Cottage Garden

Cottage gardens are one of the most popular styles of home gardens for good reason. A traditional cottage garden is meant to be a functional garden able to provide families with a supplemental food source. The modern cottage style garden could be seen as a gardening style dominated by plants and little garden décor or a pure vegetable/herb garden that has incorporated some elements of more stylized home gardens. Regardless, your cottage garden should probably attempt to mix these elements and create a garden that beautifies your landscaping and serves some functional purpose for your home.

Cottage Garden Design
Like most gardens, the first step in cottage garden design is to determine the layout of your garden. While highly visible elements of décor are usually reserved for other gardening styles, garden paths are a key element to the cottage garden. Garden paths used to be planned in straight lines to accommodate a more functional garden, but modern cottage gardens have incorporated a more meandering path design. These paths are a great opportunity to add a touch of style and install garden edging. Stone, brick, or wood edging will convey elegance and retain the feeling of a cozy, low-key home garden. You might also consider installing this edging around the boundary of your garden.

Any garden benefits from the placement of a few permanent structures to help define the scope and landscape of the garden. The cottage garden, with its low key profile, often uses evergreen shrubs to serve this function while retaining the floral motif. A few well-placed evergreen shrubs and well-designed and maintained garden paths may very well be all the garden décor a cottage garden needs. That said, garden benches provide a seating area in your garden and can be easily incorporated without disturbing the cottage atmosphere. Larger cottage gardens, in particular, benefit from additional landscaping features.

Cottage Garden Plants
There are almost no flowers or plants that you must have in your cottage garden, and there are very few flowers and plants that interfere with a cottage garden design. The most common cottage garden flower is probably some kind of rose. The best plan is probably to find some balance of herbs and wildflowers. Look for colorful planting options. Since the plants and flowers you choose are the main attraction for a cottage garden, you'll want to find visually stunning and artful combinations. The close planting pattern also helps reduce weeding and watering needs. Local plants and flowers are best, as the cottage garden traditionally requires little maintenance. You need to really consider the aesthetic and seasonal patterns of different plants and flowers to create a beautiful cottage garden.

Talk to a Professional Gardener
It's great to say use local plants and flowers, but few homeowners know every type of plant or flower that performs well in their region. After all, the point is to create a low-maintenance garden, not a completely indigenous one. Consulting with a professional gardener can ensure you have all the options at your disposal. They can help you choose not just this season's planting, but a garden design for years of beautiful planting arrangements.