Is A Cottage-Style Water Garden Traditional?

This is perhaps the most romantic water garden, with vegetable plots, chicken runs, apple trees and compost heaps. The cottage style water garden has a lot of meandering paths and herbs and all wild flowers all around. These traditional components make up the water garden

It is essential for the design to have both water and a kitchen garden. It is up to you to decide which one of the two you would want to make the main event in the water garden. When you are making this decision you will need to decide on the balance that is suitable for you.

Is it right for my garden?

A cottage-style water garden can be shaped to be ideal for any position - but the vegetables will do well when the site is sunny and covered. You need to assess your water garden

You could have a large pond with just a small patch of vegetables, a massive kitchen-garden area with a small water feature, a courtyard filled with vegetables and with spouting mask or lines of vegetables around a large pond - it all depends upon the size and character of your garden.

How to create a cottage-style water garden...

This garden is perfect if you love growing vegetables and here are the steps to create the design:

  1. Draw up a sketch of the design - then make a detailed diagram taking into consideration the house, boundaries, structures and large trees. Drains also need to be noted.
  2. Get rid of all unwanted plants - give them to your friends if you do not want to destroy them.
  3. Mark out the geometrical pattern of the paths and borders
  4. Put walls or fence panels around the whole site
  5. Build the raised edges for the vegetable beds
  6. Cover the paths with compacted hardcore, followed by gravel or crushed bark
  7. Top up the vegetable beds with a mix of mushroom compost and well-rotted manure
  8. Position the oak barrel to take water from the house and then build the sunken pond to take the overflow from the barrel
  9. Arrange any compost containers
  10. Build or erect the shed
  11. Plant fruit trees close to the boundaries so that you can train them to shape.
  12. Plant various vegetables later on...

Care and maintenance

Care and maintenance is a full time job in a cottage-style water garden. The process involves continuous planting, weeding, harvesting, soil preparation and replanting.

Always keep the paths and edging in good order. Clean out the barrel, trough and sunken pond from time to time. Dead leaves and debris all need to be removed and added to the compost heap. Ensure that the paths are clear to allow you to freely walk through the garden...