Cottage gardens are a beautifully planned hodgepodge of riotous color and texture, but they can be a bit overwhelming. Using containers to break up the flow can add surprise and whimsy to your landscape.
Large Containers With Accent Plants
Imagine a mass of flowers of all different colors, sizes and shapes. Pretty, yes? Now imagine a large Terracotta pot in the center of those flowers with an eye-catching clump of purple grass waving in the breeze above the blooms. Using large containers full of contrasting accent plants that draw the eye upward creates a focal point in a sea of mixed colors
Whimsical Containers to Make You Smile
Your containers don't have to be plain pots. Containers come in all shapes and sizes, from animals to reptiles to human heads. Picture a family of troll face concrete containers full of spiky short multi-colored grasses for hair, or a frog filled with yellow marigolds. Imagine a lion's head with cascading succulents, such as burro's tail, for a mane. Whimsy is something that every garden needs, so don't be afraid to bring in what makes you smile.
A Tiny Fairy Garden
Contemplate walking along under the trees enjoying the flowers when suddenly, you come into a clearing with a village of tiny houses with moss roofs and colorfully painted containers of bonsai for trees. Diminutive terracotta pots hold colorful miniature blooms and sedums. Is it so hard to imagine that fairies actually live there?
"Urn" Your Herbs and Edibles
Urns bring a bit of the formal into a very informal cottage garden setting. Envision a lovely tall urn planter filled with a mixture of herbs and edible ornamental plants, such as an eye-catching cranberry hibiscus surrounded by creeping rosemary and thyme, with some beautiful flowering purslane cascading down over the sides. A true cottage garden always has a few edibles in it, and it doesn't hurt to make them part of the decoration.
Get the Kids Into the Act
Kids love to paint, so creating a kids corner with their own hand-painted flower pots brings joy and happiness to your cottage garden. Maybe you could add a pathway through their kiddie garden made of signed and dated concrete stepping stones with their hand and foot prints. Don't worry about perfection; just let them go to town creating a wonderful, colorful, happy place they can call their own.
Containers are so varied and versatile, that you can never run out of ideas for them. Visit your local garden supply store today and start imagining how to infuse your cottage garden landscape design with your own vision.
Share10 February 2016
Having to place children's furniture in a small bedroom presented a problem for me. With two growing kids, I needed a dresser to accommodate both boys, as well as two beds. With two beds, desk and chair, toy chest and floor lamp, the room seemed overly crowded. My solution came with a highly functional bunk bed. Bunk beds take up minimal space. Better yet, my choice was a bunk that included a storage drawer. This compartment is used for storing the boys' small toys and other necessities. I didn't have to have a separate toy chest, so I reduced clutter which was great! When you have multiple children all in one room, you need all the help you can get!
