I have seen this term used a lot and am not sure that I know what it means.
Now that may sound quite dense, but I don't mind sounding that way. I have heard that "the only stupid (I prefer "foolish") question, is the one never asked".~~~ and so here and now I ask! ;-)
I have just thought that it meant gardening such that your home looked like a quaint "old timey" cottage.
I am really looking forward to the answers that I get here.
Happy gardening all!
Just what exactly is "Cottage Gardening"?
You're pretty much correct. It's the image of the quaint English thatched cottage with a riot of colorful flowers just outside the front door that is most often associated with the term "Cottage Gardening". That's what I would like to ultimately accomplish.
Originally, a small spot of land near the house was often the only land available. These little postage stamp gardens were planted with "necessities" - fruit trees, herbs, and vegetables.Space was at a premium then, so they had to cram everything in together. Flowers "just for the heck of it" were a luxury but, over the years, they found their way into the garden - crammed in among the rest.
I automatically picture hollyhocks, delphiniums, sweet peas, roses, daisies and such, with a winding brick path, when I think of a cottage garden.
That's a really good answer!
some people say it's " Messy Gardening"
I love it!
It is a garden that can't be maintained by a landscape company. They wouldn't know how.
That doesn't narrow it down by much!
HA!
I chose not to narrow the definition of a cottage garden, climates, plant choice, weather, and surroundings are always inclusive .For me a cottage must be very informal in style. " Messy Gardening" isn''t a bad discription. Although it has balance there's no symmetry in the plantings. Nothings planting in regimented rows, discipline has no place here, save it for a parade. About the only must is lots of texture. I maybe love bold colors too much but my hosta garden with its many shades of green is still very much a cottage garden.
And please promise you won't use the word "quaint" to describe my garden. Realtors have ruined that word.
mao
so...alittle bit of everything everywhere, with lots of color and pleasing to ones own eye maybe fits the definition.
I think that is what I have and strive to have!
Thanks, fellow gardeners!
Wing waves to ya!,
BirdieBlue
I like the term "Messy Gardening", too. My garden is definitely "messy", "unorganized", and mostly "spontaneous". I just throw plants in where ever - if they look good, fine; if not, they get moved.
THAT'S SURE WHAT i DO, sUE!
Oops...had caps on...sorry
Great minds think alike!
When I get a new plant I look for a bare spot. This works really well for the times when you just can't resist buying a plant or you have raised too many of something. You know one or two might not make it and if there are more in the ground you can always move them around. I say plant now edit later.
Veronica
To be really honest with you the first time I heard" messy" i was a little (ok maybe a lot) offended....I thought I don't have weeds, and my yard is always mowed (even with the lines that cross) How dare she say messy!
Then she explained herself, that I don't have everything in rows, color here and there, a little bit of this and maybe a whole lot of that..etc....
I really don't think there's sit rules..." you beat to your own drum" as they say...
And your right, yard care services would just scream!
This message was edited Dec 9, 2008 2:26 PM
Slideshow of my cottage garden:
http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/bb196/soulgardenlove/?albumview=slideshow
:)
Susan
Susan, I love those orange roses - what are they? The rest hurt - I voted for McCain - ouch! (lol!)
Sue.. I don't know maybe Aloha?? I need to see.. When you buy these things you think you will never wever forget their names!! :)
Thanks!!
(yea Obama!) ;)
Susan
"never wever?" You cwazy wabbit!
The term messy does fit my garden, but I think it is also working with Mother Nature. I let everything reseed and only pull out the ones I think will be too crowded. I have found that this type of garden is much easier to maintain. I mean people don't seem to notice the weeds and they are definitely there. Great slideshow soulgarden! Here is my garden on flickr, you can click through or click slideshow if you want, Joyce
http://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltdiva/collections/72157604117264555/
I really enjoy seeing the slideshows!
Cactus,
Wow, how I enjoyed your pics on flicker. Being a kitty lover, I love your yard and kitty porch and all your cats. BTW...How many do you have?
Sheri
Thanks I really enjoy flickr. I just did it to save my photos but they are easier to find there and easier to look at too. I am a bit ashamed to say I have 4 cats! Oldest is 17 and youngest is 5 I think! Glad you enjoyed it, I sure enjoy photographing it. Today is cold, cloudy and windy so having photos is the best way to go right now.
Both of the slide shows are worthy of being the pictures in a garden catalog. Just gorgeous.
Here is your "messy"...from the window just outside my desk.
Christi
LOL! I figured by the pictures that you had at least 5-7 cats/ O would with a cat porch like that.
Your garden is absolutely breathtaking too!!
Cactus: What a lovely garden! Your hard work and dedication to gardening shows in all the photos and kudos to DH for helping with the grunt work. Loved your photos of the hummers. I really do need to hone my skills with my new camera.
Thank you for sharing the beauty of your world.
What delightful view from your desk Lou.
4 cats is all I can keep up with--luckily we have mostly tile floors so I use a swiffer daily and they do enjoy the garage with 2 windows and the porch so they get time to be outside and still be safe.
Thanks for all the kind comments. I love gardening and it is all play for me. Lucky to have a DH who humors me! I have gardened all my life, been into photography for almost 40 years now. I am so in love with the digitals! I am on my 3rd one and continue to learn new things. They are so much easier to learn that old film cameras. ; )
I like to think of the Cottage Garden as organized chaos. Allowing plants to reseed where they will or the occasional vine to scramble up a rose or hollyhock sort of defines the look to me. The famous English garden designer, Gertrude Jekyll made the Cottage Garden look very popular in grand settings, when the style had previously been developed more as necessity, and the gardens of large estates were typically more stiff and formal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Jekyll
I remember reading years ago a quote from her where she said she placed plants in such a way to look as though they had occurred that way naturally. That has stayed with me, and I always have that in mind while planting, thinking to myself "where would Mother Nature place this?" Her designs brought the feel of nature to stiff, formal settings.
