Comments on: Cottage Gardening

By: Jan

Jan — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:10:01 +0000

Yes, cottage garden design is so adaptable. I love its informality and especially the old-fashioned flowers and plants. It’s a great spot for heirloom rose varieties, hollyhocks or climbing vines. Your comments about randomizing are right on. It doesn’t need to look too contrived.

By: Sue

Sue — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:56:02 +0000

Any chance to see pics?

By: Kathy Purdy

Kathy Purdy — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:57:45 +0000

Hi, Munawar–A good thing to do while you are waiting for perennials and shrubs to fill in is to use annuals. I like to use ones that grow well from seed in our cold climate, such as annual poppies and larkspur. I also get a lot of tall white flowering tobacco reseeding but I think I started that originally from plants. These all need to be sown quite early, before the last spring frost, so I guess the first year you should get already started plants to interplant with your perennials. When they resow randomly the second year, it will greatly contribute to that relaxed, cottage garden feel.

By: Munawar Ali

Munawar Ali — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:20:49 +0000

Lol – I attempted a cottage garden in my last house, but I bought all my plants in their infancy age, and didn’t give them enough time to grow before I sold the house.

The small plants were spaced far apart (to take into account their eventual sizes), and it looked terrible. I swore off Cottage Gardens, but I definitely realize I did it incorrectly, and have been slowly coming back to them.

So kudo’s to those that love them and are able to implement them easily. I will try again in the future.

By: Farmer John

Farmer John — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:55:18 +0000

For years I had the chance to create some of the most fun cottages gardens. I would buy run down small victorian era houses, rip out the chanlink fence and install white picket. From there is was great fun to find wonderful salvage vitorian pieces or statuary to landscape around. I almost always got carried away, but that is what sold the houses. People fell in love with the gardens from the curb. One of the best things I ever did was to put a front porch swing on every house I restored. What a great place to admire your cottage garden and wave to the passing neighbors!

By: Garden Fountains

Garden Fountains — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:05:06 +0000

Hello Kathy,

I have been reading your blog and have drawn some really useful information from it relating to the cottage garden. My own little green space is very much in the informal cottage garden style which suits my lifestyle (being always busy) and my maintence program (never enough time to weed). For obvious reasons I also have two rather beautiful water fountains located at the front and rear of my lawns which really help to create the focal point amoungst the wild flower beds I have created. I have learned much from this site, please continue to show us the way!

By: David M. Garens

David M. Garens — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:37:09 +0000

Love your quotes. I also love your good illustraions. I will keep this web site in mind.

By: Olivia54984

Olivia54984 — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 17:25:48 +0000

I think the cottage garden style is definitely a useful one. It allows intermixing of natives and edible. I think it is important to keep a sense of structure, repeated patterns and colors to make the garden a cohesive whole. I particularly like looking at planting done by Piet Oudolf, a European with a love for American native plants. He is a plantsman first, a designer second. He has a couple books out there.

Also there is a book titled “Heirloom Plants” I recommend.