Cottage Garden

Cottage gardens are one of the most popular styles of home gardens for good reason. A traditional cottage-style 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 minimal garden decor or a pure vegetable/herb garden that has incorporated some elements of more stylized home gardens. Designed around a cottage, house, or even an outbuilding, this type of garden is focused less on both formal garden structures and naturalism than the home and household itself. Often, the best gardens mix these elements to create a garden that beautifies your landscaping, while serving a functional purpose for your home.

Cottage Garden Design Ideas
Like most gardens, the first step in cottage garden design is to determine the layout of your garden. While highly visible elements of decor are usually reserved for other gardening styles, garden paths are a key element to the cottage-style 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. Traditionally, the cottage provided this structure, but there is no rule that says you can't have a conventional lawn and a separate cottage-style garden. With their low-key profile, cottage gardens often use evergreen shrubs as a substitute for this permanent structure. A few well-placed evergreen shrubs and well-designed and maintained garden paths may very well be all the hallmarks your garden decor 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-Style Gardens: Plants to Use and More Ideas
There are almost no ironclad rules when it comes to individual cottage garden plants or flowers, although the planting design is usually a dense pattern that contrasts with more formal garden planting. The most common cottage garden plant is probably any kind of rose, while the best plan is often to find some balance of herbs and wildflowers. Look for colorful planting options. That said, given that the cottage garden plants and flowers you choose are the main attraction for the garden, you'll want to find visually stunning and artful combinations. The dense planting pattern associated with cottage gardens also help 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.