Recently, I was commissioned to design a rose garden for a client,which got me thinking, can you incorporate the qualities of a rose garden into any garden? I’ve come up with a few tips on how to do this in your garden.

First you need to choose your site. It should be sunny and fairly sheltered. Next determine the size. 2m x 3m (6ft 6’’ x 9ft 10’’) is an ideal size,giving you space to provide structure and a space to sit.

With any rose garden, it needs structure for climbing roses to climb over. In a small space the simplest structure is an arch. It shouldn’t be fancy because it will soon be covered in beautiful roses!

Other forms of structure to consider in a small space are trellising or even a seat arbour. A seat arbour, although more expensive, will provide a year round sheltered seating space.

Hard landscaping is the next thing to consider. Traditionally rose garden pathways were constructed with either pea shingle or a simple flagstone pattern, although it is not uncommon to see rose gardens with lawn paths.

Once the hard landscaping is in place, you can consider which roses to purchase.

For a small space, a good rule of thumb is two or three colours and two or three rose types. Assuming that your rose garden has a structure, it is important to plant a climbing rose.

A personal favourite is Rosa ‘Dorothy Perkins’. It flowers profusely with small clusters of scented, pink blooms.

The next type of rose to consider is standard roses. These will provide height raising the blooms to around waist height.

A good cultivar I would recommend is Rosa ‘Radio Times’. This has blooms of pleasing peachy-apricot flowers.

The final type of rose to consider is a bush rose. If pruned correctly, these remain at shoulder height and work best when several of the same are planted together. I would recommend Rosa ‘The Mayflower’ because it has a deep fragrant, dusky pink colour.