Your Guide to Growing an English Cottage Garden in the West (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between a cottage garden and an English garden? ›

Lush and dense, English cottage gardens are a mix of two different looks. "English and cottage are kind of tributaries that fall under the same umbrella, but they're different," Lenhart says. "Cottage is sort of the more wild, diverse, unkempt version," he says. "English would be more formal.

The basic elements of an English garden include: large drifts of bright perennials, color themes, a wide variety of textures, and herbaceous borders—which are full of flowers through three seasons.

In summary, French gardens are characterized by their formality, symmetry, and control over nature, while English gardens are known for their natural appearance, informal layout, and incorporation of varied plantings and landscape features.

Careful and consistent maintenance: Intensively cultivated, regular maintenance of plants, soil and weeding is needed when flowers are grown this way. This nostalgic style is a labor of love—the love of the plants!

Best for cottage gardens: the common biennial foxglove, Digitalis purpurea and improved selections such as Digitalis purpurea Excelsior Group can reach up to 2m (6ft); sIngle colour apricot hybrids or white forms are also available.

This would normally consist of vegetables such as kale and cabbages, onions and leeks, turnips, plus peas and beans that would be dried and used as the basis for a thick soup or stew known as 'pottage' (which, incidentally, is where the word 'potager' comes from).

How long does it take to create a show-quality cottage garden? About 18 months and most of that is growing time.

Pastel shades and fragrant flowers are hallmarks of the cottage style. Picket or lattice fences that aren't too tall are ideal. Plant to promote informal crowding of perennials, annuals, vegetables and foliage plants. Use rich organic soil and mulch.

The stars of your English garden are the flowers. English garden design revolves around color. You may choose a minimalistic color story showcasing various shades of your favorite color, such as all white or gradients of pink. Or you can go nuts with splashes of vibrant reds, purples, and blues.

Layering of cottage garden plants is a key feature of English gardens. Trees or tall shrubs are used as the upper layer, while mid-height and low-growing shrubs mix with perennials and ornamental grasses to form the main planting.

What are the elements of an English garden? ›

Neatly clipped hedges, clearly defined bed edges and healthy swaths of lush green lawn foster the ambience of an English country garden — and are easily adapted to any size yard. An English country garden features a series of garden areas connected by paths.

The cottage garden is a distinct style that uses informal design, traditional materials, dense plantings, and a mixture of ornamental and edible plants. English in origin, it depends on grace and charm rather than grandeur and formal structure.

In this garden, as in English gardens through- out history, walls are both practical and decorative. They protect plants from cold winds and hungry animals. They radiate heat, thereby prolonging the growing season. They create intimate enclosed spaces while blocking out unwanted noise or unsightly views.

You rarely see mulch in French or English gardens, for example. The French believe that roots need air, which a layer of mulch can block. The English plant so densely that there's little open space for mulch, although they do apply copious amounts of compost.

The cottage garden design is based more on principles than formulae: it has an informal look, with a seemingly casual mixture of flowers, herbs, and vegetables often packed into a small area. In spite of their appearances, cottage gardens have a design and formality that help give them their grace and charm.

English gardens consist of hardscaping and formal hedging to instill a sense of order, with less formal planting borders as a counterbalance. Include some or all of these English garden elements to create compelling visual interest and timeless appeal.

In the English cottage, there is a lot of light- to medium-toned wood furnishings, floors, and walls. This helps promote an open, airy feel in an otherwise small space. Distressed wood furniture is also a great option as it lends itself to the lived-in feel that English cottage rooms emulate.

In British English the term now denotes a small, cosy dwelling of traditional build, although it can also be applied to modern construction designed to resemble traditional houses ("mock cottages"). Cottages may be detached houses, or terraced, such as those built to house workers in mining villages.