Cottage Garden Planting Plan

This plan is for the front garden of a 1850 farmworkers cottage. The soil is a sandy loam and the garden faces southwest. This makes it sunny, but exposed to very strong prevailing winds. The original brick path and surrounding hawthorn hedge were all to be retained.

The garden just consisted of neglected grass which was difficult to maintain as the lawnmower either had to be carried through the house or wheeled round the other block of cottages. The sunny, windy situation, sandy soil and surrounding hedge roots made the garden dry and watering was difficult as there was no outside tap in the front garden.

The first task was to strip the existing grass from the site. It was during this process that large clumps of old-fashioned pinks were found growing amongst the long grass. These had obviously originally been planted in borders that had been neglected and eventually overgrown, but the pinks were still thriving. These clumps were painstakingly removed and saved for future use, after disentangling the grass roots from the clumps. The soil was then dug over and weed roots removed.

The beds were marked out and edged with salvaged Victorian rope tiles. The path around the central bed was then lined with thick polythene and topped with shingle. Large quantities of rotted horse manure were then added to the beds, in order to help retain moisture in the soil.

Mainly drought-resistant, low growing plants were chosen for the site, as detailed in the planting plan diagram. Spring colour is provided by cream daffodils and blue muscari, whilst annuals such as cosmos, candytuft and alyssum fill the gaps between plants whilst they mature, as well as self-seeding opium poppies and foxgloves.

In winter, evergreen foliage and structure is provided by the Cistus, Santolinas, rosemary, Hebes, Dianthus, Lychnis, Stachys and Convolvulus. Iris unguicularis has recently been added for its winter blooms. Eventually the Santolinas in the central bed will be replaced by Hebe 'White Gem', which are presently being grown on from cuttings. Ceanothus 'Concha' will be trained up the front wall of the house, perhaps with in conjunction with a pink clematis.

Key to Planting Plan 1 Lavatera 'Rosea' 2 Paeonia officinalis 'Rubra Plena' 3 Hebe 'White Gem' 4 Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant' 5 Rosmarinus officinalis 'Miss Jessop's Upright' 6 Old-fashioned pinks 7 Santolina chamaecyparissus 8 Rosa 'Gertrude Jekyll' 9 Lychnis coronaria 10 Stachys byzantica 11 Geranium 'Johnsons Blue' 12 Convolvulus cneorum 13 Sedum spectabile 'Brilliant'

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