Cottage Gardens

Beloved for their informality, cottage gardens champion organic and unstructured spaces overflowing with textures and colors while welcoming self-sown plants and bulbs popping up and spreading on their own. Appearing casual, everything is done with great intent. From humble origins in medieval England and Colonial America, this style arose as a practical approach—ornamentals and edibles intermingling and supporting each other—before being elevated by great garden designers Gertrude Jekyll, William Robinson, Vita Sackville-West, Margery Fish, and Rosemary Verey. Today, concerns about food traceability, reducing waste and chemical use, and supporting pollinators and wildlife have rekindled interest in cottage gardening. Taking a 360-degree view, this book covers plant combinations, paths and walls, water features and extending the season, as well as promoting traditional, organic practices such as composting, rain harvesting, and succession planting.