COTTAGE GARDENS

There has been a big revival in the cottage garden over the last few years. This is due to the increased interest in organic, self-sustainable gardens. The cottage garden is traditionally a small, densely planted plot where every inch of space is used. The original cottage gardens were mainly devoted to food production and flowers appeared randomly by self set seeds being brought into the garden on boots, by birds or on the wind. The original gardens mostly consisted of paths, borders and small patches of grass near the house or under small trees. In the days before landfill and septic tanks ALL of the household waste was put into the garden, this kept the fertility high. The gardens faded in popularity at the beginning of the century because of shorter tenancies of the cottages and the spread of the urban population. Now that a majority of houses being built in the towns only have small gardens, there is a perfect opportunity to have your own nature reserve on your doorstep.

DESIGNING A COTTAGE GARDEN
To create an effective cottage garden it is a good idea to keep things simple and very practical. Put in uncomplicated paths and don’t bother with anything fiddly like rockeries. The garden can be divided into small rooms using trellis or wattle fencing to add to the interest if needs be. You might like to consider an arch or some other feature that a climber could make good use of. If you have any trees in the garden you can work around these unless of course they are putting the whole garden in shade. Keep the borders simple with common plants that will re-seed and choose attractive vegetables that can be planted in rows or interspersed with the perennial plants. Scatter annual flower seeds in between the plants to cover the ground; this will help keep away unwanted weeds. In winter a layer of mulch would also help to keep the weeds down. The great thing about a cottage garden is that you always expect something to be in the wrong place. These plants can be dug up and moved to a more suitable place. The benefit of cramming the plants into the beds and borders is that they will support themselves without the need for staking. The dead foliage will stand up to the seasonal weather as well and provide a stunning backdrop in winter and be a sheltered haven for hibernating wildlife.

WILDLIFE IN THE GARDEN
Cottage gardens are a haven for wildlife. Put up a couple of bird boxes on the trees and try to vary the plants to attract different types of insects. Many insect pests you see in the garden have natural insect predators and a wide range of plants, including wild flowers, will help provide nectar and pollen needed at various stages of the predatory insects life. A small pond, or even a water filled bucket dug into the ground like ours, will soon be buzzing with aquatic life. If there is an area that is in shade, then so much the better as the choice of plants to put into the garden will increase. Don’t be too worried if you are one of those people that are obsessively tidy when it comes to the garden. With trial and error your cottage garden will embrace so much colour, scent, texture, serenity, birdsong and beauty that you won’t even notice if it looks a mess! Nature is often beautiful but never tidy!