When I started the thread, I strated keeping track of what people said, so I coud post it either on a sticky, in the header, in the top of the thread or here....here it is,
Suzy
DESIGN
Generally speaking, a Cottage Garden uses curve instead of straight lines; or curves within straight lines.
It has grass, or a path, to lead the eye.
There is an absence of any pretentious plan; a cross between formal and messy. Balance the perfect topiary with a forsythia.
The plants should be allowed to grow into each other so it is just a riot of colour, shape and texture. No perfection is expected and all the happy accidents just seem to work together.
A little mystery. One shouldn't be able to see the entire garden at once. A little curving stepping stone path around the birdbath to a hidden bench or courtyard.
The surprise factor. One should have to walk around that curve to see -- oooh! a birdbath! An obstacle at eye level such as an obelisk with a climbing or rambling rose or a small shrub (eye-level height) might be used.
At least one resident animal: Chicken, peafowl, cat or dog. A CG is a natural habitat to butterflies, birds and other wildlife because of the abundance of different kinds of plants used as food and forage. Purposefully including some larval host plants will attract even more. Bunnies are welcome as long as they only munch on clover especially planted for them.
Other elements of a more structural nature:
Structures. An arbor entwined with climbing rose is a classic cottage garden image. Add a bench, a rustic gate, stone or brick path, birdbath and flower containers like window boxes, clay pots, stone troughs or tubs. Aim for simplicity, though--it's easy to cross the line into kitsch.
from an article by Claire Hagen Dole, Publisher/editor of Butterfly Gardeners' Quarterly. Summer 1995. Back issues available from BGQ, PO Box 30931, Seattle, WA 98103.
http://butterflywebsite.com/articles/bgq/CottageGarden.htm
Use arbors, trellises, fences &/or hedges to create the little rooms or zones to your Cottage Garden. One zone could be a pond or other water feature.
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A Cottage Garden should be interactive garden, welcoming the viewer to walk the paths, touch the lamb's ear, smell the herbs and blossoms, observe the butterflies and bees up close. Cottage Gardening is a style that encompasses the 5 senses, not just to be viewed from the road.
Two different styles, both are Cottage Gardens:
Extravagant Abundance; the feeling of lushness barely kept in check -- climbing roses or berry vines rambling together with Clematis, but might also have Rudbeckia and Solidago.
Cottage Prairie: Native plants, which are hardy and appropriate to the region's style might include Solidago and Rudbeckia, but might also have rosa rugosa and red raspberries. This style is characterized by native plants and grasses and a feeling of self-sufficiency.
Either of them would likely have climbing and shrub roses instead of perfectly pruned hybrid tea roses.
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PLANTS AND PLANTINGS
Flowering trees and shrubs - deutzia, forsythia, and if they're fragrant like Viburnum or shrub roses, then all the better. Flowering shrubs such as Buddleia, lilac, mock orange, Viburnum, holly, Flowerin vines such as honeysuckle or clematis. Taller self seeding and low maintenance perennials like Hollyhocks, Foxglove, Delphiniums, Phlox, Larkspur, and Campanula. Texture and variety are essential
Choose some loose-growing, less formal looking plants... maybe a few things that form tidy mounds or archetectural spears, but also plants like Guara, which tosses little blooms every which way on wiry stems making "fillers" between more tidy or large-flowered specimens.
Plants which are grown very close together. In theory they are meant to look as if they were put together at random, without any real plan behind them, but in reality it takes a certain amount of thought to create a garden that looks entirely natural.
A stretch of lawn makes a "sea of green" which leads the eye. Or a path can do the same.
Consider the Scent: Lilies, Dianthus, Petunias and other scented flowers will enhance the garden.
Continuous bloomers are nice for color all summer and on into fall, but a CG is the one garden style that can support all colors, not look ragged even when something is past its prime because so much else is going on.
No garden is ever truly finished; experiment, learn from mistakes, and have fun.
This message was edited Dec 11, 2006 1:25 AM
