Contemporary cottage garden style – the power of the 70/30 rule

A contemporary cottage garden fuses traditional cottage style with ‘naturalistic planting’, according to garden designer, Tim Pilgrim.

‘It uses common plants – both edible and ornamental – as in traditional cottage garden planting, but planted in larger drifts. And there’s more thought to colour palette and repetition,’ he says.

He’s gained a lot of publicity for his recent design for Oak Cottage, near Melbourne, Australia.  The garden is just over a year old but already looks full and pretty. It uses cottage garden plants that are widely used in both the UK, the US and around the world, planting them in naturalistic groupings.

And he has a ’70/30′ rule for successful planting.

(See this post for more about what naturalistic planting is and how it can work in your garden.)

Where to start with contemporary cottage garden style

Tim advises starting with the architecture of the house and its surroundings.

Oak Cottage is a traditional, geometric colonial bungalow, which is both a historic Australian style and reflects similar architecture of the age all over the world. The name comes from the giant oak tree, which towers over the front garden.

And beyond the front fence are eucalyptus trees and an unmade ‘country’ road. There are many other houses nearby, but the trees and shrubs make it feel rural and private.

So the planting both framed the house and blended into ‘the bush’ beyond.

Tim borrowed the pastel blues and greys of Oak Cottage for the planting theme. The grey of the eucalyptus trees nearby is also reflected in the grey leaves of plants, such as Stachys byzantina and Artemisia.

‘And there is lots of green from the oak tree,’ he says. So the greys are a good foil for the green.

Although the architecture of the cottage is quite