Arrange a 'cottage' style garden with plants of different heights?
March 22, 2021 2:16 PM Subscribe
I was introduced here to the concept of the cottage garden. I love the idea of beautiful messes, so this seems to be exactly how I should set up my flowers this year (which has been the cause of much stress, I fret over these things too much). But what do you do about flowers with different heights blocking shorter ones from view? List of flowers inside.
So I have a rectangular block to work with, coming right up to the sidewalk. It's about 5 feet x 12 feet, with the shorter bit facing the sidewalk.
What I'm reading online is - don't worry about interspersing different plant heights. But I don't think that applies here, because of the shape - it's a very long garden. I can't plant the short things at the back. Can you help? Do I really just plant from tallest to shortest?
Difficulties:
The supposed-tallest plants may not be tallest in my climate. Zone 4. Anything from bulbs - I really don't know what they are going to do.
I have no experience growing these plants here, or in this location of the property.
I don't really know what I'm doing.
The area is North-facing and also gets sun from the East. It will be slow-ish to warm up and get sun in the Spring and then it will be scorching by end of July-end of August.
Bonuses:
I can start things indoors with a grow lamp
I don't need to worry about 'invasiveness' issues because very few of these are perennial in my climate. Besides, the area is bordered by the sidewalk, walkway and driveway (all concrete).
I actually have perennials all over the place I can move here if needed. Too much to list.
Flowers list:
Bulbs - Buddleia (butterfly bush) Ligularia, Lilly of the Valley, Anemone, Dahlias
Seed - Nigella, Lobelia, Marigold, Callendula, Poppies, Wild Marjorum, Sunflowers, Lupin
Plan to buy as starters - Peony
Thanks gardeners!
So I have a rectangular block to work with, coming right up to the sidewalk. It's about 5 feet x 12 feet, with the shorter bit facing the sidewalk.
What I'm reading online is - don't worry about interspersing different plant heights. But I don't think that applies here, because of the shape - it's a very long garden. I can't plant the short things at the back. Can you help? Do I really just plant from tallest to shortest?
Difficulties:
The supposed-tallest plants may not be tallest in my climate. Zone 4. Anything from bulbs - I really don't know what they are going to do.
I have no experience growing these plants here, or in this location of the property.
I don't really know what I'm doing.
The area is North-facing and also gets sun from the East. It will be slow-ish to warm up and get sun in the Spring and then it will be scorching by end of July-end of August.
Bonuses:
I can start things indoors with a grow lamp
I don't need to worry about 'invasiveness' issues because very few of these are perennial in my climate. Besides, the area is bordered by the sidewalk, walkway and driveway (all concrete).
I actually have perennials all over the place I can move here if needed. Too much to list.
Flowers list:
Bulbs - Buddleia (butterfly bush) Ligularia, Lilly of the Valley, Anemone, Dahlias
Seed - Nigella, Lobelia, Marigold, Callendula, Poppies, Wild Marjorum, Sunflowers, Lupin
Plan to buy as starters - Peony
Thanks gardeners!
Always border with Crystal Palace lobelia -- it's compact, the flowers are solid electric blue with a red undertone which glows purple at dawn and dusk.
I think Buddelia is a mistake -- it grows way too tall too fast and spreads from the roots. It is a weed shrub.
posted by y2karl at 2:54 PM on March 22, 2021
I think Buddelia is a mistake -- it grows way too tall too fast and spreads from the roots. It is a weed shrub.
posted by y2karl at 2:54 PM on March 22, 2021
Response by poster: Talk me out of the Buddleia if you must - I can take it back to Costco. But it looks so dreamy. It would take me years to grow a nice lilac and this thing looks like an instant lilac. I'm obsessed with that flower colour and the cone of flowers thing - I also love delphinium, lupin, hyacinth. Why not just grow those? Buying established perennials gets really, really expensive.
I would be really surprised if it went nuts here.
posted by kitcat at 3:05 PM on March 22, 2021
I would be really surprised if it went nuts here.
posted by kitcat at 3:05 PM on March 22, 2021
My butterfly shrub doesn't spread but it's a rangy untidy creature. It's very attractive to all sorts of pollinators and that's a benefit.
If it goes wild, you can remove it later.
Gardens take time. Nothing is guaranteed and you'll learn as you go. Moving stuff to a different location is part of learning what works where. There's no wrong or right. You get to experiment with only minor repercussions.
But, do plant in groups of, say, three each, or five maybe, so it's a bit cohesive (in my opinion. )
posted by mightshould at 3:14 PM on March 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
If it goes wild, you can remove it later.
