Hello Friends!
On our Instagram, I have been talking a lot about our plans for the cottage garden so I thought it would be a good idea to create a blog post about it.
Our front yard is a bland space that looks fine but could use some more curb appeal.
The fallen leaves in the picture above do add some interest to the yard. It was on a day like that when we realized that the front yard was missing something.
We have a ton of stonewalls in the back garden and Matthew has always loved building stonewalls as he was a stonemason when he first moved to the US. So, adding a wall was a no brainer!
I have always dreamed of having romantic and classic cottage garden with roses growing over the gated path to the front door. And once the walls were built the space was perfectly defined for that design so that was the inspiration to just do it!
Once we really started to brainstorm, we realized there were more reasons than just our love of stonewalls and cottage gardens. Below are the four reasons we came up with. We hope they inspire you to look at your garden differently too!
- Add More Interest to the Front Yard
We have small formal front beds and although Matthew built a lovely small retaining wall, the space lacks interest. We knew that creating the stonewall, pathway, and cottage flower beds would add the perfect amount of detail to the front. Although the first few years we will have to wait for the plants to grow, we know it’ll be worth it in the long run!
- Separates the Yard from the Road
Since our house is so old it is positioned not far off of the road and normally, we don’t mind but the lawn space is small, and the road can feel close. Now that the stonewalls are being put in there will be a defined separator between the road and the garden. It makes the garden feel more enclosed and less exposed.
- Boundary to Keep out Salt from Winter Plowing
Winters are long, cold and very snowy here in NH, which is why when they plow the roads, they also salt them. It’s great to keep the roads clear but unfortunately the salt kills off the grass and the residue is a pain to clean up every spring. Therefore, with the stonewalls there it will keep the salt from getting into our defined garden space.
- Western Exposure for the Flower Beds
Finally, this spot of the garden gets the most daylight throughout the day and is western exposure which is perfect for a full sun cottage garden. Many of the plants that I want to grow in this space will be so happy! We are planning to have roses, yarrow, foxgloves, ranunculus, snapdragons, and globe thistle to name a few. We will also be mixing in the current peonies and hydrangea into the new beds.
We are hoping to have the stone walls built by the time the snow falls this year and the flower beds turned over and prepped for spring planting in 2022. It is going to be a lot of work, but I cannot wait to see it come to fruition.
What do you think of the plans? Leave it in the comments below – we’d love to hear from you.
