Cottage Garden Design
Some of the most successful cottage gardens start with a formal structure and soften the framework with the lavishness of cottage plants.
Cottage garden design. Cottage gardens traditionally have plant beds by the house packed tight with plants. Using curving pathways create soft meandering pathways instead of those that follow a straight structured. This informal crowding of a wide variety of plants is a signature feature and the mix of perennial and annual flowers with vegetable and foliage plants twining around each other and competing for attention is what makes a cottage garden so fascinating.
Delphiniums verbascum and hollyhocks will provide height at the back of borders while foxgloves lupins phlox achillea and bellflowers will help to bulk out the middle hardy geraniums lady s mantle and shorter types of geum are perfect at the front of displays. A cottage garden s greatest appeal is that it seems to lack any conscious design. Perennials are a must for cottage gardens.
A cottage garden can incorporate quirky or funny ideas like painted signs that would not go with a more formal garden concept. The cottage garden projects a sense of relaxation often including shady corners where a gardener can take a break.