The Cottage Garden
Enchanting | Romantic | And Simply Magical
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These days, the term "Cottage Garden" has become synonymous with a charming, nonchalant, fragrant and joyful abundance of blooms.
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Colorful and sustainable, you're giving beneficial insects and wildlife room to thrive.
It's all about enjoying your garden instead of working in and on your garden. If you're feeling wild, add a couple of chickens, grow some juicy tomatoes and add a bunch flowers on your kitchen table, freshly cut from your very own garden.
It's the dream of a simpler life, stripped back to basics, miles away from smartphones and Wi-Fi.
Having said that: its origins are a smidgen less romantic.
Originally, it was all about filling up your pantry and hungry bellies. A cottage garden was simply a kitchen garden that needed to feed the entire household. Designed to get the largest possible harvest from a small space, it had to be practical and functional. Back then, recreational outdoor living just wasn't a thing.
Added in between this abundance of fruit and veg: flowers galore, all of them serving specific purposes. If they weren't medicinal, they were intended to attract beneficial insects or ward off vermin (violets are just one example of many).​
I guess you could call them the original country gardens. The concept was simple: the layout wasn't fancy and the mixture of plants pretty much stayed the same for generations. You'd swap plants and seeds with your neighbors from time to time, but that was about it.
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Around the end of the 19th century, ambitious artists and middle-class city-dwellers started discovering the appeal of the simple life and, by association, the cottage garden. Self-sufficient gardens became part of the rural idyll, imbued with that distinctive flair that we still recognize today. People started to create their own version of the cottage garden, one less focused on its utility as a food source and more a thing of beauty, color and joy instead.
You may have heard of Gertrude Jekyll & William Robinson?
They were both hugely influential during that period.
Cottage gardens may have a captivatingly chaotic aesthetic but the design has to be well thought through.
It's the art of cleverly combining plants that work well together yet without visitors being able to tell that it's all been carefully planned. They'll just think it happens to be a perfect jumble of breathtaking blooms.
And even better, the result is a forgiving style of garden that happens to be a fantastic feast for the eyes yet also relatively low-maintenance.
It also works with any kind of house. Whether you live in a traditional timber-framed building, a farmhouse, a newly built townhouse or a modern architectural creation: cottage gardens have proven to be versatile, adding a real touch of refinement to a property.
With their riot of color and stunning scent, they're a haven for bees, offering them a place to live and plenty of food sources. And don't we know bees need all the help they can get right now.
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Would you like to transform your own garden into an enchanting and romantic paradise for both humans and animals alike? I'd be thrilled to help you take the first steps! Say Hello?