6 Tips for Creating a Low-Maintenance Cottage Garden Filled with Flowers
While formal gardens are all about order and well-defined spaces, cottage gardens are bubbling with cheerful blooms that create a kaleidoscope of hues and textures. According to Darrell Trout, an avid gardener, author, and lecturer, passionate about the easy-to-grow beauty of cottage gardens, their style is "relaxed, colorful and fun." Because nature is allowed to take more of its course in these spaces, they require less work, as opposed to the careful manipulation of other styles. "A cottage garden is less about rules than doing what you really love," Trout says. The following tips and ideas can make growing delightful flowers in your own corner even easier.
How to Create a Simple Cottage Garden
Cottage gardens are deliberately modest. These tips will help ensure your space is easy to maintain and beautiful in every season.
1. Starting a cottage garden from scratch
"Don't create a monster that you don't have time to feed regularly," Trout says. "Keep your cottage garden small and above all fun." Then, over time, as your confidence grows, increase the size.
2. Invest in good soil
"Starting with good, rich, organic soil, plants thrive with minimal watering and fertilization," Trout says. He recommends doing a soil test to determine the type of soil you have. Add organic matter annually by purchasing compost or making your own.
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3. Place plants carefully
Much of the work in a cottage garden design comes from not having the right plant in the right place, either because of the full size of the variety or its preferred growing conditions. As you gain gardening experience, Trout says, you can push the envelope. "But healthy plants—the ones that require less care—are in better shape," he adds.
4. Choose hardy garden plants
Some of Trout's favorites on her list of cottage garden plants include spring-blooming bulbs, purple coneflower, wild indigo, 'Stella d'Oro' or 'Happy Returns daylily, New England aster, and Russian sage. And roses always add a romantic touch but avoid high-maintenance varieties. Instead, Trout recommends growing hardy, disease-resistant knock-out shrub roses or the ancient climber 'Blaze.' For green interest, try English cottage garden plants like lady's mantle, lamb's ears, or blue fescue.
"Choose high-performance, virtually bulletproof plants," Trout says. "There is no absolute right or wrong way to create a cottage garden, so choose what you like."
5. Soil cover
"Mulch helps maintain soil moisture and prevents weeds from growing," Trout says. "Organic mulch (bark, compost, or leaf mold) breaks down and improves the soil. Mulch gives the garden a neater, more cohesive look."
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6. Use an automatic watering
Trade in a hose pull for hands-free watering. Trout recommends using drip lines because "it's easier to put the water where you want it, not on the leaves or flowers." Plus, he points out, it's efficient because "less water evaporates into the air."
Low maintenance cottage garden ideas
These pointers will help you create an especially stunning, easy-to-maintain cottage garden design.
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Establish vegetation through hardscaping
Boulders, arranged in natural-looking patterns and dug one-third into the soil, are good year-round anchors that complement their flowering companions. In addition, a picket fence or rustic fence creates a suitable backdrop for a cottage garden, streamlining the visual chaos of mixed plantings.
Long-lasting annual plants
Many annuals make excellent cottage garden plants for shade or full sun. They usually bloom all summer without any codling. Some, like Love-in-a-Mist and Coxcomb, will reseed themselves. This will add a natural, casual look to your cottage garden without too much work on your part.
Create a path through the garden
Garden paths
Garden paths provide visual relief from crowded plantings. Most importantly, they make your landscape more welcoming and easier to maintain. Notice who walks in the garden and what kind of shoes they wear. This will help you decide whether to go with a softer surface like gravel or wood chips or a firmer surface like concrete. A grass path is an easy alternative for less foot traffic, but it will require regular mowing.
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