A contemporary cottage it blends traditional cottage style with ‘natural planting’, according to garden designer Tim Pilgrim.
‘It uses common plants – both edible and ornamental – as in traditional garden planting, but planted in larger drifts. And there’s more thought about color palette and repetition,’ he says.
He gained much publicity for his recent design for Oak Cottage, near Melbourne, Australia. The garden is a little over a year old, but it already looks full and beautiful. He uses garden plants widely used in the UK, USA and around the world, planting them in naturalistic groupings.
And he has the ’70/30′ rule for successful planting.
(See this post for more on what naturalistic planting is and how it can work in your garden.)
Contemporary Oak Cottage Garden Planter Design by Tim Pilgrim.
Where to start with contemporary garden cottage style
The team advises to start with the architecture of the house and its surroundings.
Oak Cottage is a traditional, geometric colonial bungalow, which is also a historic Australian style and reflects similar architecture of the era around the world. The name comes from the giant oak tree that towers over the front garden.
And behind the front fence are eucalyptus trees and an unimproved ‘country’ road. There are many other houses nearby, but the trees and bushes make it feel rural and private.
So the planting framed the house and blended into the “bush” behind it.
A modern twist on an old favorite – easy garden plants planted in contemporary ‘sands’. Behind the chairs, you can see the eucalyptus trees and the ‘bush’ on the other side of the fence – a real country feel, even though there are other houses on the road.
The team borrowed Oak Cottage’s pastel blues and grays for the planting theme. The grayness of the nearby eucalyptus trees is also reflected in the gray leaves of plants such as Stachys byzantina and Artemisia.
‘And there’s a lot of green from the oak,’ he says. So, grays are a good foil for green.
Although the architecture of the cottage is quite geometric, the ‘front door’ is set back from the entrance. It’s also no longer an actual front door – it’s now rounded on one side. So the design of the garden and the paths deliberately curve and meander to frame the house, but to distract rather than lead to the door as an entrance.
The 70/30 rule for successful planting
The team has access to 70/30′ contemporary garden planting. ‘Seventy percent of the plants I choose are easy, ‘safe’ plants,” he says.
These are plants that will grow well in your environment. Such plants are the key to both cottage style and naturalistic planting.
“Plant them in blocks—groups of three to seven,” says Tim. ‘Then repeat them, so if you’re laying a line down the track, draw your eye into the picture.’
Large blocks of ‘safe’ plants that thrive in your environment lead the eye down the front road. These are Nepeta ‘Dropmore’, Erigeron karvinskianus and Stachys byzantina (Lamb’s ears).
Plants that Tim considers ‘safe’ are Nepeta, Erigeron karvinskianus (Mexican daisy), Stachys byzantina, Red valerian (Centranthus ruber), Verbena bonariensis and some of the salvias.
‘Then, once you’ve got that 70% covered, consider experimenting with the other 30%. They can be placed more sporadically – you can get some nice highlights.’
This yellow knifofia ‘Ice Queen’ is one of the ‘30% experiments’. It adds a stamp to a calm, pretty color scheme.
Easy-to-grow ‘safe’ plants here include red valerian (Centranthus ruber), artemisia and spray buddleia.
Erigeron karvinskianus is a modern garden plant that is easy to grow and has a long flowering period. It self-seeds freely – but it’s easier to pull out plants than to plant them!
Achillea ‘Pineapple Mango’ was one of Tim’s experiments. It blooms from late spring to late summer, turning from pink to yellow.
Update the look of your cottage garden with herbs
When I asked Tim how to add an element to the cottage garden to make it feel more contemporary.
“I think weed is the way to bring it up to now,” he says. ‘They haven’t traditionally been used in gardens, but they give a relaxed feel, bring in more movement and add a wildlife element.
Centaranthus ruber (Red valerian) with ornamental grass Poa labillardierei (Australian bluegrass) make a contemporary combination of cottages.
Furnishing of a contemporary cottage
Cottage gardens usually don’t have much formal landscaping. So Tim kept it simple with informal sand paths and local landscaping materials.
Although he did not make formal raised beds, he raised the earth into mounds. ‘We cut into the ground to make sure some areas were flat and instead of taking the ground away, we used it to accentuate the natural mounds,’ he said. The result is more so far at the back or center of some borders, making it look like the planting is wrapped around the house. And it shows the plants better.
Use natural, handmade or local materials in your cottage garden. One of these raised beds is lined with a large tree, and there are chunky wooden steps.
The team lined the path around the oak with corten steel, which is a modern material and visually ‘disappears’ in the sand.
Some soil was dug up to increase the height of the border. This is lined with large rustic wood.
A thin corten steel border around the oak tree creates a shady forest edge. Corten steel visually disappears.
The ancient oak in the front garden creates a microclimate. The team says the tree provides an area for shady woodland planting, which contrasts with dry planting in full sun elsewhere in the garden. And fallen leaves in autumn make a very good mulch.
Furniture for a contemporary cottage
The team again chose natural materials, such as cane and wood for the furniture.
“I think relaxed shapes work well – nothing too hard and modern,” he says.
Cane chairs in a modern style.
Dining table and chairs in a relaxing mix of wood and cane.
More tips and inspiration for the cottage
Discover the basic principles of home garden style in the article What is garden style and how to achieve it. For a cottage made from salvaged finds, crafts and thrift store finds, check out Kathy’s Rustic cottage garden on a budget – a garden made from a field in less than two years.
And if you love garden style but live in a part of the world where there are few traditional garden plants, then don’t miss Bill Bampton’s take on the ‘cottage garden’. It explains how to use cottage principles and adapt them to create a charming garden that works where you are.
Check out this beautiful cottage garden in the video
You can often see more of the garden on video, so don’t miss this tour of Oak Cottage: https://youtu.be/IGb6mihkynQ
Pin it to remember contemporary cottage garden ideas
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