The simple beauty of cottage gardens

Mention the word cottage garden and your mind immediately conjures up images of a picture-perfect romantic garden overflowing with plants full of exuberant colour and scent. The humble cottage garden did not come into being at any particular time but rather evolved naturally back in medieval times both out of necessity and desire: the necessity for people to grow their own food and the desire to create a garden the envy of their neighbours. A writer in 1677 was wont to say of cottage gardens, “There is scarce a proportionable garden, so great a delight do most men take of it.”

At the advent of cottage gardening, these gardens were not really pretty flower-filled plots designed for the pleasure of passersby but rather small working gardens including vegetables, fruit trees, flowers, culinary and medicinal herbs, and home to livestock animals like ducks, chickens and pigs. With space at a premium, every plant had to earn its keep; plants were not only for looking good but also had to produce something good to eat. This was confirmed by Dr. D.G. Hessayon in his book The Armchair Book of the Garden, “But centuries ago the garden around the cottage was an area which had to work for a living — vegetables and herbs for the pot, flowers to brighten the scenery and no money available for a nice white fence.”

In the 19th century, the cottage gardeners were considered the conservationists of the day, for they had neither the funds nor the opportunity, as they were working people, to pursue the plant-hunting craze of the day, engaged in by the upper classes. <a href='http://www.muskokasun.com/muskokasun/article/68084' target='_blank'>Cottage gardens</a> developed as labourers returned from the fields bringing to their homes seeds, bulbs and cuttings from the countryside. Plants like columbine, cornflowers, primroses and snowdrops were some of the old-fashioned plant varieties they cultivated and nurtured that were losing popularity. These old cottage gardeners also had no access to chemicals and pesticides, instead utilizing natural methods to combat pests and diseases. Companion planting was practised along with planting floral materials that attracted beneficial insects like ladybugs and hoverflies to keep those nasty pests in check.

As time went on, cottage gardens became <a href='http://www.muskokasun.com/muskokasun/article/68085' target='_blank'>more ornamental</a>. Husbands concentrated on the fruit and vegetables while the wife developed her knowledge and skills in the growing and use of medicinal herbs and flowers. As leisure time increased, gardening moved into the realm of a recreational pursuit instead of an activity for self-sufficiency. As the 20th century dawned, the era of the cottage garden began to decline as short-term tenancies of cottages began to increase and people began to move to urban centres. As the Victorian era moved forward, the gentry started to flee from overpopulated cities to country estates where they embraced a “rustic” lifestyle, rediscovering the humble cottage garden.

In the 1970s, with the interest in naturalistic and organic gardening, the cottage garden concept enjoyed a revival and the allure of cottage gardening is still popular today, where charm is everything and plant material seems to blend and grow seamlessly together.

When creating the cottage garden look today, one of the secrets of the success of this look is to use a selection of perennials, annuals and biennials liberally. Although this type of garden is actually contrived, one must strive to make the garden look like it has evolved naturally. We can learn from one of the great garden designers of the past: Gertrude Jekyll spoke eloquently of the simple beauty of cottage gardens in her book The Making of a Garden, “I have learnt much from the little cottage gardens that help to make our English waysides the prettiest in the temperate world. One can hardly go into the smallest cottage garden without learning or observing something new. It may be some two plants growing beautifully together by some happy chance, or a pretty mixed tangle of creepers, or something that one always thought must have a south wall doing better on an east one. But eye and brain must be alert to receive the impression and studious to store it, to add to the hoard of experience.”

We live and cottage in a beautiful part of the country and our gardens should reflect the natural surroundings. The cottage garden concept is one that can be readily adapted to our environment and showcase a variety of native plant material that blend well with the existing landscape. Many of the great gardens of England, like Sissinghurst, drew inspiration from the simple beauty of cottage gardens. When planning your next garden renovation, look to the past and seek joy in the pleasures of a cottage garden.

Kathy Wood is a member of the Bracebridge Horticultural Society and a regional director for Region VII of the Garden Writers' Association. Kathy can be reached at rosewoodpk@sympatico.ca.

Garden quote

What is the secret of the cottage garden’s charm? Cottage gardeners are good to their plots, and in the course of years, they make them fertile . . . But there is something more and it is the absence of any pretentious “plan”, which lets the flowers tell their story to the heart.

Herbal gift from the garden

Roast Garlic with Goat’s Cheese Pâté
4 large garlic bulbs
4 fresh rosemary sprigs
8 fresh thyme sprigs
4 tbsp olive oil
Fresh ground sea salt and pepper
Thyme sprigs to garnish
4 to 8 slices sourdough bread
Walnuts to garnish

Pâté
1 cup soft goat’s cheese
1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 tbsp walnut oil
Fresh thyme to garnish

Preheat oven to 350°F. Strip papery skin from garlic bulbs. Place them in ovenproof dish large enough to hold them snugly. Tuck in fresh rosemary and thyme sprigs and drizzle with olive oil. Season with sea salt and pepper. Cover tightly with foil and bake in oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven, set aside and let cool.

Preheat the broiler. To make pâté, cream the cheese with the thyme, parsley and chopped walnuts. Beat in one tablespoon of cooking oil from the garlic and season to taste with plenty of ground pepper. Transfer the pâté to a serving bowl and chill until ready to serve. Brush the sourdough bread on one side with remaining oil from garlic bulbs, then grill until lightly toasted. Divide the pâté among four individual plates. Drizzle the walnut oil over the goat’s cheese pâté and grind on more black pepper. Place some garlic on each plate and serve with toasted bread. Garnish the plate with a little fresh thyme and serve with a few walnuts.