I enjoyed the various posts and photos - thanks for sharing!
Following is a link to a post from a while back, which includes the British Garden Society's definition of a cottage garden. I think of a CG as a functional smallish garden which includes elements of edibles, fragrance, herbs, wildlife -- basically squeezing out every last drop of enjoyment from a small space. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=3971347
Hear, hear, Wrightie. My understanding of cottage gardens were those bits and pieces of flowers squeezed in among the veggies necessary for sustenance, so that not a piece of ground was wasted. Women, I guess, and some men have always yearned for beauty in their everyday lives, not unlike the gardeners of today. We are simply fortunate to live in a time when maintaining a vegetable garden is not a necessity as it was in days of yore (and not even too long ago at that), so we have the luxury of time and energy to devote to our passions, whatever they be.
What little vegetable gardening I manage to do is done purely for the pleasure of homegrown produce, because nothing store-bought compares to the taste of a freshly plucked tomato or ear of corn.
This message was edited Dec 21, 2008 7:24 PM
This message was edited Dec 22, 2008 1:52 PM
Ain't that the truth?
LouC- Now that's what I call a beautiful mess!
Chiming in here. Birdie Blue, okay, I'll never say it that way again. From now on I'll say it using the word foolish. Either way I'm glad you asked. I was wondering too.
Mao, I agree that the term quaint has been overabused. How about the term quirky?
According to all the photos, slideshows, definitions, descriptions above. I've been cottage gardening to some degree most of my life.
I'm with gemini_sage, I much prefer informal and chaotic versus formal and uniform in a garden. I really hate lawns. : )
Soulgardenlove, it is obvious that your heart is in your garden! : )
Cactuspatch what lovely photos! You've done a beautiful job with your place. I get so tired of people thinking that deserts are totally devoid of life and beauty. When they are just full of it, if only people have eyes to see. : )
Hemophobic, I love the taste of homegrown veggies, growing up flowers were a luxury that we didn't waste time or water on, except us girls were sneaky! Beauty whether it be the appearance or fragrance is good for the soul.
I will have a "kitchen" garden where I'll grow my own veggies this year, but I have an area in front of the old cabin that could benefit from this style of gardening. Plus I'll be able to rid myself of most of that grass. (I have grass/citrus allergies). If only it looked more like LouC's. (REALLY Big Sigh!) Give me time!
Walk In Beauty!
SingingWolf
My cottage style developed out my ignorance about how to plan a garden. That is so much work and I personally don't want to have another thing to organize in my life. This begins my 5th year of my love affair with the garden. Very gradually learning what I like, which is just about anything that lives. First year, after preparing a larger bed, I dumped all of the seeds I had from any source into a big jar, shook it and threw the seeds about like feeding chicks. It was just plain magic. Watched every single day to see what had stuck it's head up and dared not pull anything thinking it was a weed. You wouldn't believe what all can be planted from seed and seems to be much healthier. I tried starting seed inside and was a terrible failure. Don't think a one of them made it past the damp off stage.
Last year (fall 2007) I pitched out a package of Giant Larkspur and a package of poppy seed and promptly forgot about both of them. Wow! What a surprise. They bloomed all of April and May. By June we are teasing 100 degrees and the hollyhocks and blue ballon, hydrangea, and tons of other things are up and running. The beds nearest the house have become tropicals and that is even more exciting.
Told DH yesterday that I may just fix a place to sleep in the 6X8 greenhouse because the yard is where I go to de-stress.
May the New Year be prosperous and you have good health. God bless everyone.
Christi
Thanks SW :) I did it just like Christi.. without having a clue! :) Just started planting.. wrong things in the wrong place... Had to figure it out! But your right..I do love it, and my heart is in it :) i have a passion for it. Great pic Christi! Love the seed idea!
:)
Susan
Christi, Beautiful garden...love your bottle tree. Is it actually a tree or was it purpose-built?
Susan, Another glorious garden. I've been a fan of your lasagne gardening and composting threads, and the results of your hard work. Your boys have really grown!
Cactus, Your home and garden look like a beautiful retreat that caters to celebraties. Do you know the name of that agave? It's spectacular.
Birdieblue, So glad you got this thread going. It's such a pleasure to see the creative cottage garden designs.
Pam
Christi, I haven't tried that way of planting, but then I always had some free range chickens who'd eat the seed. : ( This year, they are all cooped up. Maybe I'll try it and see what pops up!
I too love your bottle tree. I used to have one until the children (two and four footed) destroyed it. I made mine out of a recycled Christmas tree. I just cut down the limbs until the bottles would fit securely. Since I already had the water bowl stand, I filled it full of pretty rocks. Maybe, I'll make a new one this year. Only with stuff on it for the birds! : ) I could probably plant something nice in the waterbowl too! Many ideas are inspired here! : )
WIB,
SW
The "tree" is the trunk of a cedar tree. We live in the cedar belt and found it at a fence yard. Unfortunately the small limbs had already been cut off. We sunk it in fast dry concrete, drilled and added long screws. The hunt for colored bottles is fun..haven't found a red one yet.
Our daughter says this is her mamma's latest obsession. By far the most satisfying.
Have you tried eBay? How about asking if some of the establishments in your area that serve alcohol, if they would save you any pretty colored bottles? Red ones are rare. How about draping some red glass bead string garlands on it? : )
Keep us posted!
WIB,
SW
Happy New Year and thanks for sharing all your cottage gardens.
Happy New Year to all!
WIB!
SW