When done well, cottage gardens seamlessly blend colors, textures, forms, and fragrance. There's no concern for spacing, no worry about planting in odd numbers, no graduations in height. A cottage garden's greatest appeal is that it seems to lack any conscious design. But even a cottage garden needs to be controlled. Some of the most successful cottage gardens start with a formal structure and soften the framework with the lavishness of cottage plants.
If there's a failing in cottage gardening, it's the idea that the garden can take care of itself. That is definitely not the case. In fact, a cottage garden can be high maintenance. Some flowers will become thugs, squeezing out others. Self-sowers can quickly get out of hand.
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