For Gardeners: Create your own cottage garden

This time of year, when greedy critters steal our carefully tended produce, and the garden looks tired and DRY, it’s easy to fantasize about what could be. The inspiration for this column came from my friend Linda Murray. There is always something new and delightful to see in her garden, but it never shouts at you; her unfussy natural setting welcomes you in.

Linda’s climbing roses and lilies reach right to the roof, while 20 different kinds of blooming plants of varying heights and textures crowd each other out. There’s no room for weeds in this garden.

In spring, this is what greets you:

Up close, the plants look like this…

…but when planted together, they create a lush, blooming meadow. The varieties are interplanted closely, and they mingle as they reseed themselves.

What makes a cottage garden?

England is famous for its cottage gardens, and because Western Washington is similar in both climate and latitude to the southern UK, we can grow equally beautiful, natural gardens.

You don’t need to have a quaint, 100-year-old cottage to have a cottage garden, though Linda does. It’s not the house that makes the garden; it’s the meandering paths, crowded flower beds, clipped hedges, benches to enjoy the vista, a mix of sun and shade, swaths of blooming shrubs, a table and chairs for tea, and roses!

Structures, paths and hedges keep the chaos under control

Garden paths are a must. They can be grass, stone, pavement, wood chips or gravel, but they must meander. Boring old straight paths just kill the vibe.

Iconic cottage gardens can look wild, but paths that outline and define the spaces keep the wildness contained. English gardeners also love clipped privet or boxwood hedges to hold in their abundant beds.

A mixture of pots and stones create visual interest, while arbors and trellises allow climbing plants to grow vertically. Linda has limbed up these rhodies from the bottom (above left) to create a blooming tunnel over the path. And of course, no cottage garden is complete without a garden gate.

How do you know what to plant?

One tried and true way to design a cottage garden is to go to the nursery every month and see what’s blooming. That way, you’ll see what works for this climate, and you’ll always have something in bloom. If you buy natives, bulbs and perennials, you won’t have to replant each year.

An English country garden (another name for a cottage garden) does not have to be tidy. You can plant different shapes and colors together, and you definitely don’t want to plant your flowers in rows! It’s fine to plant fruits and vegetables among the flowers, especially if they have interesting shapes like rosemary, rhubarb or cabbage.

There is no point growing herbs out in a bed distant from the house; you will never use them. Herbs belong as close to the kitchen as possible, so you can run out in the rain and clip what you need when the pot is already boiling. Linda grows her thyme in a pot next to the door, and I grow thyme, peppermint, tarragon, oregano, sage and rosemary just outside my kitchen door.

If you like crowded flower beds, be sure to include stepping stones or small pathways so you can get at your plants without trampling them. Lesson learned the hard way!

Many garden designers will tell you to 1) limit your plant varieties, 2) pick complementary colors and 3) repeat plants throughout the garden to create cohesiveness. Cottage gardeners say pfffft to that. Plant what you like — tall, short, a riot of colors and textures — and let nature take its course.

Roses!

A cottage garden must include roses. You can plant a mass of roses or strategically place a single rose plant among other flowers. They can be any color. You can let them grow tall or cut them way back each year. Be careful though, because if you cut tea roses back too far, they will revert to the original root stock, which is red.

Climbing roses belong on trellises or next to the house. Tea roses can be fussy and prone to black spot in our climate, but “carpet roses” are resistant to disease and will bloom abundantly right up until frost. They also need less pruning and hold their shape, staying shrubby instead of growing long, out-of-control flower stalks.

Why grow a garden if you can’t enjoy it?

Any respectable English cottage garden will include a table and chairs for afternoon tea. It will also have at least one bench, maybe several.

Vines for shade and fragrance

If you want to create separation in your garden, try growing vines on a trellis, arch, pergola, fence, lattice or other vertical support. Honeysuckle and star jasmine are incredibly fragrant; grapes need a lot of pruning but are fun to grow; clematis comes in multiple shapes and colors — all gorgeous; kiwi berries grow prolifically but don’t always fruit; scarlet runner beans are annuals, but they produce beautiful red flowers and edible beans; trumpet vine is a tried-and-true favorite.

Be careful with wisteria though; this single wisteria plant took down Linda’s deck railing a few years ago.

Old English houses often have ivy growing up the walls and through the garden, but please resist the temptation. Washington State classifies English ivy as a noxious weed, and once established, it is nearly impossible to eradicate.

Stacked stone walls and steps create different levels, plus they frame your plants and provide old-world ambience.

If you have a large garden like Linda’s or even just a tiny patch, the principles are the same. Replace your scraggly lawn or tired, unproductive bed with a mix of hardscapes and a variety of flowers, and you’ll be rewarded with a lush and welcoming cottage garden.

Time to start planning for next year.

For the basic principles of growing an English cottage garden, this article in Country Living magazine, 16 Best English Garden Ideas and Designs to Inspire You is a good start.