What is a 'cottage garden'?

A cottage garden is a perennial garden of informal design that grows in the space between the lawn and home. The cottage garden provides different flower colors and textures in an informal design. All these flowers will attract pollinators to the landscape also.

History

Cottage gardens have a long history. In the late 1400s family farmers were finally able to tend their own gardens due to the end of feudalism. Cottage plants were originally kitchen gardens. The main plants were edibles and medicinal plants, including vegetables, herbs, and fruit trees with flowers being of less importance. Eventually, as food began to come from markets instead of backyard gardens, cottage gardens transformed into ornamental flower gardens.

Informal Is Good

For some gardeners, myself included, the cottage garden's greatest appeal is an apparent lack of formal design. However, a minimal design is required to separate the cottage garden from a meadow or woodland garden. With the use of borders, paths, and hardscape the cottage garden takes shape.

Elements of the Cottage Garden 

Plants - perennial border; shrubs; trees; vines; lawn

Hardscape - edging/borders; arbors; walkways; trellises; bird bath; water feature; sitting areas

• design and lay out beds
• install borders
• till in organic matter
• obtain plants
• Install plants as a mix, short in front, tall in back
• source favorite mulch and install

Plants

Flowers - Agastache, allium, amaranthus, hollyhock, anemone, angelonia, aster, ornamental kale and swiss chard, celosia, chrysanthemum, clematis vine, cleome, smokebush, crocosmia, dahlia, delphinium, echinacea, lilly, poppy, euphorbia, fritillaria, glandularia, hibiscus, ornamental sweet potato, kniphophia, purple hyacinth bean vine, moonflower vine, ornamental gourds, lavendar, sweet pea vine, lupine, lycoris, oxalis, peony, passion flower vine, pennisetum grass, phlox, castor bean, black-eyed susan, salvia, leeks, coleus, goldenrod, thyme, nasturtium, verbena, zinnia

Wildflower seed mix - baby's breath, dwarf cornflower/bachelor button, five spot, lemon mint, African daisy, sweet alyssum, toadflax, tall cornflower/bachelor button, red corn poppy, lance leaf coreopsis, mixed red poppy, wild cosmos, California poppy, blanketflower, black-eyed susan, wild perennial lupine, purple coneflower, coreopsis, Siberian wallflower, blue flax, scarlet flax, Drummond phlox, sulphur/orange cosmos, gloriosa daisy

Small trees up to 25′ – (deciduous)

Native – service berry, hornbeam, redbud, dogwood, fringe tree, Carolina silverbell, hornbeam

Non-native – Japanese Maple, Paperbark maple, trident maple, Kousa dogwood, smoke tree, Japanese Stewartia

(evergreen)

Native – red cedar, western or eastern arborvitae, American holly, Savannah holly, small southern magnolia cultivars

Non-native –  Emily Bruner holly, Nellie R. Steven holly, Prague viburnum, Foster’s holly

Large Trees over 25′ – (deciduous)

Native – red maple, sugar maple, river birch, yellowwood, beech, birch, cucumber tree, oaks

Non-native – dawn redwood, lacebark elm, zelkova

(evergreen)

Native – spruce, hemlock, fir, pines, Atlantic white cedar, arborvitae, red cedar, southern magnolia

Non-native – cryptomeria, oriental arborvitae, cypresses, and pines

Shrubs under 4′

(deciduous)

Native – St. John’s wort, lowbush blueberry, cranberry, maple leaf viburnum, hydrangea, American beautyberry

Non-native – cotoneaster

(evergreen)

Native – dog hobble, American boxwood, dwarf native conifers

Non-native – Japanese holly, deutzia, plum yew, sarcacocca quince

Mid-sized Shrubs over 4′ under 10′

(deciduous)

Native – sweetshrub, red-twig dogwood, hearts-a-bustin’, fothergilla, hypericum, winterberry, Virginia sweetspire, spicebush, native azaleas, elderberry, highbush blueberry, deciduous viburnum, leatherleaf viburnum, spirea

Non-native – abelia, forsythia

(evergreen)

Native – mountain laurel, rhododendron, inkberry

Non-native – tea olive, camelia

Large shrubs over 10′

(deciduous)

Native – smooth sumac, arrowwood viburnum, bottlebrush buckeye, witch hazel. oakleaf hydrangea, ninebark

Non-native –

(evergreen)

Native – rhododendron, mountain laurel

Non-native – Nellie R. Stevens holly, Emily Brunner holly, Dwarf Burford holly

Vines

(deciduous) crossvine, trumpet creeper, climbing hydrangea, coral honeysuckle, Virginia creeper, fox grape

Grasses

bluestem, broomsedge, river oats, switch grass, pink muhly grass, lovegrass (more grasses)

Groundcovers

(deciduous)

Native – pussy’s toes, wild ginger, partridge berry, pachysandra, phlox, golden aster, Christmas fern, Oconee bells, yellow root, green and gold

(evergreen)

Native – shore juniper, blue rug juniper,

Wildflowers

annual wildflower mix for the south from Eden Brothers or American Meadows websites

Perennials

black-eyed Susan, coneflower, milkweed, asters, false indigo, coreopsis, Joe Pye weed, Carolina geranium, swamp sunflower, bee balm, Carolina phlox, Cardinal flower, mountain mint