Cottage garden

jackieblack

Rosa_Damascena said:

I'm going to go against the grain here. A few doors down one of my neighbours has a front garden that could charitably be categorised as a cottage garden. Its mature and full of the most beautiful roses, lavender, delphinium, hollyhocks, phlox and the like. lt also sports a dark ground membrane that is barely concealed by much-displaced gravel. Its a riot of colour but is not maintained at all and frankly, it looks like a damn mess.

I can imagine it to be a constant source of irritation to his next door neighbour, who religiously manicures his own Italian style front garden early on Sunday mornings to perfection! I'm also very glad its not me.

Personally I’d be much more irritated by the neighbour clattering around gardening (particularly if it includes mowing) early every Sunday morning 

Katiehound

Some hollyhocks would look great in that garden giving colour & height..

Saw some wonderful specimens in the central reservation of A2 or M2 this past week. Looked as if the seeds had been dropped from one of the bridges, They really brightened my drive.

Cottage gardens are full of old fashioned flowers not really wild meadow flowers. If you are starting from scratch see if you can beg seeds or cuttings from the neighbours.