Few garden styles are as loved as the cottage garden.
Informality: plants mingle and self-seed rather than standing in neat rows.
Cottage gardens began as working gardens.
The trick is a firm framework of paths, edges and enclosure, filled with loose, abundant planting.
Most classic cottage garden flowers love sun.
A picket fence, low wall or hedge gives the garden its classic enclosed feel.
Cottage gardens are densely planted, so the soil needs to be in good condition to feed everything.
Step-by-step advice, charts and free garden calculators at Garden Voila.