Your Cottage Garden
by Theresa Sontag
 Cottage gardens exude charm
and character, with an informal style, very unlike formal gardens with
their immaculate lawns and regimented borders. The cottage garden style
typically consists of lots of plants, heavy on the flowers, with paths
meandering between. The plants are chosen to suit personal tastes with the
emphases on the pleasure of growing plants and enjoying their color,
fragrance and form. A medley of colors and textures that is all crammed
into the beds and borders.
Cottage gardens were
originally constructed to utilize every bit of growing space for family
needs. This meant, flowers, fruit, herbs and vegetables were packed
together into even the smallest plots. One tip is to incorporate
wildflowers and herbs as well as the more traditional cottage garden
plants. Plant in clumps with large blocks of color to introduce rich
patters of color and movement. Also, don't restrict yourself to planting
tall plants in the back, with smaller ones in front. Mix some of the
taller plants in amongst the middle planting area as well.
You should grow hollyhock
beside walls and fences, plant climbers, such as clematis and roses, in
amongst the hedges and trees, or up wall and fences. Annuals can fill in
between gaps in the planting. You will find many of the flowers that are
featured in traditional cottage gardens are self-sowing, so leave old
flower spikes intact for self-seeding.
All gardens require care and
attention and cottage gardens are no exception. You will need to do
frequent deadheading in order to encourage a long season of blooming
flowers. Divide and replant where appropriate depending on the plant, and,
of course, the weeding necessary in any garden.
The first step in creating
your cottage garden is to plan your layout. A classic cottage garden has a
straight path to the front door, a simple fence and perhaps an arc over
the gate, the path or doorway. A more modern design has a curving path.
You will need to decide which path option works best for you.
A climbing rose or a wisteria
would be a good choice to adorn the wall by and above the front door. The
path should be edged with plants that will spill over and soften the
edges. You should have a few evergreen shrubs, this will provide green all
year and will provide a background to show off your flowers, as well as
contrast with autumn foliage and your spring bulbs. Also in winter, your
evergreen shrubs will provide color and inject interest while the rest of
your garden is dormant.
Adding a tree will give scale
to your garden, and lift the eye over the flowers. Deciduous trees have
more than one season of interest since they provide autumn color, also
many of them have beautiful flowers and fruits. Also, the frameworks of
the branches provide height in winter and will not block the winter
sunlight in small plots. Deciduous flowering shrubs will provide spring
and summer pleasure, and some will give you autumn foliage and berries in
the winter.
I believe one cannot have a
cottage garden without roses. There are so many types available now,
whether heritage roses or the modern roses bred for ease of maintenance
and disease resistance, you have your colors and degree of work you wish
to commit. There are wonderful climbers to adorn arches, doorways, fences
and pergolas. Work roses into your overall scheme, and let them play their
part, and they will contribute beauty, scent and structure to your garden.
Add different climbers, such
as roses, clematis and others to the same support, whether it is a tree,
arbor or fence. It is a good space-saving technique that creates colorful
features for months on end and adds height to the garden.
Your landscaping should
include more than plants. Add seating areas and containers to help you
enjoy your garden. They contrast well with the flow and look of your
plants. Containers are also a convenient
way to add lots of extra color
around buildings, seats and benches. Containers can be anything, use your
imagination, for example, objects such as old chimney pots, old watering
cans, and bottomless metal buckets can be recycled to make authentic, aged
features that will add color and character to your cottage garden.
Your cottage garden should be
a color palate of your imagination, blending plants, objects and colors
into a whole that is uniquely you. Add and change it through the years and
watch it evolve.
About the Author
Theresa is an avid
gardener. For more information on creating lush, vibrant gardens visit her
sites at
Rose Gardens,
Garden and
Lawn and Garden.
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