Common Plants and Hardscapes in a 1880 Cottage Garden ?
shines4u
19 years ago
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Fori
19 years agoJillP
19 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (6)This strikes me as a situation where less is more. This is a small house, small yard, and it has no topography that provides a clear reason for adding hardscape. The house is cute and well-finished, and it fills the lot nicely and "connects" to the ground so to speak. There is no excess of open space to fill. I see no reason for adding a bunch of planting. You don't say you're a plant collector; you don't tell us that privacy is an issue, or blocking traffic noise, or anything like that, except for maybe protecting the grass from the mailman's incursions. Or, perhaps, you want some shade. And you've mentioned the parking. We had an esoteric thread here last week about form and function, and this is an interesting pragmatic case study: you're trying to make decisions in the absence of significant functions. So I would begin by considering the functions that you do have; the ones that you do value. Maybe that would lead you to make a branch on the pathway to accommodate cross-property traffic. Maybe you'd plant a shade tree, either out on your hellstrip if you have one, or in the left front corner of your lawn. Maybe you'd take out most of the foundation planting. To be honest, bulbs and other plants with a significant ugly season just don't work as landscaping plants for me in any case. The next place you might look is to emphasizing the good features of the property. I'd be inclined to echo the curve of the walkway with something somewhere - a planting bed beside it, a boxwood hedge, a bed along the driveway, or a course of bricks alongside (that could maybe merge to the postie walkway). You've actually done a nice merge with the shape of your front bed as it meets the walk. The porch is another good feature; I like the idea of containers or some other feature there. It's a nice commodious space even if it is dark compared to the yard itself. And of course attention to the porch makes it obvious why a tree shouldn't be planted on the right; you want to avoid darkening the porch in any way....See MorePlanning the tiny rose / cottage garden
Comments (7)Fern - here's my 2 cents... of course you can plant other plants close to roses! In my little rose garden last year, I had 10 rose bushes, asparagus (as already discussed), 2 sets of chives, a large clump of lupines, 12 lilies, tulips, a Siberian Iris, 2 hardy geraniums, 2 painted daisies, about 30 annual phlox, lots of snapdragons, a peony, two delphiniums, lots of cilantro, I can't think of anything else but there may have been others. If your rose bushes are young or short-growing you might want to spread things out a little more but jeez, 3 feet is a formal rose garden, not a cottage garden. That garden was about a 20' x 25' x 10' triangle (rough guess), and was a little on the packed side, but the only things that disappeared were the painted daisies. The only thing I wouldn't recommend in a small space is delphiniums because they are so bushy. In that garden I mixed the soil with tons of compost before planting, and fertilized regularly until August. You've heard of companion planting... chives deter spider mites from roses (so they say), and lupines fix nitrogen in the soil, which roses need in quantity. Lilies are a good choice with roses because they have a small footprint and grow straight up. You can always plant low-growing creeping annuals around your roses because they will not compete for light. Don't be discouraged from macro gardening just because so many of the great gardeners on this forum have acres to work with! ;0) If you aren't sure if something will go well close to roses, just ask. Gillian...See MoreYour favorite 'common' plant that you use everywhere?
Comments (57)This year my fav is a very lush border of self seeded white forget-me-nots next to the patio. There are a few blue ones in various places also but many more white. They are very pretty and I really should deliberately seed them like that if they don't come back. However, I think some of my usual common filler plants are the same as my tame badly behaved ones - lamb's ears, shastas, feverfew, Jacob's Ladder come immediately to mind. In fact I have Jacob's ladder coming up in the center of a big clump of shastas. Beats a dandelion doing the same. I like my heliopsis as they are good in the back of a border, take up a lot of space, flower well (altho yellow!), and multiply slowly even in a cold climate. Started with one free plant about 10 years ago and now have many in various beds. We also transplant annual sunflowers to any spare space when the birds sow them in the wrong places. Found one growing in the compost this am and moved it to the back of a bed. I'm now moving bits of bugleweed around as it's a nice ground cover filler for the front of beds. I'm planning to use blue flax more as the border DH planted last year is now blooming and looking great. It will make a very good filler in many places as previously mentioned....See MoreCottage Gardens Trip
Comments (5)Cindy: Just saw the other post on CG and saw you visited also. Isn't Brent the nicest person? You got some wonderful bargains. Thanks for sharing your trip. I have yet to visit his garden but I will AFTER the AHS REGION 4 tour. I live only 1 hour away and you would think I would have done it by now LOL. Thanks for the tour. Julia...See Moreshines4u
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