The Mountain Cottage Garden

Gardeners, by definition, are community builders.  They actually love to share their knowledge as we can learn from history.  In 1883, William Robinson, published The English Flower Garden.   His goal was to leave gardening” to each gardener’s individual imagination”.  Robinson was also friends with Gertrude Jekell, another influencer of the English garden.  Together, these two gardeners, writers, and artists imagined a less formal way to garden, “WILD”.  

Guided by the philosophies of these two renowned gardeners, along with my horticultural training and general experience, allow me to present the idea of the North Carolina Mountain Cottage Garden.  These garden design ideas stem from the English country garden and the herbaceous flower border.

The historical cottage garden was a practical garden.  A mixture of fruits, flowers, herbs, vegetables and livestock - though maybe we leave the chickens alone for now.  Nature was mirrored in these charming useful gardens.  As in nature, the wide variety of plant material was a profusion of interplanted, layered plants.  Curved pathways were both useful and pleasant.  Benches, fences, pots, birdbaths, arbors, gates were always used in some functional fashion. These fragrant and colorful gardens always looked as if they merely planted themselves.

In and around the Highlands, North Carolina, we are fortunate to garden in the Appalachian temperate rain forest which is the most biodiverse in the world.  For more information on our unique and special area, you can visit this website:  www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/na0403

Highlands provides the luxury of plenty of moisture, healthy soil, and a cool and mild climate.  This region supports some beautiful native flora which we can use in our mountain cottage gardens.  So, let’s get WILD!!!

If you want to build a garden or just want more information, please reach out at my email below or through my website.  I would love to hear from you!

 ldailey13@msn.com