How to Plant a Cottage Garden

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

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If the idea of masses of delicate color gently swaying in the breeze and fragrant herbs tucked into every nook appeal to you, a cottage garden might be for you. This garden style is popular with naturalists and garden purists. Whether you have a small area or just want to recreate the style, a few basic steps will get you started.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Step1

Surround your garden with a picket fence. Originally built to protect the garden from wandering animals, the picket fence is now a design staple of the cottage garden. If building a whole fence isn't an option, try putting in an accent fence, a few feet in length, to display climbing roses or vines.

Step2

Design a straight walk from your front gate to your door. An arched trellis entryway over the gate completes the cottage-type look. You can incorporate the arched entryway even if you don't have a fence. Consider placing it in a corner of your yard and train a rambling rose on it as an architectural accent leading from one part of your garden to the next.

Step3

Prepare the beds with an abundance of organic material to enrich the soil. Plant low maintenance varieties at the back of rectangular beds, leaving the ones that need more upkeep towards the front within reach. Choose easy-to-grow flowers that thrive in your area. English and heritage roses are a staple of the cottage garden. Soften your paths with low-growing, flowering ground cover.

Step4

Plant small flowering trees and bushes to add height and texture. Train traditional wisteria on a pergola or trellis and fill in empty spots with bulbs or herbs.

Step5

Divide your plant selection between perennials and annuals. The cottage garden needs the favorite hollyhocks, daisies and verbenas that come back year after year. Also, remember to add some snapdragons, alyssum and anemones to complete the look.

Step6

Deadhead your blooms regularly. With so many flowers, the cottage garden can look messy very quickly if you don't tend it regularly. Pinching off spent blooms encourages new ones and keeps straggly stems at bay.

Tips & Warnings

Don't use too many flower varieties or you'll end up with a messy garden. Keep the "odd number" rule in mind. Plant in groups of 3, 5, 7 and so on of the same variety to create a pleasant effect.