Designing The Cottage Garden
Though there doesn't have to be any rhyme or reason in a cottage garden, basic garden design principles can be applied to cottage gardens, but in a more condensed space. Give your attention to some of the following major considerations:
Layout
Start with the bones of the garden: the trees and shrubs. If you have a sprawling old apple tree or red bud, make it the focal point of your cottage garden, or plant one. Ring it with spring-flowering bulbs and place a comfortable bench under it.
To disguise an expanse of chain link, put in a boxwood hedge, flowering vines like honeysuckle or clematis, or a background planting of butterfly bush, Reeves spirea, Viburnum, holly - all perfect cottage garden choices. Indica azaleas and camellias work well, too, provided you use softer shades of flower color.
Avoid planting your shrubs in straight lines - there's nothing formal about cottage gardening. Stagger plants in the garden as if they blew in with the wind and just landed.
Topiary is great for the cottage garden. Plant your clipped pom-pom near an entryway. Run a climbing rose over an arbor at the back door or at the steps to a patio or deck.
Traditional cottage gardens do feature a straight path leading to the front door - or back door. this path and a fence may be the only straight lines in the garden. Along this path, the jumble of flowers and herbs progresses from low creepers along the path's edge to medium-sized plants in mid-range to tall shrubs and flowers along the sides. Truly spectacular flowers like ten-foot hollyhocks and Confederate Rose hibiscus are planted against the house or in recessed corners where they will have protection from strong wind.
To achieve this progression from short to tall, start with perennial plants that will give structure and interest year-round. You can't go wrong with herbs; they're tough, attractive and only need occasional trimming. Lavender is in keeping with cottage garden style and looks great spilling over the path. Spanish lavender is perhaps the hardiest and easiest to grow in the South. Woody shrubs like rosemary can occupy the middle ground, next to blueberry bushes, and perennial flowers like Malva Zebrina. Foxglove, butterfly bush, lantanas and Joe-Pye weed are good background plants that are also attractive to butterflies.
Spiky plants like iris, red-hot poker and mid-sized ornamental grasses such as Maiden grass add interest and structure to the garden. The plumes and seed heads of grasses, herbs and flowers can look spectacular.
Plant Bog Salvia to enjoy sky blue flowers all season long and repel deer. Bee balms, pineapple sage, and Madame Galen trumpet vine will keep the hummingbirds buzzing around throught the Summer months.
Fill in with clumps of annuals like Spiderflower (cleome), zinnia and marigold. If you seed annuals directly in the ground, give them enough space and light to germinate. You may get some delightful surprises from self-seeders of last year's garden.
Structures In The Cottage Garden
An arbor entwined with a climbing rose is a classic cottage garden image. 'New Dawn' is a classic favorite with light pink flowers. Add a bench, a rustic gate, stone or brick path, birdbath and flower containers like window boxes, clay pots, stone troughs or tubs. Keep it simple, though. Oh, and don;t forget our feathered friends - spot feeders and houses throughout the garden.
Soil Preparation
It's important to start with healthy, rich soil since your plants, once established, won't be going anywhere. Ammend soil in the garden with a good compost ammendment such as Claycutter or mushroom compost. SEE: Planting Instructions
Watering
When you water do so by hand with a garden hose, or lay out a soaker hose. Overhead sprinkling is ineffective and fosters disease, like mildew on rose leaves and many other cottage garden plants
SEE:
Related Topics Of Interest:
Container Gardening
Shade Gardening
Butterfly Gardening
Hummingbird Gardening
Organic Gardening
Growing Roses
Growing Herbs>
Here's A Listing of Plants Suitable For Cottage Gardens
Click on an image or link to view a detailed Plant File for that Plant
(249) Plants Found. Showing 1 to 10 of 249.