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The Enchanted Garden

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The Enchanted Garden

Are there fairies at the bottom of your garden? Almost certainly, if you consider the current revival in gothic-style accessories - everything from flower-covered ironmongery and pixie sculptures to garden pergolas that could have come straight out of Camelot. Combined with a cunning use of planting, they make it simple to create a sense of mystery and magic - even in a backyard in the midst of a busy city.

If you'd like to transform your garden into a magical dell, take inspiration from garden designer Freya Lawson. At the Chelsea 2005 Flower Show, her Crystal Cobweb Garden took the current fad for cottage garden style one step further. Using soft pinks and purples, glass, textured wood and delicate planting, she created an enchanted garden with a fabulous crystal-cobweb adorned fence.

Creating your own magical garden is surprisingly straightforward, as long as you forget that sweeping lawn and focus instead on intimate spaces, meandering paths and hidden surprises. A good place to start is with informal, cottage garden style planting but to change the feel from sunny rural idyll to Lord Of The Rings meets Peter Pan, you need to select lush greens and white, pink, purple or blue flowers to create a much cooler feel. Add tinkling water and a sprinkling of magical accessories to create all the romance and mystery you need to make any fairy feel right at home.

Water world

A tinkling fountain or babbling rill – there’s no better way to create an enchanted atmosphere than the sound of running water. Forget bold contemporary designs – choose a water feature with a classical sculptural look; a lion’s head fountain or a water-filled stone urn that overflows into a trough is perfect. Add moss, ferns and frogs - there could be a prince in there struggling to get out.

For magical fountains, try S & B Evans based near Brick Lane in London's East End.

Delicate Delights

For the perfect magical dell, planting is key: it sets the tone and requires careful planning. Whatever you choose, you need to use plenty of cool colours and delicate flowers such as dicentra and nigella (love-in-the-mist), purple allium, rich green ferns, hostas, bronze fennel and white lilies. Roses are good too – climbing through apple trees or rambling across a gothic archway. You might want to aim for a crowded planting style since this creates the overgrown yet subtly formal look of a long-abandoned garden. For plant ideas, try Crocus.co.uk.

Swing city

Every enchanted dell should have somewhere secluded and comfortable to drift off into a magical sleep. Hammocks and swings are ideal but if you can spend a bit more, have a look at the fabulously mystical creations of Fletcher and Myburgh. Their original designs have a wonderful organic form that is guaranteed to send you off into the land of nod. The £2,600 Jasmin Swing pictured left features twisted flowery curls of wrought iron enclosing a nest of cushions – perfect for twining with scented climbing jasmine.