Cottage Gardens
(Via gardenauthor)
All Photographs courtesy CBI ©2007
A cottage garden, an English garden, an informal country garden... however you refer to this garden genre, a sound design that includes appropriate plant material, is key. All successful landscapes, whether formal, informal or somewhere in between, start with a plan. Before you start digging, put pencil to paper and start planning. If you’re not confident enough to design, choose plants and implement such plans, there are many qualified professionals to guide you through some, or even all, of the steps involved. For now, let’s assume that you have at least a nodding acquaintance with the concept of a cottage garden, many of the plants we’ll discuss and any limitations imposed by your own backyard.
Whether it involves a redesign of a small front yard or designating a portion of the larger landscape to the creation of a cottage garden, the design phase must take into consideration topography, soil type, exposure to wind and available sunlight. Let’s approach the planning phase assuming that we’re working with an ideally open, sunny, level area of moderate size with a friable, fertile soil.
Before we delve into color, texture and ornamentation, we need an understanding of the basic concepts. That informal, seemingly casual arrangement of plants has, at its foundation, a simple, but very calculated formula. Based on a series of three tiers, plant height is graduated, from the rear of the bed to the front. While ultimate height of each tier is the domain of the individual gardener, we’ll make some assumptions for this particular example. Allowing for a mature height of 5-6 feet, makes the back tier ideal for tallest perennials, certain roses and perhaps a few shrubs. At 3-4 feet, the middle tier would accommodate perennials, roses and grasses of more moderate scale. With an ultimate height of 1-2 feet, the front tier is well-suited to the cultivation of lower, bordering plants.
How will we frame up this garden? A tall privacy fence would provide a suitable backdrop, and possibly some protection from wind - particularly important for long-stemmed specimens, grown for arrangements. In my mind’s eye, a cottage garden combines the basic English concept with a bit of New England influence. White picket fences, an arbor with a moon gate, neatly pillared roses in the background, a weathered garden bench, maybe a sundial and birdbath, a low fieldstone edging, a winding pathway and, of course, exuberant “mops” of white, blue and pink hydrangeas.
Bones? Yes, bones! If your New England version of the cottage garden has good “bones,” it will be attractive year ‘round; therefore, include a few plants that offer the winter interest of evergreen foliage, exfoliating bark, berries or persistent fruits and pleasing outlines. Add to this the hardscaping features, just discussed, and you have a cohesive “big picture”... bones and all! Here in Zone 5, we’re bereft of foliage for about six months of the year, making year ‘round interest an important element in any landscape design.
Rose pillars were once quite popular. Providing structure, backdrop or focal point in the cottage garden, a ten-foot wooden pillar was used to support an old-fashioned climbing rose. Modern climbers, like ‘New Dawn’, ‘Golden Showers’ or ‘Eden’, are more reliable rebloomers than old garden varieties. Some of the fragrant, taller-growing David Austin roses also lend themselves to pillar culture. Attractive wooden obelisks and similar tall structures, will provide support and a focal point in that back tier of plants. Trellises, between windows or against a high garden wall, are another venue for the fragrance (not all roses possess strong fragrance, so do your homework) and beauty of roses, presenting an impressive backdrop. Obviously, an arbor at the cottage garden entrance, calls out for the fragrance and beauty of a climbing rose. ‘Climbing Iceberg’, ‘Polka’ and ‘White Dawn’ will enhance the pastel palette and entice the casual observer to traverse your garden path.
If stronger, bold colors are your preference, then you’ll need to strike a balance between complementary colors and contrasting colors... a color wheel is a great help with these decisions. The lighter, “cooler” colors include white, cream, light yellow and mid to lighter shades of blue, purple and pink. A garden filled with these paler hues, can actually make the observer feel cooler on a hot summer day. White and the lightest pastels are clearly visible in the evening, as are plants with variegated or silver foliage. Your cottage garden can also be a moonlight garden, extending the pleasure you derive, well into the evening.
Blue Baptisia, pastel Delphiniums, hybrid varieties of Joe Pye weed, Helenium, Boltonia, Aruncus, globe thistle (Echinops), hollyhock and giant mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos) are some of the perennials that would add color, substance and a long blooming season for that back tier. For texture, consider maiden grass in this tier, adding sound with rustling foliage, and plumes for fall and winter interest. Peonies, Pennisetum (fountain grass is great for texture), Rudbeckia, Echinacea, Monarda, Chelone, Campanula, Gypsophila (baby’s breath), poppy, shasta daisy, Iris, Anemone, Physostegia, tall Phlox and Thalictrum are ideal candidates for the middle tier. The front of the border can be a mix of plants that range from low, edging specimens to those that reach about two feet, at maturity. Catananche (cupid’s dart), Campanula, Alchemilla (lady’s mantle), Heuchera, Dicentra (eximia or formosa), Dianthus, Tiarella (foamflower), Geranium (Cranesbill), lavender, caraway thyme and blue festuca are all suitable for the front of the planting.
Mix in silver-leaved lamb’s ears, ‘Silver King’ or ‘Silver Mound’ Artemisia for a soft shimmer.
Save room for a few fragrant annuals, like climbing or hanging-basket sweet peas, climbing moonflower and old-fashioned white nicotiana. Let blue morning glories scramble up a trellis or across an arbor. White or lemony-yellow sunflowers add a cheerful note, as do white or picotee cosmos. Have fun planning and planting that cottage garden... truly, a calculated informality.
By Deb Lambert ©2008
All Photographs courtesy CBI ©2007
"COTTAGE GARDENS IN NEW ENGLAND...
