Hello,

I'm looking for some plans or diagrams to show me what to plant and where!
I'd love an "English Cottage" look with perennials and some shrubs, and some
annuals to make it look fuller the first few years. (I'm Zone 5,
Cleveland/Sandusky, OH).

The problem is that I am such a beginner that I don't have a good idea what
plants look good together -- or which ones work well for my type of soil. I
need a lot of height at the back, too. (This is basically a foundation
planting, about 16x12 feet, full sun and clay soil. It gets pretty baked,
but I'm ready to amend soil and I don't mind watering.)

Any tips on where to find garden plans that group suitable/compatible plants
together? My local library wasn't much help. Web searches have been
limited, too.

Thanks,

-- Lisa

I'm a beginner too but I recently bought a sunset magazine that featured a
big beautiful pink/red cosmo on it. Had some awesome stuff in there. It also
had a section where it told you what to plant from March to August.

They have April planting featured on this page:
http://www.sunset.com/sunset/Magazin...engateway.html

The magazine has really helped me get some good ideas!


"pelirojaroja" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I'm looking for some plans or diagrams to show me what to plant and where!
I'd love an "English Cottage" look with perennials and some shrubs, and
some
annuals to make it look fuller the first few years. (I'm Zone 5,
Cleveland/Sandusky, OH).

The problem is that I am such a beginner that I don't have a good idea
what
plants look good together -- or which ones work well for my type of soil.
I
need a lot of height at the back, too. (This is basically a foundation
planting, about 16x12 feet, full sun and clay soil. It gets pretty baked,
but I'm ready to amend soil and I don't mind watering.)

Any tips on where to find garden plans that group suitable/compatible
plants
together? My local library wasn't much help. Web searches have been
limited, too.

Thanks,

-- Lisa

Thanks. I checked out the Sunset Mag site, but it seems very CA-based (or
at least Western US). Lots of great stuff about planting citrus trees and
camellias and such. Not much seemed compatible with my Cleveland Zone-5
area. :-(

Thanks again.

-- Lisa

"Jessica" wrote in message
...
I'm a beginner too but I recently bought a sunset magazine that featured a
big beautiful pink/red cosmo on it. Had some awesome stuff in there. It
also
had a section where it told you what to plant from March to August.

They have April planting featured on this page:
http://www.sunset.com/sunset/Magazin...engateway.html

The magazine has really helped me get some good ideas!


"pelirojaroja" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I'm looking for some plans or diagrams to show me what to plant and
where!
I'd love an "English Cottage" look with perennials and some shrubs, and
some
annuals to make it look fuller the first few years. (I'm Zone 5,
Cleveland/Sandusky, OH).

The problem is that I am such a beginner that I don't have a good idea
what
plants look good together -- or which ones work well for my type of
soil.
I
need a lot of height at the back, too. (This is basically a foundation
planting, about 16x12 feet, full sun and clay soil. It gets pretty
baked,
but I'm ready to amend soil and I don't mind watering.)

Any tips on where to find garden plans that group suitable/compatible
plants
together? My local library wasn't much help. Web searches have been
limited, too.

Thanks,

-- Lisa

pelirojaroja wrote:

Hello,

I'm looking for some plans or diagrams to show me what to plant and where!
I'd love an "English Cottage" look with perennials and some shrubs, and some
annuals to make it look fuller the first few years. (I'm Zone 5,
Cleveland/Sandusky, OH).

The problem is that I am such a beginner that I don't have a good idea what
plants look good together -- or which ones work well for my type of soil. I
need a lot of height at the back, too. (This is basically a foundation
planting, about 16x12 feet, full sun and clay soil. It gets pretty baked,
but I'm ready to amend soil and I don't mind watering.)

Any tips on where to find garden plans that group suitable/compatible plants
together? My local library wasn't much help. Web searches have been
limited, too.

Lisa - you're in luck! One of the best features of a cottage garden style is
that you don't have to select plants that "look good together". Cottage
gardening is typically demonstrated by a careful jumble of plants offering a
range of flower forms and colors over a long season. Adding some shrubs to
provide structure and winter interest is a good idea - just be sure they are
appropriate in size to your planting area.

Plants that are typically included in an English style garden and will grow in
most areas of this country:
roses
delphiniums
daisies
daylilies
dame's rocket (Hesperis)
rose campion (Lychnis)
lupines
iris
wallflowers
hollyhocks
lavender
pinks and carnations (Dianthus)
bee balm (Monarda)
hostas and astilbe for shadier areas

You can also include any herbs that grow in your area and annuals or biennials
like sunflowers, foxgloves, calendulas. Vegetables are often incliuded as well,
as are small fruit trees. Don't forget vines and bulbs, too. It is not so much
the choice of plants that is important as it is creating a visual tapestry of
color all season. Generally, taller plants are placed at the back of the
planting area with shorter plants towards the front, but even that is not a hard
and fast rule when planning this type of garden. Plants are allowed to self seed
at will.

There is an excellent book available on this type of garden design - English
Cottage Gardening for American Gardeners, by Margaret Hensel. Should be
available from Amazon at a pretty reasonable price if your library doesn't carry
it.

pam - gardengal