How to create a nostalgia garden using romantic, scented plants and whimsical pieces for a deeply personalised outdoor oasis

When the world feels chaotic and scary, nostalgic styles that hark back to simpler times often appear in interiors and fashion. This time around, there's a vintage look that's taking root outside: the nostalgia garden.

If you love relaxed styles in your home, you'll find a lot to enjoy in this trend for your backyard ideas. It's not prescriptive - and it's definitely not perfect or manicured. It's more about the flowers, colors and scents that might remind you of a grandparents' garden when you were a child, or aspects of a neighbor's cottage garden ideas that you remember fondly, mixed with items old and new.

Whatever plants and styles you're drawn towards, there are a few elements that will help to evoke a nostalgic feel in your garden. Horticultural experts tell us some of their favorites plants, trees and backyard features that help create a comforting sense of the past outdoors.

How to create a nostalgia garden

If you're not sure where to begin with your nostalgia garden ideas, firstly, forget about formality. This style is not about symmetry, topiaried trees or clean-lined perfection. It's a laid-back look with sentimentality at heart.

It can transport you to another time and place - whether that's real or imagined. Tabar Gifford, master gardener and representative for American Meadows, offers some pointers.

'A nostalgia garden can be a reflection of timeless garden staples or a deeply personal tribute to your family’s history and heritage,' says Tabar. 'Whether you choose to incorporate plants from your childhood, honor traditions passed down through generations, or repurpose sentimental objects into garden art, this space becomes a living connection to the past.

'Some classic plants, such as peonies, hollyhocks, and hydrangeas, have been beloved for centuries and naturally lend themselves to a nostalgia garden. You might also weave in childhood memories, display art from your kids and grandkids, or even transform broken treasures into meaningful garden accents.'

Tabar Gifford

Tabar Gifford is a Master Gardener, and dedicated “plant geek”. With a lifelong love for gardening and nature, and a background in environmental studies and sustainable community development, she combines horticultural expertise with a commitment to education. Striving to empower individuals in achieving their gardening aspirations, Tabar embodies a genuine passion for sharing her knowledge. She gardens in zone 4 in Vermont.

Peonies and other romantic blooms

Romantic blooms are a mainstay in cottage garden ideas of times gone by. Whether peonies, roses, hydrangeas or something more suitable for your region, these plants will add a burst of joy to a nostalgia garden. .

Often, peonies are the first showstoppers of spring, bursting forth after much anticipation. Their pink blooms are a beautiful arrival in flower beds for many a gardener. These pretty plants–loved for generations–are also a first choice in a nostalgia garden for Megan Foster, perennial and bulb expert, American Meadows.

'Peonies remind me of a neighbor’s garden – she'd had the same row of peonies since the 1950s along the back fence and we used to chat over the fence and enjoy watching the peonies slowly unfurl together when my son was small,' says Megan

'They are an incredibly long-lived and hardy plant, we always marvelled at their enduring beauty. To endure they rely on building root mass to store their vitality through the winter, so it’s important to weed out encroaching grass and keep the top of the root mass relatively close to the soil surface so the pink leaf and flower shoots can emerge every spring.

'Their big flower heads will droop with spring rains so it’s also very common to add a support ring around the emerging stalks each spring to give them a helping hand to extend your display.'

'Some perennials, like peonies and irises, thrive on division, making them easy to pass down through generations—another reason they are favorites in so many family gardens,' adds Tabar.

This pretty Sarah Bernhardt Peony, from Burpee is a bare root plant that is ready to be planted between mid-March and the end of April, if you want summer blooms.

Daisies and other wild flowers

Daisies are another classic flower that remind many of us of our childhoods. If these pretty perennials conjure up warm memories for you too, consider these for your nostalgia garden. If you prefer more color, opt for bluebells, poppies, forget-me-nots and other meadow flowers.

'Daisies – bright white, cheerful, effortless and abundant – they remind me of the yard of my childhood home,' says Megan. 'My father enjoyed cutting simple bouquets filled with daisies and popping them onto the kitchen table. Their light but distinctive aroma reminds me of long summer days as a kid at home.'

This Shasta Daisy, Alaska, from Burpee is suitable for USDA hardiness zones 4-9. It's ready to plant in March and will bloom for around three months.

Prepared to go a step further? Look into meadowscaping and replace your lawn (a monoculture) with native wild flowers to attract migratory birds, butterflies and other pollinators and create greater biodiversity–another element in gardens of old.

Lavender and other fragrant plants

A firm favorite in sensory gardens, for its fragrance, color and texture, is lavender. This popular plant works well along borders, and in pots, where you notice its scent as you walk past. Various lavender varieties can create a whimsical nostalgic feel too - their powerful perfume a reminder of past times.

'For scent and memory is there anything better than a handful of lavender flowers to transport you back to a sun-baked summer patio,' says Megan. 'It just begs you to take a deeper breath and relax your shoulders and linger in the memory.

'Once the honeybees have had a go at the new flowering stems each season, I like to cut a slender bundle and put it in my car to dry for DIY air freshener, but you can conjure up nostalgia by hanging to dry in your kitchen too.'

Grow these lavender seeds (organic) from True Leaf Market. Start them off indoors 10-12 weeks before your final frost. Then transplant the seedlings outside.

Other fragrant flowers that could be grown in a nostalgia garden include lily of the valley, sweet peas, honeysuckle and jasmine.

