create a sense of intrigue and surprise.

Think of it as a series of scenes: you have the flowers first, followed by some taller structural planting which creates a kind of punctuation. There might be hedging, and perhaps just visible above it, tree foliage could create another layer to draw the focus along.

Structures can play a powerful role in forming this sense of a journey, and the mind immediately goes to an archway smothered in roses. Romance in an instant – and there’s a sense of magic too as you wander through this space into another part of the garden. Pergolas have the same effect, creating paths and walkways from one place to another.

Roses are at the very heart of romantic planting. I love varieties that tumble and scramble, their clusters of flowers softening the structure supporting them. Rosa ‘Adélaïde d’Orléans’, with her blush-pink flowers fading to cream will scramble happily into light shade or even into a tree if allowed, creating that slightly wild, painterly effect I so love. Rosa ‘Félicité Perpétue’, flowering a little later, has creamy pompom clusters that look particularly beautiful when viewed from below on an arch or walkway. Both have a gentle scent and an old-world charm that feels entirely at home in a romantic setting.

Add scent and you add atmosphere. Place pots of night-scented stock or tobacco plants near where you sit in the evening and the atmosphere somehow softens. In late winter and early spring, when we might not be sitting outside for very long, a Daphne bholua ‘Peter Smithers’ by a path in daily use can truly uplift you. Fragrance has a direct route to memory; it anchors a garden in the heart.

It’s important to keep things simple. A seat beneath a tree can be enough to create a secret place at the end of the garden. An arbour can work beautifully in much the same way, transforming an overlooked corner into a sheltered nook immersed in planting. Tucked amongst planting, it creates a sense of cosiness - somewhere to sit quietly, to take in the garden from within. 

Successful lighting can transform a garden into something magical after dusk. Layers of different types of light create different atmospheres and moods. A soft wash of light across foliage lends depth and shadow; a gentle pool of light around a seat can tempt you outside even as it gets cooler.

String lights or fairy lights threaded through branches or along a pergola create a relaxed, almost festival atmosphere - joyful and informal, easily installed and removed for different occasions. Tealights and candles, placed carefully along a table or tucked safely into lanterns, bring a more intimate glow. As daylight fades, these small spots of light adds another layer of romantic atmosphere. Just remember to turn the lights off when you go back in -  artificial light confuses wildlife.

For me, creating romance always begins with atmosphere rather than a planting list. When I visit a new garden, I don’t see a finished design immediately. Instead, I sense how the space wants to feel - how it might be used, enjoyed, inhabited. I imagine it as the backdrop to life’s moments: friends gathered with glasses in hand, children playing amongst the planting, someone sitting with a cup of tea in the late afternoon sun.

Gardens are always growing and changing. Plants thrive, they sulk, they surprise us. The weather means each year’s growing patterns are different, and the key to creating that romantic, relaxed look is to be able to step back a bit. You don’t want everything to feel stiff and highly manicured – you want it to feel natural, and once it feels natural, it feels inviting. A romantic evolves over time, and it absolutely does not need to be huge. It simply needs layers, softness, scent, subtle structure, and a suggestion that something beautiful lies just beyond the next archway.

And perhaps, most importantly, it should feel like you.

Jo Recommends for Romantic Evenings

Sussex Arbour

A well-placed arbour has the ability to transform a garden corner entirely. The Sussex Arbour creates a sense of enclosure without feeling heavy or dominant. Clothed in climbers — perhaps a softly scented rose or honeysuckle — it becomes part of the garden, allowing you to sit within the garden. There is something deeply romantic about that feeling of shelter and intimacy, particularly as plants find their way over the structure over time, softening the lines and giving it a sense of permanence and belonging.

Tealights

It is often the smallest gestures that create the greatest atmosphere. Simple tealights, placed in glass holders along a path or gathered on a garden table, introduce a flickering cosiness and sense of welcome that transforms a space at dusk. Used sparingly, they add an immediate touch of magic.

Jo writes The Gardening Mind, her weekly Substack where she shares planting insight, design thinking, seasonal inspiration and behind-the-scenes reflections. Read in over 160 countries, it has become a global community of garden and plant lovers drawn to her distinctive approach.

https://jothompson.substack.com/