Cottage Garden Border – How to Create One

I live in a small, old cottage in a village in the Cotswolds – and I like an informal (some might say scruffy) style of garden. So I guess it’s inevitable that mine is a cottage garden. But you don’t need to have a old cottage or live in the country to have this type of garden. The informal, mixed planting scheme of a cottage garden border can be created in even the smallest city plot. Indeed, the busy planting style is ideal for anyone wanting to grow lots of plants in a small area.

So if you have an urge to create a cottage garden border of your own, here are some plant suggestions.

Plants for Back of your Cottage Garden Border

At the back of your border you will want a bit of height, so how about Campanula Lactiflora. I have Pritchards Variety which is a lovely purple. But I’ve also heard good things about Loddon Anna. My campanula grows about 0.8m tall and spreads about 0.6m and flowers from July to September. Like all my suggestions, it’s an absolute magnet for bees and other pollinators.

Another cottage garden classic is hollyhocks. I don’t have any in my garden but my village and neighbouring area is absolute awash with them. They grow wild on the side of the roads, and look glorious.

I love their slightly cupped flowers that open in sequence up their towering stems. I’ve no experience of growing them, but I do know they are prone to Hollyhock rust. I gather a way to avoid this problem is to ensure they have plenty of water and grow them in rich, moisture-retentive soil. Also perhaps go for one of the rust-resistant hollyhocks like those in the ‘Halo’ series.

Back to Middle Border Plants

Potentially growing to about 1.5m tall, Echinacea purpurea again work well at the back of a border. However, because they have an ‘open’ growing style and are not a dense mass of leaves, you can also plant them towards the middle of a bed and they won’t obscure everthing behind them. Their big daisy-like flowers last for ages and contrast wonderfully with the other plants I’m suggesting. The cone shaped centres are permanently being feasted on by very happy bees! Also, because these flowers have thick wirey stems, you don’t have to stake them. This is a definite bonus as I’m rubbish at staking things. I always leave it too late!

They should flower from June to September. However I’ve noticed that mine, which normally are excellent, haven’t flowered at all yet this year. I’m not sure why. The late frosts perhaps? It could be that they’re too overcrowded by other things and so aren’t getting the sun they need. I will divide things up in my cottage garden border in the Autumn so that the Echinacea get a little more room and sun next year and see if that helps.

Quick thought, after they have stopped flowering I leave the seedheads on. They provide some Autumn interest in the border and are loved by the birds.

Middle plants for your Cottage Garden Border

My other suggestions for the middle of your boder are Phlox. You can get them in white, pinks and blues and are a feast for the senses as they all smell heavenly. Give them lots of sun and keep them watered during very dry spells and they’ll be very happy.

I have Phlox Mount Fuji, which is white, grows about 75cm tall and is late flowering. If you keep deadheading it you will prolong its flowering. I’ve managed to keep mine flowering through to October. Indeed I included it in my list of top plants for a sunny border.

I’ve never had to stake mine. That’s because I have a sheltered garden and most phloxes have woody stems which means they are self-supporting. But if you have a tall variety and a windy garden you may need to stake.  

Achillea is another plant which is brilliant for the middle of a cottage garden border. With its colourful flat flowerheads – typically in reds, oranges or yellows – and feathery foiliage it’s a lovely contrast. Most achilleas grow about 0.6m tall. (There is one type Achillea Filipendulina which can reach a whopping 2m tall. Definitely stick that at the back of a border!)

I’ve three middle border-sized Achilleas in my garden – Terracotta (pictured above), Moonshine which is acid yellow, and Pomegranate which is reddy pink.

My last mid border suggestion (thought I could suggest lots of things) is Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ . This gorgeous plant starts flowering early in the year – can be as early as March – and frankly doesn’t stop. Mine romps on well into late September. What’s not to like about that! It grows about 0.75cm tall and 0.65cm wide.

Front of Border and Ground Cover

For the front of your cottage garden border, and to plug the gaps I think hardy geraniums take some beating.

I have White-Ness and it provides the most gorgeous soft cloud of wafting white flowers on a delightfully green nest of leaves. It doesn’t spread out of control but it spreads enough to fill the gaps. If you cut off the flowers once they’re spent and perhaps give the plant a feed, it will reward you with a second flush of flowers too. Sorry my photo above doesn’t do it justice – trust me it’s lovely!

Another good choice is Helianthemum, the rock rose. I have the variety Ben Hope. This evergreen produces masses of pretty cherryish-pink saucer-shaped flowers from late Spring well into mid Summer. Eryngium is also a good choice for the front edge of a cottage garden border.

Cottage Garden Border in a Pot!

One final thought. If you only have a hard patio – no bed or border at all – you can still use these plants to create a cottage garden border effect in containers. I’ve Achillea, Helianthemum and Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ and other cottage garden stalwarts, all happily growing in containers. Geraniums, Gaura, Foxgloves, Verbena, Lavender, Scabious, you name it!

I’d recommend you choose big pots. Then simply closely group your pots together to create the look. If you add in to the mix a large pot with an obelisk in it, with a rose or clematis or even a simply wigwam of canes with sweet peas climbing up it, you will truly create a cottage garden look in a really small area!

Just bear in mind, if you grow these plants in pots you need to take care to properly water and feed them. In the Summer I water mine every day and feed them weekly. And of course deadhead to prolong the flowering.  

Creating a Cottage Garden Border – The Rules

These plants are just my suggestions. There are loads of others you could try. So don’t feel you need to slavishly follow my advice. After all, it’s your garden. No one else’s taste is superior to yours and you need to create something which you like and works for you.

However, thanks to the huge amount of trial and error which I’ve gone through in my own garden, I have got a few tips which I think may be worth considering whatever plants you choose for your cottage garden border.

Have a bit of a plan – although a cottage garden looks like a big old jumble, you don’t want the whole thing looking like a mess. Even in the wildest of cottage gardens there’s method behind the madness! So have a bit of a plan and try to stick to it.

Resist being too pic n mix. All too often I’ve visited a garden centre just for a look (who am I kidding?) Of course I’ve come home with a plant which I don’t have a home for! and because it’s not something I was intending to buy, I’ve just bought one of it, and in desperation I’ve stuck it in a bed.

Well, do that multiple times in the year and you end up with a cottage garden border packed with an utter mish-mash of one-off plants. Disaster!

Now I appreciate it’s impossible (and boring) to not impulse purchase plants. But I’ve a handy suggestion. If you do have an urge to do that kind of thing, why not instead put those odd plants in large containers. A big container with three different perennials looks very effective, indeed it looks a bit like a mini cottage garden. This technique has resulted in me accumulating masses of containers!…But they’re a jumbly joy, and it does mean my cottage garden borders stay reasonably as I envisaged.

Vary the heights – if you have all plants at the same height in your cottage garden border the effect is a bit of a blob! You want variety, with some plants punctuating the space. So do pick some plants from each of the height groups.

Threes – for the most part plant three or five of each plant depending on the space you have, so you create impact. The exception is the geraniums and rock roses, just one will do if your border is small, as they will spread.

Size – the plants I’ve suggested are fast growing, so don’t bother spending extra money on large plants. They will quickly fill a space. Indeed before you know it you’ll be dividing them and sharing them with friends!

So there you have it. Ideas for a cottage garden border – whether you’ve a patio, a small border or oodles of space.