Garden visit: Romantic and abundant garden at Mette's
In Mette's gem of a garden, the wild and random Cottage garden expression leads the way in beds and pots. The lush glory is framed by rocks to prevent it from becoming untidy. Join us for a visit to Mette in Stavern.
Garden owner: Mette Moen, @hagenvedveien on Instagram, husband Geir, children Carl Andreas, Magnus, Camilla and dog Pan
Garden: Romantic garden in English cottage garden style with several zones
Pride zone: H2 in Stavern
Mette loves flowers and can't get enough of them in the outdoor space.
Mette's interest in gardening was awakened when she was pregnant with her second child. The last time before the baby arrived, she was tired and had pain everywhere, but she managed to lie on a beach mattress and dig and weed the soil. Then, to her great surprise, she discovered that she loved it, which led to a new hobby. Gradually, it took off.
Mette got into gardening, and more and more of the lawn has been transformed into beautiful, abundant flower beds and different zones. Gardening provides good exercise. Mette has dug all the beds by hand, and Geir has carved out the buildings and pergolas himself.
Starry nightshade is one of Mette's favorite perennials. “The garden would have been poor without them.”
Random expression
– I didn't set out to choose a style – it probably chose me. I love flowers, preferably everywhere, all the time! It can't be enough. As a child, I loved picking bouquets and dreamed of finding a secret flower meadow. By constantly expanding with new perennials, roses, flowering shrubs and climbing plants in the garden, this style became this. When I discovered the Danish garden icon Claus Dalby, I was absolutely euphoric and learned a lot from his books, she says.
Lush pots with perennials in them are beautiful and typical of the romantic style. – The great thing about pots is that they can be moved around and mixed and matched.
Mette's 5 tips
- Opt for plants that are both robust and self-seeding. This creates a wild look and is economical. The good, old-fashioned Norwegian perennials such as phlox, primrose, geranium and star anemone are safe to start with.
- Rose beds can often consist of many bare rose stems down to the ground. To create the abundant look, Mette always plants ground covers around the roses. They are allowed to grow as they please, both around and between the roses. They also help retain moisture in the soil and help cover wilted leaves from faded spring onions. Lavender, stork's beak 'Rozanne' and blood anemone 'Max Frei' are among the ground covers that are repeated in the outdoor space. Star anemone is also well suited since it has nice dense tufts of leaves right above the ground, in addition to its beautiful flowers.
- Mette composes a bed in the same way she puts together a bouquet of flowers. It should be beautiful to look at from all angles, have different heights, different structures and shapes of flowers and leaves.
- Think about framing. All the wildness must be framed by something, otherwise it loses its shape and can look untidy. In this garden, concrete slabs have been used around the beds. Terraced boards or gravel can also work well.
- Think about eye-catching elements in the beds. Mette has placed large pots in the beds. It is decorative, and it creates tension and height.
The eye is automatically drawn to the large pots placed in the bed.
Mette has opted for an ornamental garden because flowering perennials and shrubs are relatively self-sufficient. She tries to work with the plants rather than control them.
– I live a busy life, am often at the cottage on weekends and need the garden to do quite well without constant care, she says.
She has achieved this by planting closely so that weeds do not have space, she rather moves perennials when they get too close to the neighboring plant. She also lets the plants self-sow where they want, which creates the wild and random expression she loves so much.
The flower square is the heart of the outdoor space. Here, buildings and lawns meet around a wild and romantic flower meadow made of perennials.
Flower artist
The garden is divided into different rooms with seating areas that are suitable for all kinds of weather. Mette always finds a place where you can stop and just enjoy a few minutes or drink a cup of coffee and think some long thoughts.
Four generations are gathered for a garden party surrounded by fragrant flowers.
– The garden becomes a bit like living art where I can give vent to my creativity and creative urge. Not to mention all the projects I plan. Many don't come to fruition, but the joy of planning and dreaming is great. As soon as I get home from work, I take off my suit jacket and put on a comfortable garden outfit. Then I take a stroll around to see what has happened since yesterday. Being greeted by a new scent from a rose or seeing a bud that has finally opened gives so much joy.
Should it be a sweet strawberry? By planting berry bushes between the perennials, Mette creates a wild and random expression in the beds.
Planting tips for romantic style
Do you like Mette's style? Here are some suggestions for plants you can use in your garden to achieve the romantic style.
- Ornamental carrot 'Dara'
- Stork's beak 'Rozanne'
- Blood stork's beak 'Max Frei'
- Peony 'Shirley Temple'
- Delphinium
- Velvet starflower
- Stork's mantle
- Macedonian red button
- Catmint
- Starry nightshade
- Leucanthemum
- Yarrow
Tip! Plant peonies in both sun and shade, so they bloom at different times.
Mette likes to invite people to "afternoon tea" out in the green – a tradition she has brought from England. It fits well into the cottage garden-inspired garden. The cakes are decorated with edible flowers. Lovely little vases with low bouquets and rose petals provide a romantic atmosphere.
Utilizing the height
Mette is keen to utilise the air in the outdoor space. Screen walls, pergolas, garden arches and portals on which plants can grow create living roofs and walls. Elements with height screen off views and wind and create warmth.
– There is something hidden and alluring about not seeing the whole garden. It provides new experiences as you move around. Plants such as clematis 'Summer Snow', honeysuckle and various climbing roses work well as climbers, she says.
Different seating areas make the outdoor space extra useful and flexible. Here the family can move around as they want sun or shade. On rainy days, the greenhouse is a pleasant place to be.
Buildings and lawns meet around what Mette calls the “flower square,” which is the very heart of the garden – a wild and beautiful flowerbed of perennials and roses that are woven into each other. Different heights, flower shapes, colors, and foliage create a feast for the eyes and also for the insects. You can hear it in the contented humming.
Frames the abundant sea of flowers and creates form and structure.
The plants hang flirtatiously over the concrete slabs used to frame the abundant expression. No soil is so see since Mette is a master at planting densely. Stepping slabs have been placed between the plants so that it is possible to reach them to weed and cut flowers for bouquets.
Camilla enjoys picking beautiful bouquets in the garden.
Mette's 5 favorite roses
- 'Constance Spry'
A single-flowering rose with large, pink peony-shaped flowers that smell heavenly. - 'Leonardo da Vinci'
Remontant, fresh and frugal and has a fantastic flowerbed with dark pink, fairly large flowers throughout the summer. - 'Rhapsody in Blue’
It has a special blue-purple color and smells delicious. It also remontants, but for me it blooms most in early summer. - 'Climbing Iceberg’
A beautiful rose with chalky white flowers that is slightly fragrant and remontants. - 'Lykkefund'
A single-flowering and easy-care rose with almost no thorns that produces a cloud of creamy white flowers with a lovely scent.
Tip! Plant lavender around roses, because they attract ladybugs that eat aphids. Therefore, there is less chance of getting aphids on the roses.
The roses are the queens of the June and July garden and provide a flower show like no other. – Many of them smell wonderful. Here is 'Leonardo da Vinci'.
It's time for coffee and cakes outside on the flower square – surrounded by sun, summer and abundant beds.
- aka @hagebonanza, garden-crazy writer and content producer who has visited over 100 of Norway's most beautiful outdoor spaces to spread gardening joy and inspiration.
- aka @rekkehusbonden, copywriter, content producer and gardening enthusiast who is passionate about the joy of growing, with a love for everything edible.
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