Cottage Garden

[Jez]

The Severn Valley Railway is back open on Good Friday! As a Volunteer now for looking after the flower beds on Northwood Lane Platform I'd be keen to have a days gone by look (cottage garden), in keeping with the new mock Pagoda Shelter that has recently been put up, so passengers and visitors a like can get as close as possible to the feeling of the Steam Train Era!

Cottage Garden plant Suggestions please post here!

Thanks all- Jez.

P.S Should anyone be travelling the SVR at all and your train should stop at Northwood Halt?!? Should I be out in the Garden or out attending the flowers on the Platform.... please say Hi

[tufftie]

History and steam trains don't compute with me - what era are we looking at?!!! I have some books.....

[Jez]

From 1862 to 1963. So looking at perhaps somewhere in the middle?

Would like plant listings of what you deem a quintessential Cottage Garden!

[Jez]

I have just come across a Cottage Garden Seed Collection though i'd rather plant in rather grow from seed. The Mix contains:-

Lupins, Sweet Williams, Lambs Ear, Single Holly Hocks, Granny's Bonnet (Aquailegia), Delphiniums, Astrantias, Canterbury Bells, Pink Toadflax and Cephalaria.

Looking at paintings of Cottage Gardens I see Sunflowers & what I imagine to be Nasturtiums. But all suggestions will be greatly recieved!

Thanks once again.

[tufftie]

The BTCV online shop does plug trays and things..though I know you already use a good supplier..just a though..

Okay will check that out in my books later for you

[Jez]

Thanks For that Naomi i'll have a gander.

[Paul mabbott]

Having spent much of my childhood in a real cottage garden - I would define it by saying that, if you like it, grow it!

Must have tall plants are hollyhocks, at the back of your planting. Rambling roses if you have a wall or fence to train them up.

What sort of soil is it? Is it dry or damp? At Millers Dale station (no trains now) the plots have largely gone back to nature but some plants still thrive - Polemonium, various Geranium spp, perennial cornflower, Aquilegia etc etc.

Originally Posted by Jez

The Severn Valley Railway is back open on Good Friday! As a Volunteer now for looking after the flower beds on Northwood Lane Platform I'd be keen to have a days gone by look (cottage garden), in keeping with the new mock Pagoda Shelter that has recently been put up, so passengers and visitors a like can get as close as possible to the feeling of the Steam Train Era!

Cottage Garden plant Suggestions please post here!

Thanks all- Jez.

P.S Should anyone be travelling the SVR at all and your train should stop at Northwood Halt?!? Should I be out in the Garden or out attending the flowers on the Platform.... please say Hi

[tufftie]

A few more to add to the ones already mentioned that the Victorians loved:
Pansies, sweet violets, lilly of the valley, wallflowers, poppies, peonies, rosas, sweet peas and pinks. I know it's a bit late now for some of them but...

[Jez]

Originally Posted by tufftie

A few more to add to the ones already mentioned that the Victorians loved:
Pansies, sweet violets, lilly of the valley, wallflowers, poppies, peonies, rosas, sweet peas and pinks. I know it's a bit late now for some of them but...

I'll go with opium Poppies they do well from seed! Lily Of the Valley will do best in the shade so may not do well here?! Sweet Peas will go up the wigwams and I've a Few Sweet Briar in planted in my new hedge behing the SVR border. Think i'll pop in some foxgloves- Elsey Kelsey also.

Thanks for your suggestions Naomi

[Kayleigh]

Herbaceous Collections - J Parker Dutch Bulbs

These have offers on at the moment not a bad price..I have just ordered 24 plants (perennials) for £12.

[Paul mabbott]

Don't forget some herbs: thyme, dwarf lavender, rosemary, sage, oregano will keep you in scents and flowers over a long period.

Any gaps between your perennials can be filled in with sowings of annuals - poppies and nasturtiums have been mentioned but surely the annual cottage garden must be Calendula, English marigold - something else which will perpetuate itself forever by self-seeding!

[Rosiew]

I remember reading once about a guy who collected seeds and would throw them out of the train window whilst travelling around ..... often thought I would do it too ... it would be nice to see your flowers growing when travelling along that line in the summer

[Jez]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

Herbaceous Collections - J Parker Dutch Bulbs

These have offers on at the moment not a bad price..I have just ordered 24 plants (perennials) for £12.

Thanks for that Kayleigh, it's very much apprieciated and the price sounds very nice too

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

Don't forget some herbs: thyme, dwarf lavender, rosemary, sage, oregano will keep you in scents and flowers over a long period.

