Decorating & Design
The Dreamiest Country Gardens From The H&H Archives
Published on April 18, 2024
The romance of a country garden is undeniable: maybe it’s the endless views of rolling lawns and mature trees, or the breezy beds filled with swaying flowers. Take a virtual tour of beautiful gardens in Ontario and Quebec, a cutting garden in PEI and a formal French-inspired garden in B.C. The results are inspiring and soothing for the soul.
Scroll down for 12+ dreamy gardens from the H&H archives!
1. Lisa Moody’s B.C. Garden With A Greenhouse & Chicken Coop
Located on an acre of land in North Surrey, B.C., designer Lisa Moody’s garden is enhanced with a greenhouse and chicken coop. In the raised beds she grows veggies like zucchinis, while the greenhouse is used to protect tomatoes from too much rain.
The chickens are given free rein to run during the day and are safely tucked away at night from predators in the coop. “A greenhouse allows me to start sowing earlier and grow plants like lettuce and herbs all the way through the winter,” Lisa says.
The greenhouse has started to serve another function too. Lisa recently added a table and chairs, hung string lights and hosted lunch for her girlfriends. “It was so special; you felt like you were in a fairy tale.”
2. A Tuscany-inspired Garden In Ontario
This Mono, Ont. farmhouse is sited on a steep hill gazing over the Hockley Valley. With its unspoiled meadows and woodlands, the property has a natural splendor that reminded the Canadian-Italian couple of a remote farmhouse in Tuscany where they once stayed. In the front lawn, hydrangeas give the garden beds a pop of white.
Easy-care day lilies and tiger lilies add rich color near the barn (and even accent the chicken feathers!).
3. A Sustainable Garden In Knowlton, Quebec
In Les Ensembliers’ sustainable country garden dubbed La Ferme Humminghill, the parterre seating area is topped by a pergola. The pea gravel helps the area drain well and provides less muddy access to beds. Raised beds for vegetables are near the centre, while ground-level beds hold small fruits, flowers and decorative elements that help camouflage the fence. See more of this serene farm here.
“It’s inspired by a Victorian maze and is designed to be seen best from above,” says Richard. The fountain at the center, nestled among lavender and roses, is a gathering place for butterflies, dragonflies and hummingbirds.
A spacious harvest table — made out of wood from the old farmhouse — is the perfect place for al fresco lunches under the two apple trees that anchor the property. “Humminghill is about creating a place with purpose, where we can grow flowers and vegetables, enjoy a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, entertain and share good times,” says Richard.
Raised beds are an earth-friendly, low impact way to make gardens work better: they offer good drainage, discourage weed and slug migration, help soil maintain its nutrients and keep it from getting compacted.
4. A French Country-style Garden In South Langley, B.C.
This spectacular 8.1-hectare farm owned by visionary gardener, Thomas Hobbs mimics a French-country style farmhouse. “We used peach shale gravel everywhere, truckloads of it, and had it shipped in from Alberta because the gravel around here is a boring, dreary grey,” he says. “The peach is a warm Provençal color.”
Tuteurs (tower-style garden accents) draw the eye to the raised vegetable beds in the background, while lavender ‘Hidcote’ layered with purple-flowered Nepeta and catmint seem to dance in the breeze in the foreground.
5. A Tranquil Garden In Creemore, Ont.
Landscape architect Inese Bite’s tranquil garden feels like a fairytale. A kitchen garden — where Inese grows ingredients for her favorite dishes — doubles as a secret hideaway thanks to the pergola and Muskoka chairs.
Abbotswood cinquefoil, white sage and Russian tarrago create a moonlight garden, which means it will almost glow in the dark once the sun goes down.
Fragile lettuce leaves are protected with removable tops. “I can move the structures because they’re lightweight,” she says.
6. A Stunning Quebec Garden With A Swimming Pool
This Eastern Townships’ garden blends seamlessly with the backdrop of waving pines. Monochromatic plants include urns filled with lacy white hydrangeas.
A bocce ball court has a serene setting, surrounded by hosta, boxwood and specimen trees.
A dead space behind the garage was turned into an enclosed kitchen garden where leafy vegetables, tomatoes, raspberry bushes and flowers are planted in self-watering raised beds.
7. A P.E.I. Summer House with A Cutting Garden
In this 3,100-square-foot home by the sea in P.E.I., the endless lawns supply the color, but it gets a boost from baskets of purple and pink annuals.
Songbirds flock to the cutting garden, where vibrant red and yellow zinnias and dahlia add plenty of visual interest.
P.E.I.’s provincial flag with views of the crashing ocean in the background.
9. An Eastern Townships Country House by Luke Havekes
This home in Quebec’s Eastern Townships by designer Luke Havekes has a saltwater pool surrounded by neatly trimmed grass, mature trees and hydrangea shrubs. “It’s in an area that’s more Hamptons than mountains, with pastoral fields, farmland and horses,” says Luke.
A forest of ash, maple and cherry trees ring this casual seating area, which is differentiated from the velvety lawn by a circle of pea gravel.
10. A Quaint Farmhouse In Caledonia, Ont.
This garden is straight out of a storybook. Grouping of shrubs, evergreens and pots of mums add color to the Victorian home. A big chestnut tree provides plenty of shade for plants in the garden. “We fell in love with the house from the outside,” says homeowner Judy McPhee.
Low maintenance pampas grasses and sedum autumn joy lend movement and texture in a curvaceous bed.
11. A Country Garden In Quebec Dubbed “Fieldways”
A country garden may offer plenty of space for plants to grow freely, but don’t underestimate the power of a charming container. Textured clay pots that look like coiled rope are filled with geraniums, pansies, osteopermum and silver petiolaris, to prettily frame a pathway.
Closer to the house, neatly clipped boxwood shrubs and roses are classic country garden staples. Outside the kitchen and guest room windows, a bed of white lilies, Shasta daisies, hollyhocks, roses and boxwood thrives where an asphalt drive used to be located.
A giant, 75-year-old white pine on an emerald lawn provides a sheltered spot for breakfast on the lawn. Lush beds of pachysandra ring the outdoor eating area.
12. A Classic English-Inspired Garden in Knowlton, Quebec
In the former clapboard home of Richard Ouellette & Maxime Vandal of Les Ensembliers, a mix of white Astilbe, pink hydrangea and mature trees conjure a classic English-inspired garden.
In the backyard, stepped plantings form a wall of green, which is studded with crimson and yellow tiger lilies, and spikes of bell-shaped, lilac hosta blossoms.