Cottage garden ideas favor an easygoing, informal approach to landscaping. While grass may be absent from this style of garden design, gravel paths and simple picket fences often fill this niche. Vine-clad overhead structures such as an arbor of wisteria vines or fruiting grapes also add character.
Foliage with varied shades and textures also plays an essential part in creating this effect, such as ferns or long grasses. Perennial plants that provide lasting interest such as fuzzy lamb’s ears or hardy geraniums only add further charm.
Colorful Flowers
Cottage gardens are defined by vibrant blooms – whether that means blooming roses adorning an arbor, or old-fashioned hollyhocks popping from the ground. Even greenery adds charm; look out for silver-leafed lavender cotton (Santolina chamaecyparissus; USDA Hardiness Zones 6-9) as well as perennials with burgundy-flowered perennials like Heuchera cultivars (Zones 3-8) to add color and interest.
Small landscapes can seem larger when you incorporate pathways between beds. Stepping stone or flagstone designs add movement while providing extra visual interest; adding trellises or arbor ideas add shaded spots for al fresco dining experiences.
Bring fragrance and visual impact to a cottage garden by selecting flowers with blooms that bloom continuously throughout the season. Sweet peas, pansies, foxglove, lupins and scented geraniums (Perianthus hortorum) provide color and scent throughout summer; lavender roses and iris bloom into late summer for further hues; black-eyed Susans bring yellow for an eye-catching display at your front door!
Rustic Fences
Cottage garden elements that often make an appearance include sweet peas climbing pillars, roses twining over arches, and honeysuckle creeping across walls. Trellis and arbor designs help create an orderly landscape while still contributing to its freewheeling feel.
Even an overgrown yard can be transformed into an exquisite garden with some simple landscaping touches. A tarp over a garden shed can easily be hidden by adding vintage gardenalia like terra-cotta pots and vintage gardenalia in an arrangement.
Subtle touches like including different kinds of walkways throughout your garden are another classic cottage idea. Flagstone, brick, or even pea gravel can create a striking and attractive layered effect in outdoor spaces.
Cottage flower gardens typically consist of low-maintenance evergreen shrubs like heuchera, delphiniums and aquilegia as the cornerstone, but many also include meadow or wildflower areas for added color, texture and fragrance. Self-seeding wildflowers attract pollinators while serving as low maintenance alternatives to grass lawns.
Rustic Seating Areas
Rustic seating areas add charm and personality to cottage garden designs, providing gardeners a place to sit back, admire their efforts or simply relax amongst nature. Crafted out of wood or flagstones, rustic seating areas provide casual outdoor living spaces where gardeners can take time out from gardening to take in its soothing fragrances and natural beauty.
Rustic benches can help bring out the rustic charm in your garden, such as weathered wooden poles that support clematis vines or an old-fashioned wooden fence that frames a garden gate. Water features can also add to the naturalistic aesthetic; fountains may serve as focal points in circular herb garden designs while simple ponds with rock waterfalls will accent casual cottage gardens.
Add romantic fairy lights to your rustic garden decor for an added burst of charm, such as by stringing them through tree vines or shrubbery, adding even more charming appeal and making your garden even more enjoyable as an ideal space to unwind with a glass of Pimms in hand.
Cozy Outdoor Spaces
Add height and color with flowering vines by decorating structures such as arbors and garden gates with flowering vines, inviting birds into your plantings with rustic birdhouses, and providing a cozy seating area complete with weathered wooden benches among shrubs and herbs for ultimate tranquility and relaxation.
Plantings are an integral element of cottage gardens and typically consist of an assortment of flowers, herbs, vegetables and berries. To achieve an authentic cottage garden aesthetic, choose blooms that bloom at different times throughout the season; use rose varieties such as ‘Maid Marion” and “Princess Anne”, as well as perennials like delphiniums and peonies for example; taller plants such as hollyhocks or foxgloves are often popular options too.
Add low-maintenance, rugged landscaping materials to enhance the relaxed appearance of cottage garden ideas. Instead of using pavement for garden paths, try gravel or stepping-stones as garden paths for added texture in the landscape and to help it blend in better with its environment. Don’t forget the soft touch provided by creeping thyme or wall germander creeper plants as well as ground cover plants like creeping thyme.
