How To Create A Cottage Garden with $0 to $100

Have you always dreamed of having your very own English cottage garden, but thought you needed a lot of space or a lot of money? Well, I’m here to give you tips on just how you too can create a beautiful an affordable cottage garden!

What Is A Cottage Garden?

A cottage garden is a cozy, quaint and informal garden. The design of a cottage garden dates back centuries ago when it was necessary to have your own ‘cottagers plot.’ Fast forward to today, cottage gardens have grown into the hearts of people from all walks of life.

Typically for cottage garden plants you will see a mix of overflowing flowers mixed amongst vegetables and fruit. With that said, the design is completely up to the gardener and there is no right or wrong way to grow a cottage garden.

This style of gardening can be easily adapted to any garden space, no matter how big or small.

The key is to just have fun!

Budget

The first and most important step in creating your cottage garden is to first identify what your budget is. Your budget will influence the overall design and functionality of your garden.

With that said, you can absolutely have a cottage garden with very few plants.

Here are some cottage garden ideas for budgets from $0-$100!

The $0 Cottage Garden

To create a cottage garden with as little as $0 it will be important to utilize all the resources around you. This means reaching out to friends, family members and local organizations to you.

How To Get Free Seeds

• Public libraries will often carry free seeds, and offer you the ability to take a certain number of seeds, or packets, from their “seed library” each month.
• Friends, family and neighbors: Ask around first to see if those close to you have a few seeds or plants they would like to have taken off of their hands. You would be surprised by how much you might receive just by asking!
• Look in your backyard! You may be surprised to find a plant or two you can either propagate or save seeds from sitting right outside.

Seed Saving

• Harvesting and saving your own seeds is another great way to have a $0 garden.
• Saving seeds year after year is an easy and affordable way to garden!
• A one time initial investment of seeds (if you aren’t able to get some for free), but then after that it’s free for years to come!

The $10 Cottage Garden

To create a $10 garden, you will want to play around with what will make each dollar stretch. You may find yourself going after the following:

• Using more seeds
• Searching clearance racks for plants
• Or even trying to propagate more of what you already have!
• Bulbs! Bulbs can be an affordable option to add some spring interest. Plus they may come back next year too!
• I’d also look to see if you have a few pots you already own you can use, or ask friends and family members if they have extra pots!
• Examples of great seeds (or tubers) to try: Sweetpea’s, sunflowers, dahlia’s, zinnias, corn, edible peas and basil.

The $100 Cottage Garden

In creating an $100 cottage garden you can purchase more mature plants. This gives your new garden an instant impact!

I would recommend still checking out your local garden centers and even some big box stores to see what they have on clearance first. You can find great deals especially at the end of summer and beginning of fall.

Perennials vs Annuals

By using a mix of perennials and annuals you can gradually build up your garden without breaking the bank. Slowing adding perennials to your gardens will also help to decrease your future costs as you will need less annuals to fill the empty spaces.

**Keep in mind the following cottage garden plants will depend on your USDA garden zone if they are considered a perennial or annual**

Look for low maintenance cottage garden plants, like the following perennials:

• Salvia
• Sage
• Lavender
• Rudbeckia
• Hydrangeas
• Hostas

Look for fast growing cottage garden plants that are annuals:

• Petunias (Supertunia’s from Proven Winners are great!)
• Sweet Potato Vine
• Amaranth
• Coleus
• Sweetpeas
• Sunflowers
• Zinnias

Structure

Another important feature to your cottage garden is the structure! Structure can include both living plants or physical structures.

Living Plant Structures

• Evergreens (think arborviates, boxwoods, junipers, weeping spruce’s)
• Trees (tall or small-think crab apple’s, Japanese maple’s)
• Tall annuals or perennials (sunflowers, even corn!)
• Flowering bushes (hydrangeas are great for adding seasonal interest all year long!)

Physical Structures

• Fences
• Walls
• Obelisks
• Trellis
• Arbor
• Containers
• Fountains

Space

One of the most important factors when first creating your cottage garden is identifying how much space you actually have to work with.

TIP: Study how much sun your space actually gets! Is it more or less than 6 hours of full sun? This will determine what you can grow.

Less Than 450 sq ft

• Focus on adding several containers in various sizes
• You may have space for a small garden bed, or perhaps a few raised garden beds.

Greater Than 500 sq ft

• Draw out your designs first!
• Do you want more raised garden beds? Or landscaped garden beds?
• For landscaped beds make sure they are at LEAST 3-4 ft deep. This is so you can account for growing and maturing plants. It also allows breathing room and space for your plants.
• For raised garden beds..measure your space and first lay out your design with some rope. It can really help to visually see and walk around your garden to see if you like how your design is coming to life.

Design

Lastly, cottage garden design will greatly depend on your budget. This goes for not only the structure of your garden, but also what you plants decide to go with.

Creating a cottage garden is a completely creative expression.

Most importantly, work with what you have!

Here are some tips to help get you started with your design:

• Draw, draw, draw!
• Study your space and your garden zone. How much sun a day does your space get?
• What is your USDA garden zone?
• Get inspiration at local garden centers and public gardens.
• Make Pinterest boards to define your inspiration, color palette and style.
• Be patient! Designing and growing a garden takes YEARS. (I’m always trying to work on being patient with myself)
• Look at YouTube videos and channels to get inspired!

Tools

Lastly, here are some tools you may need while starting your gardening journey!

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a small commission if you purchase through my link. This is at no extra cost to you and helps me to keep my garden going, so thank you!!

Happy gardening my friends!!

Kindly,

Kate