Gardens take time. Nothing is guaranteed and you'll learn as you go. Moving stuff to a different location is part of learning what works where. There's no wrong or right. You get to experiment with only minor repercussions.
But, do plant in groups of, say, three each, or five maybe, so it's a bit cohesive (in my opinion. )
posted by mightshould at 3:14 PM on March 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
For height, go with artichokes which top out at nine feet -- what you thought was a vegetable is the bud of this magnificent flower. And the whole plant, with maintenance, is quite stately. Albeit huge.
posted by y2karl at 3:18 PM on March 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by y2karl at 3:18 PM on March 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
I haven't noticed buddleia spreading outward, but it certainly doesn't grow compactly and it will grow tall (and possibly shade other things). It will need pruning in the fall (hack and slash works fine). Forsythia is quite similar in habit, maybe more vertical, and flowers bright yellow first thing in the spring (after which it's just leafy).
Of the others, dahlia is medium-tall height, will want to be towards the back, and you can dig up the corms and overwinter them somewhere dry (possibly with a dusting of sulphur). See also: foxglove and hollyhock, both annuals with flower spikes.
Lupin is typically a bit shorter than that and will begin to flower before the buddleia, but it should be a perennial (subject, again, to climate). It's still bigger than your lily of the valley and your bedding plants, both in height and diameter. It sheds tons of seeds, but doesn't seem to self seed much.
My parents' garden's side beds combined all of the above, though with the bedding annuals planted by hand each year after growing from seed (magnolia, lobelia, alyssum and such). I'd say they were 12ft deep, if that helps you judge, and not everything was everywhere but I think that would fit. You could do it with less space but, with the larger plants in the mix, perhaps not much less. If you were down to, say, 3ft, I would plant the annuals and lily of the valley and maybe a clematis on a trellis at the back.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 3:20 PM on March 22, 2021
Of the others, dahlia is medium-tall height, will want to be towards the back, and you can dig up the corms and overwinter them somewhere dry (possibly with a dusting of sulphur). See also: foxglove and hollyhock, both annuals with flower spikes.
Lupin is typically a bit shorter than that and will begin to flower before the buddleia, but it should be a perennial (subject, again, to climate). It's still bigger than your lily of the valley and your bedding plants, both in height and diameter. It sheds tons of seeds, but doesn't seem to self seed much.
My parents' garden's side beds combined all of the above, though with the bedding annuals planted by hand each year after growing from seed (magnolia, lobelia, alyssum and such). I'd say they were 12ft deep, if that helps you judge, and not everything was everywhere but I think that would fit. You could do it with less space but, with the larger plants in the mix, perhaps not much less. If you were down to, say, 3ft, I would plant the annuals and lily of the valley and maybe a clematis on a trellis at the back.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 3:20 PM on March 22, 2021
It won't take you years to grow a nice lilac. If you want a lilac, plant one. It will be an appreciable size by next year already, certainly bigger than the buddleia.
posted by HotToddy at 3:33 PM on March 22, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by HotToddy at 3:33 PM on March 22, 2021 [5 favorites]
Apart from pandemical last summer there has been a magnificent dahlia bed maintained by the Puget Sound Dahlia Society in Volunteer Park. In the past they have had a sale every summer behind the conservatory. But there is one right now online, which is good news indeed.
posted by y2karl at 3:36 PM on March 22, 2021
posted by y2karl at 3:36 PM on March 22, 2021
I love hollyhocks, especially black hollyhocks but then I grow black flowers almost exclusively -- black iris, Black Prince snapdragons, Ace of Spades scabiosa aka pin cushion flower, to name but a few.
And I love love love night scented stock, which I buy by the flat of potted starts. I plant them in mass. The flowers are tiny, pink and cruciform and are wilted by day but open by night and honey the air with the scent of cloves and jasmine through June and July.
I buy all of the above annuals from Langley Gardens on Vashon. Who up until last summer had a huge booth at the West Seattle Sunday Farmers Market but now sell wholesale to all the local nurseries as of now. They grow starts of flowers, herbs, heirloom tomatoes and all sorts of wonders. I cannot say enough nice things about Matt and Leda Langley -- Sky Nursery, City Peoples Mercantile and a host of other nurseries carry their plants. Check them out.
posted by y2karl at 4:08 PM on March 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
And I love love love night scented stock, which I buy by the flat of potted starts. I plant them in mass. The flowers are tiny, pink and cruciform and are wilted by day but open by night and honey the air with the scent of cloves and jasmine through June and July.
