Cottage gardens were originally created because the addition of flowers to vegetable gardens helped to attract bees.
This became an art form including deep borders, a colorful mix of flowers and herbs, pathways and perhaps even benches tucked away in a private area of the garden.
When it comes to planting ideas and tips, you can always start with recreating this look with small pathways lined with lavender, herbs, colorful perennials or even roses.
It is always best to use a colorful mixture of perennials and shrubs.
This abundance of flowers will attract bees, butterflies and moths, as well as the species which prey on them, birds and bats! The trick behind cottage gardens is that the flowers and shrubs are grown very closely together and placed in such a way as to appear as though the flowers and shrubs were simply placed there without any real planning or thought behind it.
The truth is that there is a lot of planning that goes into making a cottage garden appear 'natural'.
The best advice to give is to make sure that all the available space is used.
This includes using both ground cover plants and plants that would add height to the fragrance and texture of the garden such as honeysuckle and Clematis, or climbing roses.
This will reduce the amount of maintenance required by minimizing space for weeds and by adding habitat will encourage insects and birds.
Cottage gardens are informal gardens which look like they have evolved over time effortlessly.
Drifts of plants bulbs, in the form of tear drops, made up of textures such as gravel or clay will make very natural looking beds.
If the ground is uneven it can complement the garden even more as you can add tiers of planting, different levels, contours and shapes to your drifts.
If you are good at gardening then the random planting of annuals growing between perennials that grow vigorously will be possible and can give your cottage garden a more old-fashioned appeal.
If you're not careful, however, the garden can become a riot of color and shapes, some may not like this; so, decide on your preferred cottage style and adhere to the plan carefully.
Allow for seeding in from species such as poppy and verbena though, so the garden does evolve and doesn't stay static.
Always remember to group plants by height, color, texture or plant type so that the cottage garden is easier on the eye.