Cottage gardens?
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Anonymous
I can see our HOA going berserk. 
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Anonymous
HOAs need to get over it. Pesticide filled spans of non-native green lawns are awful for the environment. |
Anonymous
+1 And it's best to have a cottage garden with natives. You can use pollinator-friendly annuals, like zinnias and marigolds, to fill in gaps. |
Anonymous
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I've been trying for the past year, but the dam# deers and rabbits eat my flowers.
I finally put a small fence around it, and that seems to stop them but it's not as pretty with the fence line. ugh. |
Anonymous
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I refer to what I've done as 'chaos gardening'. It looks great but when I think of 'cottage gardens', I think of gardens in climates much less sultry/hot than ours.
I have a lot of natives (coneflowers/echinacha, black eyed susans, monarda, salvia, etc.), a lot of self-seeding annuals (amaranthus, zinnias, nigella, etc.) and shrubs (New Jersey Tea, Baptista, hydrangea, etc.). I started small by making a bed of the entire space between my driveway and the property line with the neighbor. I put the taller stuff in the middle and shorter stuff on the sides. I'd fill in spots and move things around as needed. For the most part, it doesn't take a lot of time to maintain. I'll pull weeds as I see them (mostly around the edges), deadhead a few times in the summer, mow most of it after the finches have eaten all the seeds and then cover with wood chips/mulch sometime after that. I'm in the process of doing it to all of my front yard. That's taking longer because it's a bigger space and differing sun patterns but I'm not looking for instant results. I really enjoy being out there and listening to an audiobook while working. I've got a TON of birds/pollinators and it really smells nice! It's not just some of the flowers that smell nice, it's the vegetation overall. So much of my neighborhood is sterile. My house definitely isn't. I know it's not for everyone but it's one of the many reasons I don't live under an HOA. I did have to get some signs asking dog owners not to let their dogs pee/poop on the flowers. I'm a dog owner myself and just don't understand why people let their dogs pee on flowers, shrubs or mailbox posts. Come on! |
Anonymous
| A cottage takes years to establish. Be patient and feel free to move things, rip up and start again. We're so used to invariant results but when establishing native perennials, remember the first year creeps, second year leafs, third year leaps! |
Anonymous
That show sounds awesome and I’m going to look for it. Tropicals can work in cottage gardens. Hibiscus can be a wonderful addition. Zinnias and salvias are so easy to grow I’m surprised and thankful no one suggested the dreaded daylily. |
Anonymous
Make a small bed, look at some designs online and go for it. You’ll develop an eye for it after you’ve thrown some stuff together. Expecting perfection the first time out will just stop you in your tracks. Don’t be afraid or you’ll miss out on the fun. Just give it a try and it will be prettier than you expect. I mulch heavily to help deal with the weeds. |
Anonymous
I have a 100 daylilies in my yard and I’m going to divide the clumps this fall so there’ll be many more next year.
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Anonymous
Luckily HOAs have no say anymore. they can nolonger require lawns or ban low-impact gardening. The law specifically forbids HOAs to require that “CULTIVATED VEGETATION [in gardens] CONSISTING IN WHOLE OR IN PART OF TURF GRASS. https://nativeplantsocietyofus.org/native-plant-laws/native-plants/ |
Anonymous
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It's the English style (as opposed to the French style, which is more formal).
Very nice, if you're not the one doing the work 
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Anonymous
True in MD, but not everywhere... Yet |
Anonymous
❤️❤️ |
Anonymous
Isn't it what most Cap Hill row homes have? |
Anonymous
It isn't "best" for any reason, you are being sneaky, you are just stating a preference of yours. |