10 steps to a modern
Enjoy the best of both worlds with an ON-TREND FUSION of relaxed planting, design and style
Cottage gardens used to be a mishmash of all kinds of plants, not to mention the odd animal! You would find veggies, herbs, fruit trees and flowers – mostly grown for their medicinal or edible properties – as well as livestock.
They were originally grown out of necessity for self-sufficiency, but they’ve evolved along with gardening trends and today’s contemporary cottage gardens combine nostalgic charm with modern practicality and aesthetics. Planting combines a cheerful tangle of bulbs, annuals, perennials, flowering shrubs, climbers and edibles. Thankfully, meticulous maintenance is out and nature can take its course, making your garden lovely while fitting into busy lives!
Smaller gardens lend themselves well to cottage style too – you can get the maximum rewards from your space when it’s busy multi-tasking! By artfully blending timeless cottagegarden elements with a few modern twists, you can create a contemporary cottage garden that is on-trend and suited to modern living.
REVAMP THE TRADITIONAL FAVES
It’s hard to resist the nostalgic vibe of old-fashioned, cottage-garden plants and, thankfully, most fit seamlessly into a contemporary plot. If you fancy mixing it up a bit, there are some fabulously funky new varieties of the traditional plants too. Whether they’re a new colour, a bit hardier or bloom for longer, they’ll bring your cottage garden bang up to date.
1✽ CONEFLOWER ‘HOT PAPAYA’
✽ MASTERWORT ‘MOULIN ROUGE’
✽ DAHLIA ‘PASO DOBLE DANCER’
✽ BELLFLOWER ‘IRIDESCENT BELLS’
✽ BEARDTONGUE ‘WINDSOR RED’
