I have just rejigged my garden (turned a boring path around the perimeter into a patio & dug out a big curvy flower bed). I want to have a "cottage" type garden. Any advice please? I'm pretty clueless!! Thanks!

Hi. Even though your garden is small, you should still have a few tall classic cottage garden types in the bed. Hollyhocks (Alcea), Lupins (Lupinus) and Delphinium.

The great thing about cottage gardens is that there are not too many hard and fast rules as to the plants. You can even mix in the odd vegetable plant, especially if it has ornamental value like some of the red cabbages or kales, chard, lettuce, orache etc.

Others that you should consider could be Lychnis coronaria, Calendula, the Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus), used as infill plants. Up a bamboo wigwam, have sweet peas (a must). If you feel you have too much height, there are shorter varieties available.

Shrubby plants that can be used to edge the border could be Lavender, Hyssop or even Rosemary. You could use Buxus, a favourite edging plant.

I'm sure others will add to this.

Ooh I can almost picture it now with some herbs growing chamomile,sage,mints (but watch these they spread like wildfire) s much to choose from

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Tall plants at the back, as Fractal says, then medium, then an edging at the front. Check up on heights!

Asters are lovely for some autumn colour, and I'd add Alchemilla mollis at the front.

If you buy some Poached Egg plant seeds (Limnanthes douglasii) and Nigella, you will have these for ever in your Cottage Garden! They look wonderful in a bed.

Look at some daisy-like flowering plants so that you have a variety of upright and 'flat' textures. Leucanthemum and/or Anthemis tinctoria woud be great.

Don't forget roses and Clematis to 'clothe' the back - on a trellis, for background colour!

They are the ideal garden for people who like buying plants as you can stick things practically anywhere and it will still look good! Provided they are cottage style thou!

a word of warning though - if you plant nothing but perennials or annuals, there will be nothing to look at in the winter except for dead growth and bare soil, by and large. Bear in mind that, when you see a picture of a "cottage" garden in the true sense, you never see it in winter, only ever in summer, and there's a reason for that!
I recommend you choose a "skeleton" of shrubs, evergreen and deciduous, and plant the more transitory things mentioned above in and around, with bulbs too. You don't say how big the planting area is, which way your garden faces, whether it gets the east wind in the winter, that kind of thing (and I'd guess where you live winters can be pretty cold!) so it's difficult to make proper recommendations, but I'd suggest you look at things like Euonymus, Lavender, Elaeagnus (if you have room) Skimmia, Hypericum, Brachyglottis (used to be Senecio, sometimes still called that) possibly Pieris if a bit sheltered, plus maybe Phygelius rectus African Queen - this, though perennial, is semi evergreen. Campanula muralis remains evergreen and looks very neat and tidy all winter, lovely purple bells in May/June, good ground cover.

Good point, it won't be 'easy on the eye' from Oct/Nov - March/April if there's no backbone planting.

I've always found it works quite well to get them in first and the perennials after.

Yes, Bamboo has made a very good point here. You do only ever see this type of garden in summer when looking good. Good suggestion made too for winter structure.

Perhaps some Buxus balls arranged throughout the garden, probably hidden in summer but come alive in winter. Cornus have amazing winter stem colour, A group of them will look lovely in the depths of a frosty winter!
Twisted hazel (Corylus avellana) with it pukered leaves in summer and twisted stems in winter.
Hamamelis- Witch Hazel, scented flowers on bear stems in winter.
Perhaps leave some of the dead seed heads on over winter aslong as they are to messy,
Helebours a carpet of snowdrops and, Winter Aconites (Eranthus hyemalis) for a splash of early yellow
Grasses, Carex comans, various Miscanthus
Loads!

Just make sure they dont get to large or if so, they dont mind a pruning

If you want cheap and cheerful, go for hardy annuals seed. There are lots to chose from and they will fill in until perennials or shrubs are large enough. They will also self seed for you.

Thank you all!! The latin names are a bit over my head, but I'll look them up! Ive already put in lavender, sweet peas, nasturtiums, roses honeysuckle, night-scented stock & a few that I dont know the names of!! I also added a row of willow for screening purposes beside my shed. I'll dig out my camera & take a few pics. Haven't measured theplanting area yet, but will add info as soon as I have. As for the mint, it's planted in my wellies!!
Thank you!

looking forward to the pics. I pulled out 3 huge clumps of mint yesterday, in future I will keep it potted!!

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