By Hosea Omole
If you live in the countryside or you just like the look and feel of being in a country cottage, you may want to consider an easier, softer and a more informal garden style. Nothing brings out these qualities better than a rustic garden.
Forget the sleek and fine finishes that remind you of work and embrace the quirky, rough and unfinished ambience of a rustic garden style. Beyond the seemingly irregular lines and haphazard flower arrangements, you will discover a world of subtle qualities that make these gardens truly amazing.
Here are some of them:
Sound and Scent
Besides the abundant flower colour that is synonymous with a rustic garden, sounds and scents are important components too. Planning typically revolves around a central ornamental fountain, statuary or both. The sound that is produced by splashing or cascading water adds an extra dimension to the rustic garden. Wind chimes and chirping birds are also planned in to further reinforce the garden sounds.
Scented plants fill the rustic garden with their tantalising aroma not just for the users to enjoy but also to attract a large variety of butterflies. Oleander and Rosemary bushes, frangipani and cypress trees and a wide range of scented herbs make for a good proportion of the planting palette in a rustic garden.
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Taste of Nature
Edible plants also have their place in a rustic garden. Vines of passion fruits ramble over rough sawn timber pergolas. Lemon, olive, and plum trees line borders as well as the winding terra cotta paths. Smaller vegetables and fruits are confined in a vegetable garden at a corner or grown in terracotta containers and pots that enrich the hardscapes.
Alternatively, vegetable and fruits can be integrated into the border and island beds. When done this way, the entire garden becomes a natural haven that engages all the senses—sight, sound, smell, taste and even touch.
Furniture and decor
Rustic furniture and décor are used to strengthen the rustic style and create extra focal points within it. Start by using reclaimed materials to create new furniture and décor items for your rustic garden. Rustic gardens afford the perfect opportunity for Do ItYourself (DIY) enthusiasts to try out different pieces that truly personalise the garden.
You can also seek out antique pieces from yard sales, garden centres or collector items from places you visit. Just ensure that whatever you choose, it has that unfinished look and feel. Synthetic materials have no place in a rustic furniture scheme. Keep it as natural and as hand crafted as possible.
Maintenance
The easiest way to lose a rustic theme is to maintain too regularly. The mantra behind a rustic style is to keep it as natural as possible. The plants as well as materials and finishes should ideally be left to grow and weather gracefully and naturally.
This, however, does not squash the need to keep plant materials looking healthy and within bounds. Furniture too will often need refurbishment to keep them strong and safe.
Overall, maintenance must be subtle and barely visible to the ordinary eye.
