A formal (or tidier) cottage raised bed?

10 years ago

I've been moving my garden in the direction of traditional cottagesque design. I have this one spot that is driving me nuts. It is a 3x6 raised garden bed that I initially had different plans for. I keep throwing annuals in there hoping something works. Its in a part of the yard that is full sun, but due to location, is always the last place I get to tend. Its always messy chaotic looking (and not in a good way). I thought doing a formal pattern planting or just filling it with one type of plant might be a way to tidy it up a bit. My husband suggests lavender, but my husband thinks planting lavender will solve every garden problem.... I'm trying to decide best coarse of action. Should it be lower growing or broad leaved, etc.? Thoughts or ideas? Thanks!

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Comments (5)

gardenweed_z6a
10 years ago
Have you considered catmint/Nepeta, Perovskia/Russian sage, Caryopteris/blue mist shrub, or Phlox paniculata/tall garden phlox? The list of full-sun/easy-care perennials goes on endlessly. For a variegated foliage plant I also have Persicaria virginiana/Virginia knotweed thriving in almost full sun.
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eclecticcottage
10 years ago
Lol about the lavender. I love lavender, but I don't know that it's a good fix all. Plus it needs dead heading or cutting after the flowers dry up or it looks blah to me.

Is it bordered enough that a spreader will stay put?

Are you looking for all season color, or just a burst for summertime?

We have one bed (still to be made) that I want to just fill with wildflower seeds. It's in a place I'll never get to water and I just don't think I have time for another bed to fuss with. Have you considered just a seed mix? I'm thinking daisies (ox eye and shasta), echs, black eye susans, cosmos, zinnia, coreopsis and butterfly weed, maybe yarrow. I'd either make my own via seed packs or buy from a company that sells 100% seed (no fillers like the stuff at the box stores).

To me, a formal planting is only going to keep it on the "must maintain" list, and if you haven't had time to keep up on it as it is, I don't know that doing so will help your predeciment (then again, I've never had a formal garden so I can't say for sure, but they look like a lot of trimming, weeding and deadheading would be needed to keep it looking good).
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Why worry about "rows" of anything? I'm not suggesting a mish-mash or cottage garden look but why think linear when a less structured approach might solve your dilemma? Can you group things in swaths of 3 or 5 plants? I decided early on that I wouldn't plant anything using a linear approach and after nearly 8 years am completely happy with my randomly arranged plantings. Did I design my various beds on paper prior to planting? You betcha. Did they all turn out the way I'd originally planned them? Not a one did. Am I loving the look I finally achieved? Ditto that you betcha. It's only a guess but I believe I may have taken a leaf from what I saw when I visited the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls, MA a number of years ago. I first began drawing my flowerbeds on paper around that same time. Annuals, perennials, vines, trees & shrubs randomly adorn both sides of the path that crosses the span. If there's any pattern to the beds, it's more a design that incorporates a vast variety of color & form. Good luck with your project. Might be cool if you posted photos once you settle on a solution to the problem.
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Ahhhhh.....Sissinghurst.....(Sigh) Woodyoak, I was there in 1992 and will never forget it. Seriously, if any of you folks are able to get there some day you will not be disappointed. They had so many amazing gardens and the views from the tower were just spectacular. For those of you who love roses, check out the link below of the white garden. I'm quite certain that is ONE rose on the gazebo because when I was there I was searching around the gazebo to find where it was planted. My garden style is a little of both, but more on the informal side. I think that's more because of my house style, yard and setting. I do have some straight paths in one of my gardens but then have informal plantings w/in those beds. The rest of my yard is pretty informal. If I ever do get around to planting a vegetable garden I do envision a fenced-in, raised-bed area with very clean lines and very symmetrical. And veggies that behave like those in It's Complicated. Is that asking too much!?! LOL! I am planning a phase 3 in my yard (a number of years down the road) for the untouched area to the right of my house and driveway. I've already planted a hedge of 6 small Viburnum plicatum 'Mariesii' at the edge of that area in hopes that when I'm ready to plant it will already be a "secret garden". That is the garden I hope to make a little more formal since it will be futher from the house and more hidden. I apologize, but I forget who ordered the statue of Hebe, but I can surely picture her in this more formal area that I am hoping for. Ianna, that is a great link. Very interesting design that I would never have considered. Here is a link that might be useful: Sissinghusrt White garden
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Jean - Thanks. I knew that the new daylilies in the planterbox would not do much this spring. But I can just immagine it in my mind that it will be looking fanastic next bloom season. Andrea- I have six butterfly bushes and I cut them way, way back early each spring. Otherwise they would take over the world. This is actually one of the smaller butterfly bushes but my favorite color of the ones that I have. Vickie- That row of hedges on the left side I put in about 6 years ago. The half round planterboxes (at least the big ones) were there for afew years. Otherwise I started that left side last spring. I put that low stacked stone retaining wall in last spring that runs accross the entire front. On the right side, the topmost curved terrace was done in 2007 and the daylilies and roses in that terrace section went in that spring. The foribundaville rose garden on the right was already there, at least it was started but not as finished as it is now. The planterbox went in last fall and was only planted this spring. Cindy- I can not plant anything in the sidwalk strip. First off dog walkers many times each day. Fortunately we have a pooper scooper law here. Second cars park all along in front of the house constantly and if it were planted, it would be impossible to open the passenger door and step out. We have a 16 acre park directly accross the street for where I am. There are no nightbors on the other side of the street. There are however, lots of walkers and cars that slow down to look at the garden.
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docmom_gw
10 years ago
Could we see a picture? What about planting a tree there, or a flowering shrub. If it's sunny, you could plant a flat of annuals each spring. Choose a different variety each year. Mulch around the plants to suppress weeds and conserve moisture. Use it as a cutting garden. D you like roses? Throw up a cheap trellis and plant a low maintenance climbing rose. All kinds of options.

Martha
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joydveenc7
10 years ago
I have tried using small shrubs and planting something that contrasts nicely about the same height next to them, planting heavily to "sink" the shrub into a bed. This does seem to reduce work and keep an area tidier. I have a Crimson Pigmy barberry that is hardy in your zone. I put lambs ears, daylilies in front of it, and white annual salvia, catmint, zinnias, tall ageratum around it. I've just started germander from seed this year and it's not yet in the garden but I hope to use it as a border on a ragged edged bed.
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Ispahan Zone6a Chicago
10 years ago
I think it would be beautiful *and* easy to maintain if the space were planted with only one type of plant. Russian sage or mountain mint (Pycnanthemum sp.) would be relatively low maintenance, drought tolerant once established and would provide lots of nectar for pollinators. Or it could be planted with an ornamental grass...
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A formal (or tidier) cottage raised bed?

Comments (5)

gardenweed_z6a

eclecticcottage

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joydveenc7

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