One of the tricks to successful cottage gardening is succession planting, that is that as something dies down other things pop up to take their place. Starting in Spring with say snowdrops, then Narcissi. As the Narcissi die down, you don't really want to look at dying leaves, so something such as hardy geraniums (them again !) appear and hide the dying foliage. They flower themselves to a standstill, then generally speaking you can cut them right down, give them a drink, and in a few weeks there will be fresh foliage. Then something such a salvia Caradonna which will flower for ages and if you keep deadheading will carry on. Turning into Autumn, plants such as Heleniums and the sedums will take over. Don't forget to feed the soil, a suitable mulch in late winter/early Spring (taking care not to smother emerging bulbs), will help set your plants up for the year ahead.
One trick is to visit the garden centre several times over the year, see what's in flower, read the label to see if it's suitable for your garden and buy it 🙂. The last couple of years have been particularly difficult as others have said. The hot spell in July practically did for my South facing border , the cold spell in early December didn't help matters either as many plants were only just recovering, and l lost Agastache and Hebes amongst others.
Have a look at websites such as Hardys, Ballyrobert and Beth Chatto. They give lots of information and have plants listed as suitable for various conditions.
It needs tidying up, dead heading, grass trimming, edges cut, maybe weeding I can't tell. Maybe watering. I would plant some annuals in between as they flower a long time to brighten it up. It will be fine, good start and bad luck with weather.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Regular really deep watering will probably help. And adding some plants that will self-seed about (if happy) - forgetmenots for the spring, ox eye daisies, foxgloves, vetch, hollyhocks, poppies, verbena. Maybe add bushy salvia for easy, quick colour.
If you want some colour this summer to lift you - maybe you could buy in some annuals thunbergia (climber), dahlias - good for pots or beds.
@Syfini Cottage gardening is the most intense and time consuming form of gardening You need to be one step ahead as @AnniD mentions. A diary can be useful make notes of the plant names/heights/ colour combinations. What you like and what is to go you have to be tough! Don't loose heart this spring/summer is just the start.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
@Syfini - I’m trying to maintain and expand the cottage garden we inherited in our new home. I’ve found I have to write quite a few things down like spreads, flowering times, heights etc.
As @GardenerSuze said you need to be ruthless. One small border I have recently done I removed everything and weeded heavily then raked.
I then did a plan keeping it simple initially; front plants (lowest height), middle then back of border. Some plants I took out I used if I liked them otherwise I potted them up and gave them away.
In terms of the spread I took the RHS advice to put plants 80% of their spread apart so you get no soil showing.
Then it comes down to choosing plants. I personally have pollinator friendly plants leading my choices now which fit into a cottage garden scheme. Then which ones I like most which would work together in the same border. I also like long flowering perennials for the bulk of the border plants.
I would start by deciding what your criteria are and make lists of plants for the back, middle and front. Then make a border plan of which ones would work cohesively in the same border. Planning out spreads is important. I use a tape measure. I’ve had to dig up multiple plants by not getting this right which results in some plants getting quickly swamped.
Here is one small border I completely gutted and raked:
I have hollyhocks, a dahlia and rose at the back. The rose is Felicia and will reach the full height of the hazel fence when established. I then have two Caradonna salvia bordered with a yarrow on either side. At the front I have lavender Hidcote and scabious Kudo Pink. There are gaps but they are 80% of their established spread so need to be patient until they get established.
@GardenerSuze - thank you. Yes lots of hard work together with expert guidance from people like yourself on here!
@Syfini I didn’t have my list to hand but have it now. Here are cottage garden plants I like for different heights - I found finding a good range of back of border plants the hardest. It’s also good to have some structural elements either mid or back such as shrubs.
Front: phlox, lavender, sedum (amazing for late nectar for our pollinators), nepeta, low geraniums, low clump forming alliums e.g. millenium, allium Eros looks awesome in a cottage garden border, herbs, scabious (some only reach 30-40cm).
Middle: salvia, yarrow, verbena, poppies, small shrub roses, astrantia, iris, taller geraniums (some can reach best part of a metre), taller scabious such as Knautia Macedonica, lupins, peonies, coneflowers, cosmos, dahlias, aquilegias, medium alliums like purple sensation.
*even tall verbena do well in the middle as they are quite transparent.
Back: > Large shrub roses. Hybrid musks look great in a cottage garden with their dainty branches and elegant small flowers. Top ones are Felicia, Lavender Lassie and Cornelia. They will all grow high at the back (5-6ft). > Hollyhocks, > Digitalis purpurea, > Tall campanulas - lactiflora do well in cottage garden schemes - Loddon Annna is a great one (1.5m), >Eupatorium (some reach 2m+), > Depending on border size small ornamental fruit trees, > Delphiniums > Making simple 3 branch tall wigwams and growing climbers like sweet peas, roses, clematis etc up them. Traditional cottage gardens will use this as an opportunity to add an edible climber with an ornamental one like beans. These look so rustic and make a big impact. In large border you can have multiple wigwams popping up. > Butterfly bush > Ceanothus - great for adding structure as well as height with their evergreen nature > Tall alliums like giganteum, summer drummer etc.
This is my compiled list. You might find it useful when making border plans.
@Alfie_ I think your list would be helpful to many gardeners. One for the bookmarks I think, another way of having an on line diary of info you might want to return too. When I first started working as a gardener I challenged myself to read the index of the RHS Encyclopedia over the winter. I was trying to track down plants I hadn't heard of and I wanted to check my plant knowledge.I also wanted to find out if there were any plants new to me that I might want to grow. I did find that trees were something I knew little about. There were also many plants that wouldn't grow here. It was an interesting exercise to say the least. when I couldn't get in the garden.