Any gaps between your perennials can be filled in with sowings of annuals - poppies and nasturtiums have been mentioned but surely the annual cottage garden must be Calendula, English marigold - something else which will perpetuate itself forever by self-seeding!

Thats the one Paul I was trying to think would suit well Old fashioned Pot Marigolds (Calendula), yes will definately look out for those. Thanks for that, again very much appreciated!

[Jez]

looking forward to hearing to what Betty and Suzie may suggest! Also & anyone of you keen & helpful WABers really.

[polygro]

Hi Jez

I found this "Creating a cottage garden with traditional plants":

"Initially, the English cottage garden was constructed for its utilitarianism. As much space as possible was utilised for growing flowers, herbs, fruit and vegetables. Cottage gardens three or four hundred years ago would have been very unattractive, used for the growing of crops and the raising of poultry or pigs, for example. Over the decades, the cottage gardener started to grow fruit as well as vegetables and medicinal herbs to help treat common ailments. Wildflowers would seed themselves and be left to grow haphazardly. There was no room for lawns, just meandering paths between the planting areas.
Therefore, the cottage garden has no formal plan. It is a riot of colour and plants crammed in wherever there is a space.Let plants self-seed themselves where they will and you will have no weeding to do as the weeds won't stand a chance against such closely-packed in plants. Any gaps can be filled in by sowing annuals, such as Snapdragons, Poppies and Cornflowers. Grow Hollyhocks beside walls and fences - but don't just confine them to the back because they are tall - plant them anywhere in your borders as height is irrelevant and tall plants don't have to be planted only at the back. Entwine Honeysuckle amongst any hedging you have or train it to grow through your trees. Avoid modern hybrids and double flowers - they are not traditional and have no wildlife value at all. Grow herbs by your kitchen door in pots and tubs so they are close at hand for cooking and medicine, or create a herb bed elsewhere in the garden, preferably near to the vegetable patch so that you can use the theory of companion planting to combat pests on your veggies. The cottage garden requires very little maintenance - there is virtually no weeding in an established garden, you do not need to cut down flower spikes when flowering is over as the birds will eat the seeds (and you want some to self-seed), and the veggie/fruit patch, if you have one will only require a minimum of attention. For a picture-postcard English cottage garden, add old metal pails and watering cans and lots of terracotta pots." from Creating a Cottage Garden with Traditional Plants, Wildflowers and Herbs

Hope you might find it useful.

Polly

[Jez]

Originally Posted by polygro

Hi Jez

I found this "Creating a cottage garden with traditional plants":

"Initially, the English cottage garden was constructed for its utilitarianism. As much space as possible was utilised for growing flowers, herbs, fruit and vegetables. Cottage gardens three or four hundred years ago would have been very unattractive, used for the growing of crops and the raising of poultry or pigs, for example. Over the decades, the cottage gardener started to grow fruit as well as vegetables and medicinal herbs to help treat common ailments. Wildflowers would seed themselves and be left to grow haphazardly. There was no room for lawns, just meandering paths between the planting areas.
Therefore, the cottage garden has no formal plan. It is a riot of colour and plants crammed in wherever there is a space.Let plants self-seed themselves where they will and you will have no weeding to do as the weeds won't stand a chance against such closely-packed in plants. Any gaps can be filled in by sowing annuals, such as Snapdragons, Poppies and Cornflowers. Grow Hollyhocks beside walls and fences - but don't just confine them to the back because they are tall - plant them anywhere in your borders as height is irrelevant and tall plants don't have to be planted only at the back. Entwine Honeysuckle amongst any hedging you have or train it to grow through your trees. Avoid modern hybrids and double flowers - they are not traditional and have no wildlife value at all. Grow herbs by your kitchen door in pots and tubs so they are close at hand for cooking and medicine, or create a herb bed elsewhere in the garden, preferably near to the vegetable patch so that you can use the theory of companion planting to combat pests on your veggies. The cottage garden requires very little maintenance - there is virtually no weeding in an established garden, you do not need to cut down flower spikes when flowering is over as the birds will eat the seeds (and you want some to self-seed), and the veggie/fruit patch, if you have one will only require a minimum of attention. For a picture-postcard English cottage garden, add old metal pails and watering cans and lots of terracotta pots." from Creating a Cottage Garden with Traditional Plants, Wildflowers and Herbs

Hope you might find it useful.