A CALCULATED INFORMALITY"
By Deb Lambert
A CALCULATED INFORMALITY"
By Deb Lambert
A cottage garden, an English garden, an informal country garden... however you refer to this garden genre, a sound design that includes appropriate plant material, is key. All successful landscapes, whether formal, informal or somewhere in between, start with a plan. Before you start digging, put pencil to paper and start planning. If you’re not confident enough to design, choose plants and implement such plans, there are many qualified professionals to guide you through some, or even all, of the steps involved. For now, let’s assume that you have at least a nodding acquaintance with the concept of a cottage garden, many of the plants we’ll discuss and any limitations imposed by your own backyard.
Whether it involves a redesign of a small front yard or designating a portion of the larger landscape to the creation of a cottage garden, the design phase must take into consideration topography, soil type, exposure to wind and available sunlight. Let’s approach the planning phase assuming that we’re working with an ideally open, sunny, level area of moderate size with a friable, fertile soil.
Before we delve into color, texture and ornamentation, we need an understanding of the basic concepts. That informal, seemingly casual arrangement of plants has, at its foundation, a simple, but very calculated formula. Based on a series of three tiers, plant height is graduated, from the rear of the bed to the front. While ultimate height of each tier is the domain of the individual gardener, we’ll make some assumptions for this particular example. Allowing for a mature height of 5-6 feet, makes the back tier ideal for tallest perennials, certain roses and perhaps a few shrubs. At 3-4 feet, the middle tier would accommodate perennials, roses and grasses of more moderate scale. With an ultimate height of 1-2 feet, the front tier is well-suited to the cultivation of lower, bordering plants.
How will we frame up this garden? A tall privacy fence would provide a suitable backdrop, and possibly some protection from wind - particularly important for long-stemmed specimens, grown for arrangements. In my mind’s eye, a cottage garden combines the basic English concept with a bit of New England influence. White picket fences, an arbor with a moon gate, neatly pillared roses in the background, a weathered garden bench, maybe a sundial and birdbath, a low fieldstone edging, a winding pathway and, of course, exuberant “mops” of white, blue and pink hydrangeas.
Bones? Yes, bones! If your New England version of the cottage garden has good “bones,” it will be attractive year ‘round; therefore, include a few plants that offer the winter interest of evergreen foliage, exfoliating bark, berries or persistent fruits and pleasing outlines. Add to this the hardscaping features, just discussed, and you have a cohesive “big picture”... bones and all! Here in Zone 5, we’re bereft of foliage for about six months of the year, making year ‘round interest an important element in any landscape design.
Rose pillars were once quite popular. Providing structure, backdrop or focal point in the cottage garden, a ten-foot wooden pillar was used to support an old-fashioned climbing rose. Modern climbers, like ‘New Dawn’, ‘Golden Showers’ or ‘Eden’, are more reliable rebloomers than old garden varieties. Some of the fragrant, taller-growing David Austin roses also lend themselves to pillar culture. Attractive wooden obelisks and similar tall structures, will provide support and a focal point in that back tier of plants. Trellises, between windows or against a high garden wall, are another venue for the fragrance (not all roses possess strong fragrance, so do your homework) and beauty of roses, presenting an impressive backdrop. Obviously, an arbor at the cottage garden entrance, calls out for the fragrance and beauty of a climbing rose. ‘Climbing Iceberg’, ‘Polka’ and ‘White Dawn’ will enhance the pastel palette and entice the casual observer to traverse your garden path.
If stronger, bold colors are your preference, then you’ll need to strike a balance between complementary colors and contrasting colors... a color wheel is a great help with these decisions. The lighter, “cooler” colors include white, cream, light yellow and mid to lighter shades of blue, purple and pink. A garden filled with these paler hues, can actually make the observer feel cooler on a hot summer day. White and the lightest pastels are clearly visible in the evening, as are plants with variegated or silver foliage. Your cottage garden can also be a moonlight garden, extending the pleasure you derive, well into the evening.
Blue Baptisia, pastel Delphiniums, hybrid varieties of Joe Pye weed, Helenium, Boltonia, Aruncus, globe thistle (Echinops), hollyhock and giant mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos) are some of the perennials that would add color, substance and a long blooming season for that back tier. For texture, consider maiden grass in this tier, adding sound with rustling foliage, and plumes for fall and winter interest. Peonies, Pennisetum (fountain grass is great for texture), Rudbeckia, Echinacea, Monarda, Chelone, Campanula, Gypsophila (baby’s breath), poppy, shasta daisy, Iris, Anemone, Physostegia, tall Phlox and Thalictrum are ideal candidates for the middle tier. The front of the border can be a mix of plants that range from low, edging specimens to those that reach about two feet, at maturity. Catananche (cupid’s dart), Campanula, Alchemilla (lady’s mantle), Heuchera, Dicentra (eximia or formosa), Dianthus, Tiarella (foamflower), Geranium (Cranesbill), lavender, caraway thyme and blue festuca are all suitable for the front of the planting.
Mix in silver-leaved lamb’s ears, ‘Silver King’ or ‘Silver Mound’ Artemisia for a soft shimmer.
Save room for a few fragrant annuals, like climbing or hanging-basket sweet peas, climbing moonflower and old-fashioned white nicotiana. Let blue morning glories scramble up a trellis or across an arbor. White or lemony-yellow sunflowers add a cheerful note, as do white or picotee cosmos. Have fun planning and planting that cottage garden... truly, a calculated informality.
By Deb Lambert ©2008
