Create Your Own Cottage Garden

Step 1: Design themes

Several themes can be expressed in your cottage garden. You can keep it as simple or elaborate as you like! Cottage garden layout can be formal, geometric or rambling. The important key aspect that it’s more garden than lawn – in fact there may be no lawn at all!

BECKONING

Have you ever seen a garden that you absolutely ached to walk into? Why was that? You can create this response with your garden by not giving the whole game away from the outset. Your garden’s viewers and visitors are presented with a glimpse of what awaits when they walk through the gate or down the path, but – most importantly – they cannot see much without actually doing so. To do this well you will need to think carefully about plant heights, fencing, trellises and other structures.

ROMANTIC

This theme is concerned more with human spaces and objects than plants. An arbour at the front gate, or as a garden entrance can create a romantic feel – especially if it is large and includes seating. An intimate sitting area with a cosy two-seat bench or two-seat café table is a must. The immediate area can be planted with aromatic plants and herbs. A collection of rustic objects can add to the romance. Consider rusty old farm implements, cartwheels, millstones, wine barrels, or any interesting object from a bygone era.

FASCINATING

If you have plenty of room, a maze of pathways can be a fascinatingpuzzle for those that wander in. Unusual objects can have them wondering and enquiring. Bizarre or unexpected plants can be captivating – a gnarly tree or large cactus for example. Fascinating objects can include boulders, sculpture, wells, mosaic paving, poems carved in pavement or walls, perhaps even a sword in a stone.

SENSORY

With a little thought you can create a real feast for the senses. All the senses can be engaged if your garden is full of life – butterflies, fish, frogs, lizards, birds, insects and spiders amplify the feeling of abundance and healthy life.

Sound. Go for subtle sounds that may not even be consciously noticed at first. Wind can create interesting sounds as it passes through some plants – she oaks make an eerie noise, while tall grasses and bamboo rustle. Chimes can be pleasant, but can also be annoying if too loud or consistent. Gravel can make a pleasant sound underfoot, and water can soothe. Take care with water features, as falling water can be quite loud, especially at night. Trickling or flowing water can work well.

Taste. Put the tasty stuff tantalisingly within reach of your garden’s visitors, and encourage them to pick and eat at will. Line the paths with strawberries, berry tomatoes, radish, snow peas, mint, and any other pick-and-chew plant that takes your fancy. Children find this especially wondrous.

Touch. If you have a small patch of lawn, make it soft and lush. Include a few plants within easy reach that just scream out to be touched. The furry soft leaves of “Lambs ears” are impossible to resist. An old manual water pump is irresistible. Visitors seem compelled to grab the handle to see if it works. Sculpture can have a similar effect, especially those with apparently working parts.

Sight. Well, this is the whole point of a cottage garden, so don’t neglect it in the quest for other senses. The concept of abundance can, if you’re not careful, be overridden by clutter and mess. By grouping plants you can generally create beauty and abundance together. At night you can use lighting to great advantage to create an entirely different visual feast of shape and colour.

Scent. Another obvious attribute of a cottage garden, but do consider seasonality when choosing scent plants. Apart from the obvious flowering scented plants, there are those with scented foliage such as geraniums and herbs, and if they are encouraged to spill out onto the pathways they’ll release their scent for passers-by. This is another fascination for children that can keep them busy for some time.

Step 2: Paths

Paths are used to provide access to parts of the cottage garden, but perhaps more importantly to provide shape and definition. Somewhere in the garden a small clearing is necessary as a workspace for gardening activities as well as a spot to sit and enjoy the garden and its wildlife visitors while you contemplate the next thing to do. Paths should be quite wide, 1.2 metres if possible, so that plants can spill over onto them and you’ll still have room to comfortably move around with a friend or a barrow. Because these gardens have a traditional, even rustic, look and feel you might like to consider recycled materials such as bricks, pavers, stone, gravel or timber sleepers. Once you’ve decided on the garden layout theme, set out the beds and paths using tape measures and line-marking paint (or handfuls of sand), drive in pegs to mark corners and shapes, and use string-lines to give straight lines or a garden hose to create curves. When you’re happy with the layout dig out unwanted turf and plants and begin creating the garden beds and pathways. Check out other MitrePlans – “Lay your own paving”, “Build a pine pole fence” and “Retaining walls”.

Step 3: Plant choices

Herbs of all varieties can have a place in your cottage garden: thyme as a fragrant ground cover; Rosemary as a low hedge or garden edge; chives as a border; chilli as a feature and mint in pots (to prevent them from invading everything). They can be grown amidst other plants or in their own dedicated garden bed. Climbers can be useful cottage garden inhabitants: wisteria over an arbour; Bougainvillea over an old shed; roses on a trellis; grapes on a pergola; or even choko or passionfruit on an old back fence. They can hide unpleasant views, provide height without costing much ground space, and even offer a cooling shade canopy. Many also provide a spectacular display of blooms or tasty food.

Step 4: Flower choices

Some native plants will work well in a cottage garden, and may provide splashes of colour when traditional cottage plants are dormant. Try to spread flowering times throughout the entire year, and spread them across the garden so you won’t have an entire section looking like a forest of dead sticks. Stalwarts include violas, poppies, lilac, geranium, lavender, roses, salvias, achilleas, and weigela.

Step 5: Maintain and evolve

This is a constant, so keep a pair of secateurs on-hand whenever you stroll through for a quick tidy-up. A plant that isn’t doing well may do better in a different location, so simply dig it up and try it somewhere else. Plant labels are important sources of information for location and transplanting. Plant so there’s virtually no open soil. This is in accord with the crowded style of the cottage garden, but has a practical side – it helps control weeds. Any weeds that do find a spot for themselves will probably blend into the garden rather than be obvious. Water conservation is important wherever you live, and although cottage gardens may appear to be waterhungry, they needn’t be. Try siting plants with others of similar water usage – that is, if you avoid mixing waterhungry plants with those needing less, you won’t waste water on those that don’t need as much. Plant those that need daily water together, those that need water twice weekly together and so on. A water tank will add to the garden’s appeal, so keep your eyes peeled for a slightly rusty old tank, or “rusticate” a brand new one with a careful paint-job. Irrigate with infrequent soakings rather than frequent light waterings. This promotes deep root growth, reduces rot and mildew problems, and creates a garden that can survive on its own when you take a break. Mulch the soil well to reduce evaporation, reduce weed infestation, and provide lots of living space for wildlife. Try using plants for their foliage effects rather than their flowers. In this