Polly

Might find it useful?! Polly your a dream The time you must have spent writing all of that i bet you've got finger cramps now? Thank you ever so much......... I'm kinda flabbergasted and really lost for words!!! Really I am...& chuffed to bits too

THIS PROJECTS GETTING BETTER BY THE HOUR

[polygro]

I wouldn't be too flabbergasted - it only took a few seconds to copy and paste

[Jez]

Originally Posted by polygro

I wouldn't be too flabbergasted - it only took a few seconds to copy and paste

rofl silly me

[Susie]

Hi Jez, well I think it has just about all been said! I can't better the advice you have been given above, especial from Polygro.

Cottage gardens are dear to my heart though, I have always loved this style of gardening (my granny's garden was a good example when I was young) and tried to copy it myself before I discovered nature gardening. The mindset you have to get into is that you originally had a garden for producing fruit, veg and herbs for medicines. The flowers were secondary. Obviously over time this changed with the bias more towards flowers and less towards veg.

I think a cottage garden should always have a few poles of runner beans, the red flowers look so pretty and it will give your flower bed height and a quintessential English "quirkiness"

I've had a thunk and would suggest the following for a mauve/white/yellow border which should have colour and texture throughout the flowering season, most of which can be grown from seed and which will all flower this year:-

Sunflower
White sweet rocket
Alyssum saxatile
Yarrow
Pot marigold
Viola Tricolour
Primroses
Sneezewort
Forgetmenot
Meadow cranesbill
Fennel
Lavender
Cotton lavender
Phlox
Buddliea
White roses
Tickseed (Coreopsis verticillata
Coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida goldstrum)
Michelmas daisy
Miss Willmott's Ghost (Eryngium giganteum)

[Susie]

Originally Posted by Rosiew

I remember reading once about a guy who collected seeds and would throw them out of the train window whilst travelling around ..... often thought I would do it too ... it would be nice to see your flowers growing when travelling along that line in the summer

I always thought this sort of thing was a good thing too - eco terrorism I think some people call it. The county recorder for plants here doesn't agree that it is a good idea though as it puts plant species in areas they shouldn't be and can impact on the local flora.

[Jez]

Originally Posted by Susie

Hi Jez, well I think it has just about all been said! I can't better the advice you have been given above, especial from Polygro.

Cottage gardens are dear to my heart though, I have always loved this style of gardening (my granny's garden was a good example when I was young) and tried to copy it myself before I discovered nature gardening. The mindset you have to get into is that you originally had a garden for producing fruit, veg and herbs for medicines. The flowers were secondary. Obviously over time this changed with the bias more towards flowers and less towards veg.

I think a cottage garden should always have a few poles of runner beans, the red flowers look so pretty and it will give your flower bed height and a quintessential English "quirkiness"

It's not so much a cottage garden of old as the flowers for the borders is what i'm seeking Suzie (desperately, grown) for the Severn Valley Railway Platform, though my principles in my garden can be very closely connected as I do grow fruit herbs and will be sowing some old worldy veg plants into my new pre meadow area! Runner beans I was planning last year to grow either side of the front door if you can call it that????! But hard to find a variety that will grow about 8ft. Thanks very much indeed for your input ,seems we are akin to keep traditionals of old alive some where? some how be it Hedgerow, Wildflowers, growing fruit and veg as organically as we can muster. I'm happy for the Organic bit to free seed from my garden some what

[Susie]

Originally Posted by Jez

It's not so much a cottage garden of old as the flowers for the borders is what i'm seeking Suzie (desperately, grown) for the Severn Valley Railway Platform, though my principles in my garden can be very closely connected as I do grow fruit herbs and will be sowing some old worldy veg plants into my new pre meadow area! Runner beans I was planning last year to grow either side of the front door if you can call it that????! But hard to find a variety that will grow about 8ft. Thanks very much indeed for your input ,seems we are akin to keep traditionals of old alive some where? some how be it Hedgerow, Wildflowers, growing fruit and veg as organically as we can muster. I'm happy for the Organic bit to free seedfrom my garden some what

How about planting a hop rather than runner beans? I think they grow big and very quickly too.

I edited my previous post to add some plant suggestions.

Yes, it is good to have kindred spirits who love the traditional form of gardening in tune with nature.

[Jez]

Originally Posted by Susie

How about planting a hop rather than runner beans? I think they grow big and very quickly too.

I edited my previous post to add some plant suggestions.

Yes, it is good to have kindred spirits who love the traditional form of gardening in tune with nature.

Runners beans for the door. Have visions of growing hop along my south facing fencing! Once again nice to be intune

P.S Do you own a copy of Pam Lewis's Stickey Wicket book by any chance?