Cottage Garden Plants and Plans

Do you have a smaller, sunny spot in your yard that is a troublesome area? Then a Cottage Garden may be just the thing you need. I learned of a Cottage Garden watching the garden channel on television. A lady with a British accent kept referring to the local "Cottage Gardens" and it caught my attention.

I know just the right place

I have such a spot. When we constructed our home, the ground sloped drastically away from the front of the house. Eventually we built a three foot stone retaining wall and begun to fill the cavity with rubble (extra stones, concrete or brick chips), and occasionally leaves for mulch. After a short time the spot gained height and I started filling it in with dirt and leaves alternately. Since the area is an odd shape, about 25 feet long, 12 feet wide at the entry door and narrowing to about 4 feet at the end of the house, I could not decide how to landscape the area. That is when I heard about the "Cottage Garden" idea. Another problem with this area is that it is mostly sun and part shade.

First the walkway

Cottage gardens have pathways.....so.....over weed barrier material, I put a gravel pathway with no edging.

Shade areas

Along the foundation of the house, I planted carpet bugle (Ajuga) since the roof overhang shades this area. Carpet bugle only grows in the shade and will grow up to the edge of the sunshine. In the spring when the carpet bugle blooms....watch out....as the bumble bees especially love the nectar of the blue flowers. In the dense shade at the narrow end of the area, I planted some ferns and hostas. (I love hostas!) I mixed in carpet bugle to help with the weed control while allowing the wild violets to grow.

Sunny areas

In the sunny areas between the walk and the house I planted spots of moneywort. It has a nice yellow leaf and a stark contrast to the dark green leaves of the carpet bugle. Both of these plants are dense ground covers and hardy. Today the moneywort has almost taken over the gravel walk in places, as well as blending in nicely with the edges of the carpet bugle.

One day while at the local farm store I was looking through the seed packets and thinking about the cottage garden; I chose two packets of Plantation Products Wildflower mix. I thought, "What comes up will live and if it comes back it can stay." The results were astounding! The first year most of the seeds came up and bloomed beautifully all summer long. The only maintenance required was an occasional watering, a little weeding and continuous "dead heading" or cuttings to keep the blooms continuing all summer long. I enjoyed cut flowers in my home as well as at my office. From time to time I have also planted a few herbs among the flowers. I especially like and use oregano and thyme.

Continuing flowers

Each spring I pick up a different package of flower seeds from Plantation Products and reseed any bare spots. Some of the plants winter over here in our climate and others reseed themselves for the next year. The package has complete instructions on how to assist the reseeding in the fall. This year I have chosen a Fragrant Mix and I look forward to another summer filled with beautiful blooms and sweet fragrances at our front entry door.

If you have never tried a cottage garden, I encourage you to do so. Most landscaped beds are carefully planned, planted and pruned. The cottage garden spot is my small area of spontaneity and brings us (myself, the butterflies and the bees) great pleasure all summer long.