'Lily of the valley is one of the most nostalgic flowers of all for me,' says Tabar. 'These delicate, fragrant blooms were favorites of both of my grandmothers, and I was lucky enough to receive divisions from my aunt - plants that had once grown at her childhood home.

'Every spring, when the peepers start to sing and these tiny white bells open, I am transported back to my childhood in New Hampshire, where my brother and I spent evenings by the pond, breathing in the scents of lilacs, lily of the valley, and peonies as bullfrogs sang into the night and we argued over who got to sleep in the hammock that night.'

Terracotta pots and sentimental items

Of course, creating a nostalgia garden, isn't just about the plants and flowers, it's the meaningful accessories and ornaments you add to it too. From terracotta pots and decorative ceramics, to wooden trugs and tools that have been handed down, vintage and classic items add charm, especially if they are a little aged and weathered.

'For me, nostalgia gardening must include terracotta pots,' says Megan. 'They’re classic for a reason: low cost, can be reused for a long time and can be fully recycled back to the earth, since they are in fact just baked clay soils.

'I love the aesthetic of a jumble of sizes and forms in an arrangement on a patio. Just be sure to think about moisture needs plant by plant when it comes to using a dish (or not) underneath when outside.

'My uncle, who took up pottery later in life, made beautiful ceramics for friends and family,' says Tabar. 'When a favorite piece of his broke, I was heartbroken—it felt like losing a part of him all over again. Instead of letting it go, I broke it down further and used the fragments to create mosaic stepping stones, ensuring that his artistry would always have a place in my garden.'

Winding handmade paths and weathered fences

Before gardens became 'outdoor living rooms' – perfectly designed and furnished with coordinating pieces like our homes – they were rustic spaces, with winding paths, stepping stones and handcrafted wooden fences and benches, often created with offcuts and other salvaged pieces.

Timber was patina'd rather than painted and stone natural not mechanically honed or polished. Using these items for your garden hardscaping gives it a charming, timeworn feel, that nods to simpler times and serves a practical purpose too.

'Tiny paths are another nostalgic garden delight,' says Megan. 'They might be just a few bricks or flat river rocks slightly sunken into a flower bed that’s too wide to step over.

'Tiny paths and stepping stones allow for the gardener’s access to tend the plants comfortably, but also to get up close and personal, closer to the dirt and ‘goings on’ of the plant world - enjoying the feeling of being fully surrounded by your garden with its color, scents and sounds.'

A climbing tree

Many of us remember the fun and sense of achievement from climbing trees when we were young. It's an activity that seems to have fallen from favor for younger generations.

Yet having a statement tree in your yard can also be a reminder of carefree times. Trees with sturdy lower branches, such as maples, pines, cherry, apple and southern magnolia are the ones that invite climbing.

'For me a nostalgia garden would include the flowers and feelings of childhood, that dreamy innocence of butterflies and berry picking, and climbing trees,' says ecological gardener, Rebecca McMackin, consultant, The American Horticultural Society.

'There are certainly less kids playing outside, unsupervised now. But when I was growing up, I would spend hours in trees and they felt like freedom. Climbing to the top was a massive accomplishment for a tiny person.

'In my grandparents' southern magnolia tree, I would note how high I could climb each year and try to break my record. Southern Magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora) are great for climbing. These trees need mesic soils and full sun to part shade. Their massive flowers are an absolute wonder.

'But any species with vertical branches, tightly spaced (2’), can work well. You just have to assure that there are branches close enough to the ground that a child can grab them. In today’s world, many trees are sold limbed up, so growing one yourself from seed might be the best route here.'

Rebecca McMackin

Rebecca McMackin is an ecological horticulturist and garden designer. She lives in the woods of Connecticut, writing, lecturing, and designing the occasional garden. Rebecca holds a M.Sc. in Biology from the University of Victoria, and a M.Sc. in Landscape Design from Columbia University. She works to educate people on ecological landscape management and pollination ecology and is part of the Lifelong Learning Program at the American Horticultural Society.

A sundial or classic ornament

Garden ornaments and natural focal points were often seen in informal backyards of the past. These can include classical statues, stone bird baths, garden ponds or beautiful sun dials. The latter is Rebecca McMackin's chosen addition for a nostalgia garden, whether new, vintage or handmade.

'Using a sundial is a skill everyone should have,' says Rebecca. 'They are both useful and quite beautiful. You can even build them yourself. I prefer sculptural dials or those that look ancient, made of stone or copper.

'They can be set in a lawn, on a pedestal, or even hung on a wall. A compass rose helps people remember direction, and therefore their connection to the earth. It can help kids develop an innate sense of north. They can be somewhat hidden and quite sculptural.

'One arrow pointing north is hidden in the paving stones at Brooklyn Bridge Park. But you can also buy them as a premade paver for your garden path, or make them yourself from well placed trees.'

Of course, whatever you choose for your nostalgia garden will be personal to you, but any of the aforementioned garden ideas will help bring it to life. Ultimately, it's about creating a place for you to relax and enjoy, rather than needing to impress anyone or look perfect.

'A nostalgia garden is more than just a collection of plants - it’s a living memory, a way to honor those who came before us while planting new traditions for the future,' says Tabar.

'Whether through the flowers passed down through generations, the scents that bring back childhood summers, or the repurposed objects that tell a story, each element carries a history of love and connection. However you choose to build yours, embrace the process and make it a space filled with beauty, memory, and meaning.'