I buy all of the above annuals from Langley Gardens on Vashon. Who up until last summer had a huge booth at the West Seattle Sunday Farmers Market but now sell wholesale to all the local nurseries as of now. They grow starts of flowers, herbs, heirloom tomatoes and all sorts of wonders. I cannot say enough nice things about Matt and Leda Langley -- Sky Nursery, City Peoples Mercantile and a host of other nurseries carry their plants. Check them out.
posted by y2karl at 4:08 PM on March 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
The end by the house, farthest from the sidewalk, is going to be most shaded? I suspect that means the earliest plants won’t thrive there, but the ones that get baked out in midsummer might thrive in the shade of taller plants in the middle. If that makes them a little surprise every time you go along the long side of the plot, all the better.
Another cottage garden trick with height is to use plants that are tall but not dense, so you can look either at or through the flowering scrim. Often these are less selected, tougher, more fragrant varieties. Selectseeds.com often mentions this in its descriptions.
Maybe nasturtium and zinnias, two more inexpensive start-from-seed plants that like high summer.
And - if you want a lilac - plant a lilac!
posted by clew at 4:26 PM on March 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
Another cottage garden trick with height is to use plants that are tall but not dense, so you can look either at or through the flowering scrim. Often these are less selected, tougher, more fragrant varieties. Selectseeds.com often mentions this in its descriptions.
Maybe nasturtium and zinnias, two more inexpensive start-from-seed plants that like high summer.
And - if you want a lilac - plant a lilac!
posted by clew at 4:26 PM on March 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
I haven't noticed buddleia spreading outward....
You are right. I wrote in haste --ours, a volunteer, spread several lateral branches above ground from being cut back to a stump by the owners' gardeners over the last three summers and now is a barely contained monster. It smells sweet enough but with it and wisteria, which smells even sweeter, my sinuses plug up at the slightest sniff.
posted by y2karl at 5:01 PM on March 22, 2021
You are right. I wrote in haste --ours, a volunteer, spread several lateral branches above ground from being cut back to a stump by the owners' gardeners over the last three summers and now is a barely contained monster. It smells sweet enough but with it and wisteria, which smells even sweeter, my sinuses plug up at the slightest sniff.
posted by y2karl at 5:01 PM on March 22, 2021
Response by poster: (I don't know if the Seattle comment is meant for me, but I'm much further North, in Alberta).
I did plant a lilac. It's only 2 feet high, no flowers last year. Maybe it will flower this year, but it takes time. Buying a largeish one would cost maybe 40 bucks. Maybe it would mature faster in a different climate, I don't know.
I'm now thinking of training the buddleia into trees.
posted by kitcat at 5:29 PM on March 22, 2021
I did plant a lilac. It's only 2 feet high, no flowers last year. Maybe it will flower this year, but it takes time. Buying a largeish one would cost maybe 40 bucks. Maybe it would mature faster in a different climate, I don't know.
I'm now thinking of training the buddleia into trees.
posted by kitcat at 5:29 PM on March 22, 2021
Instead of buddleia (can be invasive in US, does not host or support native insects) consider natives such as buttonbush (very cool shape flowers) or clethra and New Jersey tea (both have spire shaped flowers, white- pinkish flowers).
I’d recommend thinking about natives anyway, as they can often have a less formal, more layered feel. Here is a guide which includes detailed sample layouts for different conditions and requirements, with suggested plants. It’s for Pennsylvania so may not cover your zone, but there is likely something similar by your county, state, or local native plant/environmentally conscious gardening organisation.
Better Homes & Gardens also has a lot of garden design plans so I would check there too.
posted by sizeable beetle at 5:56 PM on March 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
I’d recommend thinking about natives anyway, as they can often have a less formal, more layered feel. Here is a guide which includes detailed sample layouts for different conditions and requirements, with suggested plants. It’s for Pennsylvania so may not cover your zone, but there is likely something similar by your county, state, or local native plant/environmentally conscious gardening organisation.
Better Homes & Gardens also has a lot of garden design plans so I would check there too.
posted by sizeable beetle at 5:56 PM on March 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
There are lots of varieties of sunflowers. I had some that were 2-3 ft. tall and some that towered over the eves of my house. Check your varieties.
Whatever you end up doing, take your phone outside and take a few pictures every week or two. Bulbs are mostly spring flowers and even they are early, mid, and late spring. Everything will bloom at different times and that will make a big difference in how your garden looks. Take Piiictures.
Your neighbors will be thinning their plants at some point. Check Craigslist and Nextdoor (or the Canadian equivalent) for freebies. I have never bought iris or daylilies in my life. There are also seed swaps.
