Originally the small plots where rural British workers grew the vegetables, herbs and flowers they needed, cottage gardens were romanticised and reimagined by nostalgic Victorian gardeners into a bucolic idyll.

The style has endured ever since: drifts of colourful perennials mingle with fragrant roses, boisterous self-seeders teeter on the brink of chaos, fruit and vegetables scramble through rustic supports. Small in scale, wildlife friendly, natural and organic, 'old-fashioned' cottage gardens are perfectly in tune with gardening in the modern day.

Featuring some of the most beautiful examples of cottage gardens in the UK today, these incredible spaces will transport you into a distinctly British world of peonies, foxgloves, roses and dahlias, with interviews with the designers and head gardeners featured to provide plenty of inspiration for bringing your own cottage garden to life.