Add charm and color to your yard with these easy cottage garden ideas, including tips for layout, plant choices, and vintage garden accents.
One of the most satisfying parts of gardening is seeing something grow. Starting with small plants, or even seeds, and watching them transform into something beautiful over time is incredibly rewarding. Cottage gardens, in particular, are a joy to plant and care for. They’re informal, colorful, and full of life. While they may look casual, traditional cottage gardens follow a few guiding principles that give them their signature charm.
Historically, these gardens were planted close to small homes or cottages, where herbs, vegetables, and flowers were grown together for both beauty and practicality. Today’s cottage garden doesn’t have to be next to a home. It can be placed along a fence, beside a garden shed, or even surrounding a patio or deck.
My Past Cottage Garden
At our house on Sutton Place, I created a cottage garden along the fence that bordered our backyard. It wrapped around a small shed and was filled with a mix of perennials and annuals. It was always a work in progress…some plants were moved, others were removed, and nothing was ever perfectly balanced. But at the start of every growing season, I looked forward to seeing how the changes from the year before had taken hold. Some years were more successful than others, but it always brought me joy.
Define the Space with Borders
To give your cottage garden a sense of place, start by outlining the area. In the past, gardeners used fieldstone, collected rocks, or low wooden fences to define the space. Those ideas still work beautifully today. A row of bricks, a rustic picket fence, or even just a natural edge of mulch or groundcover can help contain the garden and add structure.
Layered Planting: Short in Front, Tall in Back
The traditional planting method for a cottage garden is to place taller plants in the back and shorter plants in front. This creates a layered look and gives the garden a sense of fullness. Include a mix of herbs, self-sowing annuals, and hardy perennials. Arrange plants in gentle rows, and don’t be afraid to add curves or unexpected combinations. Cottage gardens are meant to feel relaxed and a little wild.
Mix of Colors, Textures, and Bloom Times
To keep your garden looking vibrant all season, include plants that bloom at different times. Combine tiny flowers like dianthus with bigger blooms like peonies. Use a variety of colors and textures to give the garden interest from every angle. Some favorites for this type of garden include:
- Rudbeckia – ‘Goldsturm’ or ‘Indian Summer’
- Echinacea purpurea – Purple coneflower
- Shasta Daisy (‘Becky’ is a good one)
- Peonies
- Sedum – ‘Autumn Joy’
- Phlox – ‘David’ (tall and fragrant)
- Phlox – ‘Cloudburst’ (low growing)
- Coreopsis
- Dianthus
- Allium bulbs
- Hardy Geranium
- Bleeding Hearts (if you have shade)
- Lavender
- Clematis
- Morning Glories
- Climbing roses
Include a Climbing Vine
Cottage gardens feel more complete when something is climbing. Vines add height, softness, and romance. Clematis and morning glories are classic choices that thrive in many climates. If you don’t have a fence, place a trellis or an arched support at the back of the garden for your vine to climb.
Add Vintage Charm with Garden Decor
Garden art adds personality and fills in empty spots where plants may not grow well. It can also help your garden reflect your own style and interests. Scatter a few of these elements throughout your garden to break up the greenery and create points of interest.
- A birdhouse or birdbath
- A small statue (St. Francis is a timeless choice)
- A sturdy trellis
- A weather vane
- Stepping stones
- Galvanized containers
- Large baskets or buckets
- Garden markers
Style the Shed to Match the Garden
If your cottage garden is connected to a shed, consider giving the shed a little attention so it complements the space. A fresh coat of paint in a soft or cheerful color can make a big impact. Replace worn hardware with something classic or vintage-inspired. Hang wreaths or seasonal decor on the doors, and if there’s a window, add a flower box or a simple curtain. Small details like these help the shed feel like part of the garden, and not just a storage space.
Final Thoughts
No matter where your garden is planted or how big it is, the most important thing is that it brings you happiness. There’s nothing quite like walking outside and being greeted by something you planted yourself. As Audrey Hepburn once said, “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” And there’s always a new season waiting just around the corner.
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Ann, your garden is beautiful. Thanks for sharing it.
Ann, your Sutton Place garden was so beautiful! I’m sure that your garden at your new home is even more beautiful!
Lovely post!
I’ll live vicariously through your garden. Here in Arizona there is no such thing as a “cottage garden “, even though I am up in the high country. That’s the one and only thing I miss about my 55 years living in California. I could grow roses.
Beautiful Ann, the people who inherited the Sutton Place garden are blessed. Such a charming space, your “green thumb” at work!
Thank you for the stroll through your garden. One thing I’ve started doing is adding some solar lights. Tall, short, hanging, scattered throughout. Ones that look as good during the day, as they do at night.
Enjoy your weekend, Ann.
Your garden is lovely. Very peaceful and serene looking. Thanks for sharing.
We started some seeds of Rudebeckia Indian summer because I can’t always find them in the local nursery. They sometimes self seed but not always I love them in summer bouquets so want to have a large clump of them in my garden in front of my daylilies and sunflowers. Your cottage garden is very pretty and I love that you have added some shrubs and statuary. If you have a power source a fountain even a small one will attract the birds to your garden. So interesting to watch and they are great at controlling insect pests.
Lovely garden Ann. I love gardening also but enjoy seeing what others are doing in their gardens. Thank you for sharing. Jean
I e;njoyed seeing your cottage garden. I have dreams of having one in my front yard. with a mix of perennials, annuals, and herbs. Got the bulbs from Breck’s last year. Ended up putting them in my veggie garden space as the man who does our yard work already had the sander on his small dump truck for late fall! Too late to have him dump loam where I needed it! So everything bloomed beautifully in the garden. I want a trellis in front of the gas tanks with hollyhocks. I want, I want, I want….all in good time!
Love this post on cottage gardening!!! You have inspired me to try a garden near our deck and fence area. It will be a fun project. Thank you Ann for sharing your garden with us!!
Love seeing your gardens! I spend most of my free time working in my yard. I started 3 years ago with nothing but a patio we had just finished. Now we just need some grass that can take the Georgia sun and heat! It’s been a re-education after living in Ohio for almost 40 years.
Your yard is beautiful and I especially love your peonies! Hope you are doing well!🌷💕
Calm and peaceful view.
So beautiful. You certainly know how to make it look lovely.
Beautiful garden, Ann. Thanks for sharing it with us!
I love your garden from the weathered fence, the plants, the stone border,so charming. I would love to have a space like that but unfortunately would not last with all the deer we have here.
Beautiful and peaceful Ann. I love all of your color choices and that so many pretty blossoms can be cut and brought inside. I struggle to find things for my yard that the deer won’t devour. :)
Such a charming space. I like the variety of plants you have chosen.