Modern Cottage Garden, The: A Fresh Approach to a Classic Style

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Full of scent, colour and the sound of buzzy bees. The traditional cottage garden has been the setting for many paintings, photographs and films. They tend to include beautiful colours, intriguing layouts, hidden surprises and sometimes even edible treats. However, we tend to associate them with – well- cottages. But there’s no reason why the concept of a cottage garden cannot be adapted to suit any style of property of size of garden. Origins of the cottage garden Good soil: As with all gardening, ensure the soil is good, rich in organic matter, and that the plants you choose suit your conditions and are good performers. It’s fair to say that Karen’s come a long way since then. Having overcome her illness, she’s launched a thriving career as a watercolourist and textile artist, working and teaching in her Dartmoor garden-side studio. And central to that career change is the lush rambling country garden she shares with her five cats and thriving wildlife. From intricate petal appliqué bags and edible flower biscuits to floral wreaths and framed pressed flowers, every one of Karen’s creations has been directly inspired by her homegrown blooms.

I do know of one cottage next to a church where the paths are made from recycled grave stones laid face down so the writing is hidden.) Karen Burgess credits her bountiful cottage garden with healing her from illness, consoling her in hard times and inspiring her floral art. “I’d die without this garden,” she smiles. “I had cancer during the Covid pandemic, and that’s when I truly learned the benefit of this wonderful outdoor space. In my experience the best place to do this is around a dining table and chairs and so I spend a lot of time discussing furniture options with my clients. Put in place and water 'Using a garden spade, plant each to the same depth as its growing pot. Firm gently and water well, then add a layer of mulch around your plants to help retain moisture. From Tudor times until the Victorian era, cottage gardens were functional rather than decorative, with an emphasis on productive culinary and medicinal plants, and flowers to aid pollination filling any spaces in between.Apart from the visual prettiness, there is the added bonus with cottage gardens of bio-diversity, with plants rarely suffering from diseases and pests due to the wide choice available. Having many varieties ideal for attracting beneficial insects and wildlife to your garden. Find advice on on eco-friendly gardening or how to create a wildlife garden in our separate guides.

My garden is quite small," he says. "I haven’t got an 150-year-old oak tree or a huge space to play with, but that didn’t stop me planning my very own cottage garden. The key is being selective. Like small garden owners, people with balconies might like to grow sweet peas or perennial wallflowers as they’ll bloom from spring to winter, as opposed to trendy oriental poppies that look good on social media, but only last two weeks." Have comments or questions about our modern cottage garden design ideas? Tell us in the section below. The mantra right plant, right place is important in designing a cottage garden. You are working with, not against your conditions, for the healthiest, sturdiest results, with the minimum of effort.When it comes to other floral creations, it’s not hard to see the influences of Karen’s previous career as a pastry chef with delicate and delicious-looking flower biscuits. And then there are intricate air-dried clay flowers and Easter eggs painted with floral designs. “I’m always creating!” she smiles.

By the middle ages, around the time King Louis XIV built the formal gardens at Versailles, affluent people started growing gardens for pleasure rather than as a main source of food. The cottage garden needs a boundary of some sort. A strong surround keeps cold winds out of the garden and creates a microclimate. A similar principal as the walled gardens attached to large country houses. Cottagers would have used native hedging or hurdles. Hedging was cheap and widely available at that time and of course it may well have produced edible berries to help sustain the family. Roses are a must-have for colour and scent in summer, and blowsy hydrangeas will keep interest going into autumn. Dogwoods act as a foil for flowering plants during the warmer months’ of the year but take centre stage in winter when their leaves fall to reveal colourful stems. A cottage garden is as quintessentially British as cream teas, the Royal Family and a strange obsession with the weather. Few sights are more impressive in summer than a chocolate-box house surrounded by a space brimming with roses, perennials and flowering climbers.

That’s not necessarily true. Remember, the original cottagers were working long days and coming home to a meagre meal. They had neither the time nor the energy for vigorous gardening. By placing plants close together and mulching with manure weeds would have been suppressed. Glasshouses are intrinsically linked to a romantic, comforting notion of Englishness,’ says Martin Toogood, chairman of Hartley Botanic, which creates luxury glasshouses for both the US and European markets. Could you see yourself relaxing in a cottage garden? Do you need help with the design? Look no further. Tapestry Design Studios have all the planting knowledge you need to create a beautiful cottage garden.

The choice of vegetables was very limited until King Charlemagne (800 AD) issued a decree that increased the types of plants grown — things like cucumbers, melons. rosemary, cumin, fennel and globe artichokes. Also remember the taller the pergola the more unstable it may become and it may also be harder to maintain,' he adds. Include some evergreen shrubs for your cottage garden design among the herbaceous, for interest through winter, and for a nod to the past incorporate edibles; step-over-apples could be used as boundaries, chives to edge the paths, medicinal and aromatic herbs interspersed, or chard nestled in among the flowers. Sow easy-to-grow long-lasting annuals and wildflowers, including calendula, cornflowers, nigella and biennial foxgloves, to fill any gaps. Over time self-seeding plants will pop up randomly in unexpected spots, giving an interwoven lightness and artfulness to the design.The original cottage gardens were productive plots for the less well off. They were about growing fruit and veg to feed the family. Flowers were brought into the mix for various reasons