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The cottage garden look is synonymous with an informal profusion of flowers, a medley of colours and forms, all crammed into the border. Grassed areas are minimal and the planting emphasizes the herbaceous, bulbs and annuals rather than trees and shrubs.
Most of us today have small gardens, a courtyard, a townhouse patch of a small suburban plot. The view today is that to make our smaller spaces look larger that we should use a bold minimalist style and have a contemporary space. Cottage gardens sound a bit 'old maid-ish' and not to modern tastes but they can look brilliant updated with bold colours, daisies and foliage plants. In fact the cottage garden is as suited to a small space as any other style, and it works equally well in larger gardens.
The cottage garden style is closer to a natural look than many alternative styles, providing a haven for wildlife, and it is also gives scope to the plant-aholic who wants to cram in a wide range of plants. | |
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Exhuberant profusion in the Cottage Garden |
A medley of colours and forms | |
Maintenance
It is harder than it sounds to make a cottage garden look great, it is all too easy to have great blank spaces instead of a flowery profusion, or to have the whole thing collapse into a dismal mess.
It is not an easy, low maintenance garden. You may get away with little maintenance in the first season, or even the second, but thereafter the thugs will assert themselves and weeds begin to encroach. Frequent deadheading is required to maintain a long season of bloom, dividing and replanting to avoid one of two invasive plants taking over and weeding. Before you opt for the maintenance in a cottage garden, determine whether you have, or want to spend, several hours each week looking after the garden.
Laying out the Cottage Garden
A classic cottage garden has a straight path to the front door, a simple fence and perhaps an arch over the gate, the path or the doorway. The path would be edged with plants that soften the edge of the path. Box hedges bordering the garden beds are not are not cottage garden style, but box topiary peacocks and the like are! |
Cottage gardens created in rear gardens don't need the straight path. The design can be based on a circular or angled design. A casual seating area or perhaps an arbour at the end of a flowery path will give a sense of purpose, a focus to the design.
The key to the cottage look is to have deep borders (1.2 m or 4 foot wide at a minimum, wider is better) laid out in either a geometric pattern or in deep flowing curves. Geometric patterns, with overflowing planting to soften the outline, can be based on squares, rectangles or triangles. If you opt for curves, make sure that they are deep and serve a purpose, wiggles are restless and distract your eye form the main event- the plants. Get the garden hose out and try it before you dig!
Nestled amongst elaborate planting sculpture and 'found pieces' will contribute by pulling your scheme together, giving it a focus and a 'point'. Keep structures and ornaments simple. A simple arbour or pergola in weathered timber or painted works well, or the clean lines of steel to update the look.
Simple containers and pots, even found items such as old copper work wonderfully. Modern sculptures with clean lines can look very at home, anchoring your planting and providing points of interest.
Structure and Backbone
A cottage garden is not an excuse for a mess. Structure is still important and a cottage garden needs some backbone to hold it together just as much as any other garden.
Balance the simple airy flowers with some evergreen trees and bold foliage. A tree will give scale to the garden, and lift the eye over the flowers. |
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Paths are edged with Alchemilla mollis, Lady's Mantle
A casual seating area
Keep structures simple | |
Deciduous trees have more than one season of interest as most provide some autumn colour and many have lovely flowers. The framework of branches will continue to provide the needed height in winter, without the disadvantage of blocking winter sunlight in a smaller plot.
Evergreen shrubs will provide permanent green backdrop to show off the flowers, and contrast with autumn foliage and spring bulbs. Evergreens will add interest and hold your scheme together in the winter. A vireya rhododendron, tucked into a corner could bloom through the winter months and provide lovely foliage for the rest of the year.
A tree will give scale to the garden, and lift the eye over the flowers. Deciduous trees have more than one season of interest as most provide some autumn colour and many have lovely flowers. The framework of branches will continue to provide the needed height in winter, without the disadvantage of blocking winter sunlight in a smaller plot.
Deciduous flowering shrubs will provide summer interest, and some will give you autumn foliage colour and berries through the winter.
A cottage garden is not complete without roses. Species and heritage roses that have stood the test of time, plus the modern roses bred for ease of maintenance and disease resistance give you roses without all the work roses can require. Simple single roses are perfect. There are wonderful climbers as well, to adorn your arch, pergola or fence. Work roses into your overall scheme, and let them play their part, and they will contribute immensely to your garden.
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