Follow Your Heart: Cottage Garden Design

Both fortunately and unfortunately, there is no "typical" plan to copy your own cottage garden from, there is no set "recommended" plant list. There are no plans taken from the old days, because nobody would have thought to do that -- such an informal muddle of plants! Daunting would be the task of cataloging the plants, let alone marking their locations on paper.

On the other hand, a cottage garden in evolution is a wonderful living thing. These gardens are always a work in progress, there is no day when the gardener sits back and says "There. That's it. I'm done." Nature is always busy, and so it is with the gardener.

In a cottage garden, there are no mistakes, only experiments. There are successes, always, as each plant comes into its own, or the bluebird pays a visit, or a child munches a berry straight from the plant. And there is always time to enjoy this garden, to sit in gentle repose. It is an escape, after all, not a chore.

So plant only the plants that sing to you. If they are happy in your garden they will grow on and multiply. If not, there are so many other wonderful plants to grow! A cottage garden is created over time with love and devotion, it reflects the gardener's hand in every plant and ornament just as the gardener's feet have created the bare earth paths we walk upon. Nature provides the rest.

And finally, remember, whether you are just beginning or happily puttering along with a cottage garden, the overriding design concept is a simple one:

Plant what you love, and your garden will love you back.

So, after reading this series of articles, now you know some of the basic concepts behind the evolution of a cottage garden: create a sense of enclosure, grow a variety of plants, work along with nature's own processes, feed your soil, and now, follow your heart.

If you are considering a cottage garden or tend one already, I hope you found this series of articles helpful and, perhaps, inspiring. Grow well!

The entire Spring 2001 Cottage Garden Design Series: An overview of cottage garden design and using a sense of enclosure in Part I, growing a wide variety of plants and working with nature in Part II, and nurturing the soil in Part III. And then, Follow Your Heart in Part IV.

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