Planting three of the same works well and then add another one further along the border that works well too. Then break the rules by planting V Bonariensis right at the front you can also do the same with Aquilegia. Repeating plants through the border also creates interest and brings thing together.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
@GardenerSuze - thank you. Yes lots of hard work together with expert guidance from people like yourself on here!
@Syfini I didn’t have my list to hand but have it now. Here are cottage garden plants I like for different heights - I found finding a good range of back of border plants the hardest. It’s also good to have some structural elements either mid or back such as shrubs.
Front: phlox, lavender, sedum (amazing for late nectar for our pollinators), nepeta, low geraniums, low clump forming alliums e.g. millenium, allium Eros looks awesome in a cottage garden border, herbs, scabious (some only reach 30-40cm).
Middle: salvia, yarrow, verbena, poppies, small shrub roses, astrantia, iris, taller geraniums (some can reach best part of a metre), taller scabious such as Knautia Macedonica, lupins, peonies, coneflowers, cosmos, dahlias, aquilegias, medium alliums like purple sensation.
*even tall verbena do well in the middle as they are quite transparent.
Back: > Large shrub roses. Hybrid musks look great in a cottage garden with their dainty branches and elegant small flowers. Top ones are Felicia, Lavender Lassie and Cornelia. They will all grow high at the back (5-6ft). > Hollyhocks, > Digitalis purpurea, > Tall campanulas - lactiflora do well in cottage garden schemes - Loddon Annna is a great one (1.5m), >Eupatorium (some reach 2m+), > Depending on border size small ornamental fruit trees, > Delphiniums > Making simple 3 branch tall wigwams and growing climbers like sweet peas, roses, clematis etc up them. Traditional cottage gardens will use this as an opportunity to add an edible climber with an ornamental one like beans. These look so rustic and make a big impact. In large border you can have multiple wigwams popping up. > Butterfly bush > Ceanothus - great for adding structure as well as height with their evergreen nature > Tall alliums like giganteum, summer drummer etc.
This is my compiled list. You might find it useful when making border plans.
Traditional cottage gardens always included wigwams of runner beans, lettuce near the front of the border, onions, chard and spinach etc. so the border was edible as well as floral. Traditional plants such as dahlias and chrysanthemums followed spring bulbs. Roses and daisy type flowers were also used as were delphiniums, escholtzias, love in the mist and cornflowers. Modern so called cottage gardens are a far cry from the originals but your choice of plants will be so personal, also the amount of time and effort you are able to put in to maintain the loosed free flowing look.
Posts
Starting in Spring with say snowdrops, then Narcissi. As the Narcissi die down, you don't really want to look at dying leaves, so something such as hardy geraniums (them again !) appear and hide the dying foliage. They flower themselves to a standstill, then generally speaking you can cut them right down, give them a drink, and in a few weeks there will be fresh foliage. Then something such a salvia Caradonna which will flower for ages and if you keep deadheading will carry on. Turning into Autumn, plants such as Heleniums and the sedums will take over.
Don't forget to feed the soil, a suitable mulch in late winter/early Spring (taking care not to smother emerging bulbs), will help set your plants up for the year ahead.
One trick is to visit the garden centre several times over the year, see what's in flower, read the label to see if it's suitable for your garden and buy it 🙂.
The last couple of years have been particularly difficult as others have said. The hot spell in July practically did for my South facing border , the cold spell in early December didn't help matters either as many plants were only just recovering, and l lost Agastache and Hebes amongst others.
Have a look at websites such as Hardys, Ballyrobert and Beth Chatto. They give lots of information and have plants listed as suitable for various conditions.
Don't loose heart this spring/summer is just the start.
As @GardenerSuze said you need to be ruthless. One small border I have recently done I removed everything and weeded heavily then raked.
Good luck with your borders 🙂
Middle: salvia, yarrow, verbena, poppies, small shrub roses, astrantia, iris, taller geraniums (some can reach best part of a metre), taller scabious such as Knautia Macedonica, lupins, peonies, coneflowers, cosmos, dahlias, aquilegias, medium alliums like purple sensation.
Back:
> Large shrub roses. Hybrid musks look great in a cottage garden with their dainty branches and elegant small flowers. Top ones are Felicia, Lavender Lassie and Cornelia. They will all grow high at the back (5-6ft).
> Hollyhocks,
> Digitalis purpurea,
> Tall campanulas - lactiflora do well in cottage garden schemes - Loddon Annna is a great one (1.5m),
>Eupatorium (some reach 2m+),
> Depending on border size small ornamental fruit trees,
> Delphiniums
> Making simple 3 branch tall wigwams and growing climbers like sweet peas, roses, clematis etc up them. Traditional cottage gardens will use this as an opportunity to add an edible climber with an ornamental one like beans. These look so rustic and make a big impact. In large border you can have multiple wigwams popping up.
> Butterfly bush
> Ceanothus - great for adding structure as well as height with their evergreen nature
> Tall alliums like giganteum, summer drummer etc.
This is my compiled list. You might find it useful when making border plans.
When I first started working as a gardener I challenged myself to read the index of the RHS Encyclopedia over the winter. I was trying to track down plants I hadn't heard of and I wanted to check my plant knowledge.I also wanted to find out if there were any plants new to me that I might want to grow. I did find that trees were something I knew little about. There were also many plants that wouldn't grow here. It was an interesting exercise to say the least. when I couldn't get in the garden.
Planting three of the same works well and then add another one further along the border that works well too.
Then break the rules by planting V Bonariensis right at the front you can also do the same with Aquilegia. Repeating plants through the border also creates interest and brings thing together.
Modern so called cottage gardens are a far cry from the originals but your choice of plants will be so personal, also the amount of time and effort you are able to put in to maintain the loosed free flowing look.