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[quote=Anonymous]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!  [/quote]

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