The cottage garden combines nostalgia with romance. Our 7 tips show you what makes it special and how to put it on correctly.
Who doesn't want a garden that looks beautiful but requires little maintenance? You may now think that there is no such garden, unless it consists only of a lawn. But you thought wrong. A so-called cottage garden is characterized by precisely these characteristics.
What is this? This is a rural garden from England, which is basically structured like a cottage garden. However, a cottage garden is much finer and laid out with more attention to detail.
Wild, but still romantic: the cottage garden
The cottage garden is particularly characterized by informality and wildness, although it still has a certain structure. As the name suggests, the focal point of this garden is the cottage. While this garden used to be just a kitchen garden with herbs and medicinal plants as well as vegetables and fruit trees, today it is a combination of flowers and kitchen garden.
Elegant yet wild, this is what today's cottage garden looks like. It is perfectly suitable for anyone who is against clearly structured gardens with meticulously laid out beds. If you ever travel to England, then you should definitely be inspired by this garden style.
Collect ideas for a cottage garden:
1. Visit garden exhibitions
(book your flight via ab-in-den-urlaub.de and visit botanical gardens worldwide)
2. Ask a nursery what belongs in a cottage garden
(find nurseries across Germany via yellow pages)
3. Read books about cottage gardens
(find books on the subject via amazon.de)
As you can see, there are plenty of sources and places where you can get inspiration for your cottage garden and at the same time get important information for choosing and caring for plants. Our tips will show you how you can create this yourself or how you can convert your current garden into a cottage garden.
Tips for creating a cottage garden
» Tip 1 -Garden fence/wall:
The basis of a cottage garden is the border of the property. At best, this should consist of a high hedge or a natural stone or brick wall. Over time, moss and lichen can form on this wall, providing a nostalgic touch even outside the garden. But trellises can also surround the garden. However, these should look rather rustic.
If you opt for a high cut hedge, we can recommend the evergreen yew or shrubs such as the hornbeam or the common beech.
» Tip 2 - bordering paths and beds:
Although a cottage garden impresses with its wild growth, the beds in this garden are clearly demarcated. Box hedges, for example, are best suited for edging beds.
In a cottage garden, paths are often bordered with cushion perennials, which are also welcome to grow over the edge of the path. Otherwise, natural materials such as natural stone, wood or fired bricks also look very good as path borders.
» Tip 3 - create paths:
While the garden paths were always straight in the past, today they can also run in an arc. However, it is important that, as described in the previous tip, they are surrounded by perennials and ideally also encased by trellis arches.
The paths themselves can be made of gravel, pebbles or other small stones. But paved paths made of natural stone are also possible.
» Tip 4 - Plants for the cottage garden:
Flower beds and perennial beds are essential in a cottage garden. However, you must not plant them according to a system. The following flowers, for example, are particularly popular in a cottage garden:
- Poppy
- Jasmine
- lupine
- Cornflowers
- Lilies
- Hydrangeas
- Lavender
- sage
- Elderberry
- Lilac
- Sweet Carnations
- Nasturtium
- Larkspur
» Tip 5 - Most important plant: the rose:
In a real cottage garden, roses play a very important role. They give this garden a very special charm and provide the necessary elegance between the rampant plants. Old rose varieties are particularly suitable for a cottage garden.
If you are planting roses in your garden, it is best to grow them up a trellis or tree, or climb up an archway. Alternatively toClimbing roses can also be used to grow wisteria or clematis up an archway.
» Tip 6 - Plant fruit and vegetables:
Of course, fruit trees should not be missing in a real cottage garden. Above all, they should be planted where they come into their own and appear almost picturesque. Which type of fruit you choose is entirely up to you. Otherwise, berry bushes such as raspberries, gooseberries, blackberries and currants should not be missing.
As far as vegetables are concerned, you shouldn't necessarily plant them in a separate vegetable patch, but between the flowers. How great do you think tomatoes, rhubarb, chard, red cabbage and Brussels sprouts look in a flower bed? It may sound strange at first, but you'll be amazed at how great it looks.
» Tip 7 - Set the scene for your garden decoration:
It is not only the plants that make a cottage garden what it is, but also special garden accessories. You have to find the middle between old and elegant. Look particularly pretty, for example:
- an old wooden ladder on the tree
- a wine barrel as a rain barrel
- Tin buckets as flower pots
- an old sundial
- rustic plant plugs
- a bird bath
- a pool of water
off. The garden decoration may look old and worn, but not shabby. Maybe you've heard of the new furnishing trend "shabby chic". Pieces of furniture and decorations are intentionally provided with blemishes. This style is ideal for a cottage garden.