how do you define a cottage garden?

17 years ago

what exactly is a cottage garden? is it everything and anything? no rhyme or reason as to where things are placed? is it all flowers that can be used as cutting flowers? is it a garden where everything grows close together?

i feel a little stumped and i am wondering if what i have is a cottage garden, but i don't know until i can get a specific definition of what one is.

can someone shed some light on this, please?

thanks,

maryanne

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Comments (15)

girlgroupgirl
17 years ago
Maryanne, if you go over to the discussions forum, and then do a search on this topic you will find loads of threads that discuss this topic.
Hopefully that will help! It might just confuse you too...

GGG
georich5
17 years ago
Maryanne-
Your post says it all--EARTHLYDELIGHTS!

georgeanne
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Steveningen
17 years ago
However you please.

Steven

p.s. Welcome!
earthlydelights
Original Author
17 years ago
thanks everyone, appreciate the responses.
someone asked me if i considered what i have cottage type gardens...i wasn't sure. i just plant everything and everything that i like. i'm rose-less though...they are coming soon :)

be well, happy blooms.
maryanne/earthly
janroze
17 years ago
earth, Welcome to the cottage, come on in for a cup of tea and a chat. To answer your question, it is whatever you want it to be. In my book, "cottage" is a way of life and love for all creation, not just a garden, but including gardening or plants.

"Cottage garden" is a garden made of plants that follow me from the nursery and I find a home for them, someplace in my garden. Then love them and care for them. Personally, I love color, so nearly all are blooming plants.
By mid season, the garden looks like a tangle of plants and blooms - a nightmare to some, but I love it.
jan
gurley157fs
17 years ago
We have had this discussion before and I think each time it helps us define a bit more what 'cottage' means to each of us.
To me:
A cottage, and a cottage garden, is a place where I feel at home and am surrounded by the things I love. It is not for the nieghbors, it is not for a magazine photo shoot.
My cottage and cottage garden is my own personal place to putter about and dream my dreams.
earthlydelights
Original Author
17 years ago
well put jan and gurley. thank you :)
and jan, my drink of choice has always been tea....thanks :)
ohgirl
16 years ago
This is an old thread, but i dont care! I want to have a cottage/exotic garden. With all the wisdom and insight on this forum, i hope to find it! Ive been lurking around, and just thought i say hello and join all of you!
Lynn in Cincinnati
Merry Christmas,happy hannaka,blessings kwanzaa, however you say it.....Have a Great Great Great Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PattiOH
16 years ago
Hi Lynn! Welcome to the Cottage Garden!
primgal36
16 years ago
I think that "cottage" is very informal, and you don't conform to rules, which suits me, since I've always thought outside the box.
I do what I like, I don't worry if others like it, though they almost always do. I'm just enjoying God's creation, and creating a little haven for our family.
I say, don't worry, lifes' too short, plant what you enjoy.
proudgm_03
16 years ago
I don't think that "cottage garden" can be defined. By defining it you take out all the creativity. Someone told me once that it had to have a flowered path leading to it to be a cottage garden. I personally think that is BS! To me it's your personal space where inhibitions run wild in the form of plants and flowers. It's thinking outside the box. It's getting away from gardening rules and yes definitions. It's your chance to do what you want to do regardless of what everyone else is doing. It's your chance to paint a portrait for the world even if you can't draw a straight line. It's your opportunity to sing to the heaven's even if you are tone deaf. It's...It's...It's... Need I go on?
ohgirl
16 years ago
Well said.........................
sierra_z2b
16 years ago
BS will go in a cottage garden too. ;)

Sierra
cziga
16 years ago
I think that a cottage garden can be almost anything you want it to be, that's part of the point. Loads of different flowers, plants, setups, and structures can make up a cottage garden. Or it could have none. Veggies. Roses. Herbs. Perennials. Annuals. Pool of water. Arbor. Garden rooms. Benches. Statues. Just about anything goes. It is the least definable of gardens, and the most personal (i think).

As far as I can tell, the only real "requirement" for a cottage garden is a lush landscape. Cottage gardens are full, almost overflowing, with plants, flowers and colour. They are not bare, they are not well-spaced, there are not too many bare mulched areas between plants :) They are crowded and somewhat (if not completely) undisciplined. That's the fun of it all!
aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
16 years ago
I agree with a lot of what has already been said. For me I love the spilling over of plants on to pathways, the little surprises you find around a corner. A place where you can relax in an informal, whimsical, no rules, anything goes kind of garden. This is the type of garden that others can enjoy but above all else it's your little piece of paradise.

Annette

how do you define a cottage garden?

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how do you define a cottage garden?

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