What is Your Gardening Style?

On these gray, short January days I find myself, like so many gardeners, dreaming about the summer and my garden which got me to thinking about gardening styles. It really helps to know your gardening style. Do you like your garden organized and linear or free flowing and natural? Do you prefer plants that are compact and round or tall and loose? Do you like the look of a structured garden with shrubs and edging adjacent to a green lawn or do you prefer just having flowers and no lawn? Knowing your style and preferences can save you a lot of time and money. We have had clients that want their garden to look like a “wildflower garden” only to later declare it looks too messy. Now is a great time to dream about your garden and really figure out what your style is.

My garden is “cottage style” which means it is a lot like me…..small, informal and all over the place. Cottage gardens can be a little wild as flowers are generally allowed to reseed themselves. The look is loose and relaxed. There is no lawn in sight so no edging or borders. Cottage style gardens are full of flowers and can even look crammed with them. I tend to plant flowers that are less compact and round and prefer taller flowers like daisies, coneflowers and false sunflowers. My flowers are planted in groups and waves and never in a line. There were shrubs in the garden at one time in my garden but they have been removed to make room for more flowers. One lilac still remains. Peonies, dahlias, zinnias and cosmos are a must for my garden. But for now these the flowers are tucked under snow dreaming about about spring.

Common flowers for a cottage garden- columbines, roses, delphinium, lupines, foxglove, hollyhocks, peonies, dianthus, clematis, geraniums, sweet peas and salvia.