While most gardens thrive on order and well-defined areas, cottage gardens mix together in bright and cheerful tangle of pretty plants and flowers. Cottage gardens are filled with plants of every size, shape and colour; they are a place of various shades, hues and textures. But, best of all, they are super easy to maintain.
Cottage gardens are relaxed, full of colour and are lots of fun. Cottage gardens are easy to maintain and don’t take too much work to care for.
For our simple guide to creating the perfect cottage garden, have a read of this.
1. Start small
Don’t be tempted to create a monster garden that you don’t have enough time to care for. Instead, create a cottage garden that is small, full of colour and fun to look at.
As your confidence grows, you can then start to increase the size of your cottage garden and take over a few more flower beds.
To make sure your flowers grow properly, invest in nutrient-rich soil to top your flower beds with.
2. Position plants carefully
Don’t just put plants anywhere, think carefully about where you are placing them. Plants and flowers always grow better when they are in the ideal location. So, make sure to do some gardening research before you get planting.
3. Add additional features
To add an extra cottage feel to your garden, place boulders in amongst your flower beds. Make sure to lay your boulders out in a way that looks natural, before covering a third of each boulder with soil.
A small picket fence can also look great in a cottage garden. A picket fence is ideal for adding to a cottage garden as it will add some order to the messy looking plants and flower beds.
4. Make a pathway
In busy gardens, paths offer some relief from the crowded flower beds. Paths also make cottage gardens look more welcoming and much easier to maintain.
When you are choosing the type of path to create, think about who will be in the garden and what type of shoes they will be wearing. For example, a pebble path looks great, but if you have little ones running about it soon gets messy. Thinking about who uses your garden, will help you to decide between a soft surface, made from gravel or wood chips or a harder surface made from concrete or Westminster stone. Another option is a grass path. However, a grass path can become extremely slippery in wet weather.
5. Create a focal point
Add a unique and intriguing accessory to your garden. Not only will it make your garden look more fun, it will also provide you with an excellent focal point.
To add a more pretty feel to the garden, invest in a wooden wheelbarrow or trough and plant wildflowers in it. Or, use an old wagon, bin or basket and fill it with lots of different flowers. Just make sure, not to overdo it. Otherwise, your garden may end up looking like a junkyard. Stick to two focal points and so more.
