Small Garden With A Circular Lawn!

I have a real thing in gardens about circle-shaped lawns. Will you just look at the shape of that lawn.... I hesitate to use the word sexy for what is basically a patch of grass but feast your eyes on those lush curves, baby....

{You want more loveliness like this? Yes! I've FINALLY joined Instagram! If you haven't come to say 

hello to me (I'm Modern_Country_Style) 

I'd LOVE to see you there!}

This circle-shape works especially well on grass in smaller town gardens, where there are very often the harsh straight lines of other nearby houses to content with. Drawing your eye with soft, flowing lines does so much for reducing the impact of the rat-race going on all around you.

Bring a slice of Country into Modern living?

Yup, that's Modern Country Gardens for you!!

;-)

Take Care Till Next Time,

Sarahxx

Image via GAP

Book Review: The Layered Garden

I'm on the hunt for seriously inspirational garden books to inspire me while we do the hard raft in our home. And when I find a corker, I love to share them with you... Have you heard of The Layered Garden by David L Culp? It's the book I'm sharing with you today and it's a cracker!! It's sub-title is Design Lessons For Year-Round Beauty From Brandyvine Cottage.

Don't we all want a garden which appears to be at its best through every month of the year, from 'the first snowdrops...to the last branches, berries and bark of winter'? This is the essence of the thinking behind layering in your garden.

By carefully choosing the right plants for your space, David Culp argues that it is possible to draw out the very best from each space in your garden to produce layers of interest in each season.

And the thing I most love about The Layered Garden is that the author, along with his partner, have created the most fantastic garden, at their home, using these principles, which they share, along with mountains of generous details, on every page.

The 'Layered' of the title, not only applies to maximising interest at each time of year but also to making the very most of all heights in your garden. Take a look at this fantastic Before and After of their Ruin Garden and you'll see what I mean:

Isn't it incredible what they've achieved with such an uninspiring space?

The Layered Garden (published by Timber Press) is one of those very best kind of books that makes you want to devour every page, squeeze out every last drop of knowledge and then get cracking on your own!! 

Take Care Until Next Time,

Sarahxx

Alliums And Lavender: Modern Country Garden Companions

I've just come back from the perfect late winter's walk - crisp but with more than a hint of Spring in the air! - and I was, again, reminded how completely scrumptiously exciting this time of year is garden-wise. What better opportunity could there be to share another of my favourite Modern Country Garden planting companions. And today's star turn is the Megan Markle and Prince Harry of any Modern Country Garden: alliums and lavender. 

The glamorous, firecracker nature of the aliums sets off the soft, country timlessness of the lavender.

Can you see that aliums show off lavender so completely perfectly: in colour, in form and in height: just feast your eyes on these fabulous examples!

I'm particularly jiggly this year because we've come to the end of the back-breaking digging out of our own garden. Can you feel my relief? I hope it's almost tangible through your screen! It's been unbelievably hard work - hundreds of years of concrete and large stones - and we've done it ourselves in order to save money to put into a new kitchen!

Which means it's VERY nearly time to bring in the top soil, bring in the grass and then...to get planting!! 

Can I get a MASSIVE Hallelujah, please?

{Cue angels singing}

I've visualised our beautiful space outside for so long that, in my head, it's become a place to escape to already in my head! I can almost smell the lavender wafting on the balmy evening breeze...

beautiful things make me happy

I think it's time to put what's in my head out into the real world!

And will this pefect Modern Country Garden partnership of aliums and lavender feature in our new garden? 

You betcha!

Take care until next time,

Sarahx

Images via Belderbos, skwellsphoto, Claire Potter Designs, Beautiful Things Make me Happy, raddlesiddeley, arne maynard, unknown

Valentine's Craft Projects: Modern Country Crafts

Hello, all you gorgeous lovers out there!!!

And happy Valentine's Day!

Over on Instagram, I've been sharing my favourite Modern Country Valentine's craft projects so I thought I'd take this opportunity to share some Valentine's Crafty gorgeousness with you..... These are all craft projects that I've made myself, so it goes without saying that you can make them too!!! 

{And, yes! I've FINALLY joined! If you haven't come to say hello to me on Instagram then I'd LOVE to see you there!}

First up, this mother-of-pearl heart cushion....I actually made this from an old sofa cushion which I took apart so I was able to reuse the piping from around the edge. I'm all about the shortcuts! You can see the full tutorial here...

Then these rosebud hearts! Aaaaah, these are some of my favourites! I never get tired of gorgeous rosebud letters! Aren't they pretty!? You can learn how to make your own here...

I made this cushion to remember our wedding back in good old 1999, using my awesome Vintage Typewriter Keys stamp set. And I used the drawn thread technique for the first time too!! See how here...

This blanket-stitched heart is so snuggly and warm - and lavender-filled so it smells yummy too....All the deets are here...

Awww, and this heart and cinnamon garland is a stunner! The only hard bit is threading the string through the cinnamon. If you can do that then you're away!! See the instructions here...

And last but not least my Scrabble tile magnets. Basically, if you have a glue gun and a Scrabble set, then this is as good as done (find out how here)...

And there you have it! My all-time best Valentine's craft projects!! Which one is your favourite?

Take Care Till Next Time, my Valentine's lovelies,

Sarahxx

All images: Modern Country Style