Really, Take Pictures. You will thank me next year.
posted by BoscosMom at 6:39 PM on March 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
Whatever you end up doing, take your phone outside and take a few pictures every week or two. Bulbs are mostly spring flowers and even they are early, mid, and late spring. Everything will bloom at different times and that will make a big difference in how your garden looks. Take Piiictures.
Your neighbors will be thinning their plants at some point. Check Craigslist and Nextdoor (or the Canadian equivalent) for freebies. I have never bought iris or daylilies in my life. There are also seed swaps.
Really, Take Pictures. You will thank me next year.
posted by BoscosMom at 6:39 PM on March 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
Maybe put the buddleia in a big pot? That could look lovely sitting in or near the garden area, and will lend informal structure to the cottage vibe.
Look at photos of gardens near you and go plant shopping that way (you can get help identifying plants you like from other web sites, or sometimes photos list their plants in a caption).
A photo of your space here might help, but: it sounds like you have a short growing season, so, if you aren't wanting to plant actual trees, consider building structural elements to hang plants and/or train vines to give you some height.
I would definitely plant taller plants in the back, but you can alternate really tall items with medium-height items, in irregularly-sized clumps, then put medium-short and more groundcovery stuff in the front. Breaking up the whole space with a vertical/trellis/wooden hanging feature (or planted wall type thing) will be interesting too!
posted by amtho at 7:18 PM on March 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
Look at photos of gardens near you and go plant shopping that way (you can get help identifying plants you like from other web sites, or sometimes photos list their plants in a caption).
A photo of your space here might help, but: it sounds like you have a short growing season, so, if you aren't wanting to plant actual trees, consider building structural elements to hang plants and/or train vines to give you some height.
I would definitely plant taller plants in the back, but you can alternate really tall items with medium-height items, in irregularly-sized clumps, then put medium-short and more groundcovery stuff in the front. Breaking up the whole space with a vertical/trellis/wooden hanging feature (or planted wall type thing) will be interesting too!
posted by amtho at 7:18 PM on March 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
Be careful of sunflowers - they will make soil around themselves inhospitable to other plants.
posted by amtho at 7:18 PM on March 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by amtho at 7:18 PM on March 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
...I'm much further North, in Alberta).
Do you have a cold frame or box? It would be easy enough to make or improvise one.
For annuals, plant seeds within one soon when day and night are equal in length, transplant out when the chance of frost is past and the exceeding length of the following days in the Great White North should produce prodigies. Or so I hope.
And by all means buy Crystal Palace seeds in bulk and sow them for your borders. You will not regret it -- no photograph can do them justice.
And I must echo amtho on sunflowers. They suck the juice out of the dirt at least a foot and a half out in every direction around their stalk. As will artichokes or any other flower that grows giant in a season.
Thus ends my limited best advice.
posted by y2karl at 7:51 PM on March 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
Do you have a cold frame or box? It would be easy enough to make or improvise one.
For annuals, plant seeds within one soon when day and night are equal in length, transplant out when the chance of frost is past and the exceeding length of the following days in the Great White North should produce prodigies. Or so I hope.
And by all means buy Crystal Palace seeds in bulk and sow them for your borders. You will not regret it -- no photograph can do them justice.
And I must echo amtho on sunflowers. They suck the juice out of the dirt at least a foot and a half out in every direction around their stalk. As will artichokes or any other flower that grows giant in a season.
Thus ends my limited best advice.
posted by y2karl at 7:51 PM on March 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
It's probably worth looking at resources for herbaceous border design (or perennial border), which is a formal version of exactly this, long straight areas of interesting mixed flowers where heights need to be considered.
https://gardenmaking.com/perennial-border/ is an example.
posted by Shark Hat at 3:31 AM on March 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
https://gardenmaking.com/perennial-border/ is an example.
posted by Shark Hat at 3:31 AM on March 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you all for the advice! This is very helpful. I think I will in fact put the Butterfly Bushes in pots. I'll plant the sunflowers on the East side of the house instead. And yes, I will definitely be planting the Crystal Palace lobelia - I had them last year (from starters) and they are almost magical - the colour is so intense - and they stayed in bloom all season long! Our last frost will be no earlier than the May long weekend, so I still have lots of time to sort this all out.
posted by kitcat at 8:23 AM on March 23, 2021
posted by kitcat at 8:23 AM on March 23, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
You can also consider accessibility. For bulbs you're going to need to dig up and split, put them where it's easiest to get at them. Put the stuff that needs the least of your intervention at the hardest to reach places.
You'll know more about how they behave next year, and you can build on that knowledge. Book-learning is only so useful for gardening, you have to just do it and see.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:53 PM on March 22, 2021 [2 favorites]