Cottage Garden Design Masterclass - Plant Selection
How to grow a cottage garden. We'll explore tips and tricks to choose the right plants to create a beautiful cottage garden. Support the channel: / suburbanhomestead or buy my art www.etsy.com/shop/SiloeOliveira
Created by: Siloe Oliveira
0:00 Introduction
01:36 Importance of Microclimate when setting up a cottage garden
02:43 Setting up the location to plant summer flowering bulbs
04:39 Understanding plant form and garden style
05:27 Preparing soil for planting
06:10 Understanding the 6 types of plant forms
09:06 Tips for cottage gardens in tropical places
09:55 Other design considerations
11:06 Planting bushy plants
12:56 Planting columnar plants
13:56 Planting sculptural plants
15:00 Planting wispy plants
16:28 Planting vining plants
17:20 Planting sprawler plants
18:03 Plans and results
19:11 Conclusion
CORRECTION!!!!! Hemerocallis fulva (orange daylily) is not a native plant to Maryland (eastern seaboard). It is classed as an invasive species. It appears so often in natural settings here that I mistook it for a native.
We call it "road lilly" since it grows on country roadsides prolifically
yes it's very invasive across the north east, up through Ontario as well. Please viewers - check your native species and very importantly - the invasive species in your area. Don't plant invasive!
It's even in the Midwest.
Where to buy… East…?
Very interesting video! Turns out I've been growing a cottage garden in the front yard without knowing it!
What the hell is this channel ?? I randomly clicked on the thumbnail expectiong a boring gardening video and ended up slapped with unbelievable filming, editing and a gentleman with spotless taste. And that house is unbelievable !!
Wow, I live in England, the birthplace of Cottage Gardens, and I’m also RHS qualified (Royal Horticultural Society) but I have to tell you that I have NEVER, EVER, seen such a spot-on presentation on how to achieve the cottage garden look! Your video is without a doubt the best I’ve ever seen on the subject. Grant it, you didn’t go into much detail about including edibles, herbs etc, but there’s only so much content one can cover in a short video. I even took notes on the Plant Forms, because it’s so beautifully condensed ! Uma apresentação maravilhosa!
I really enjoy the new format, Siloe. The combination of your artistic background with your greenthumb skills makes this series much more informative than other gardening shows. Keep it up!
Thank you. I thought it would give a differential to the content! Glad you liked it!
Congratulations! As a Brit with my own cottage garden in rural Wales it's a treat to see a US gardener with a firm understanding of how cottage gardens work. One notable absence (although you might have covered this elsewhere) is edibles. True cottage gardens with the purely decorative plants are interspersed with vegetables, e.g. chard, spring (green) onions, broccoli, globe artichokes etc., as well as edible flowers to sprinkle over salads, such as pot marigolds (calendulas), violas, chive flowers and marjoram/oregano flowers. That said, few UK gardeners do that now so you're actually on trend. Great video, beautifully filmed and edited!
I spotted nasturtiums and the cardoon in his garden, so he might have others too
And he had runner beans
I get this idea of blended flower and vegetable gardens..it is a softening with both..
Automatic irrigation. Rain collection. Food forest. Swales. Earth works. Greening desert. Dwarf food trees for the small places
I hope to grow blueberries and strawberries in mine 😊
I’m always impressed with your productions Siloe. Soooo many different angles and good photography. Another masterpiece…and sometimes barefoot! 💚🙏🏻👍🎬🎥✌️💪🏻Thanks for all your work and passion.
Thanks David! I'm glad you appreciate the effort put in these! Have a great day my friend!
I love seeing one I follow appreciate another that I follow. ❤
Oh wow I love u toooo
This series has by far the best cottage garden information that I have found on KZhead. I have a lot of bare root perennials ordered, lots of seed packets on standby, fence pickets and posts piled up, and an arbor waiting around to get started with my own cottage garden as soon as the ground is workable in MA. The rendering of what looks like a climbing rose over your steps looks fantastic. You should go with that, or if that location doesn't work out, an arbor with a climbing rose on one side and a clematis on the other over a path/entry *somewhere* would really complete the look and feel inviting. Looking forward to the next episode!
Hope you have a great gardening season David. Indeed I should try to incorporate climbing roses over an arbor somewhere, even if farther from the house.
This really should be one of the most popular gardening channels. Absolutely beautiful graphics and visuals in these videos convey a mood that no one else is offering here on KZhead
Congratulations, you found a niche topic that you're very knowledgeable in, has little information online, and presented it masterfully. That's the KZhead formula, in less than a year you'll hit a million subs. Keep up the good work!
I appreciate the kind words!
We all have to look after our pollinators, this type of planting is a real help.
That is true, and while I am using several non-native species it is always best to opt for native ones if possible. (I'm far from a purist though)
I agree 100% ! Another gardening youtuber (Huw Richards), said that an increase of 10% in flowers in your garden can increase the number of pollinators and beneficial insects by 3/4 in your garden. That's absolutely amazing !!
@@manonguinchard5829 I love Huw Richard's channel also.
Siloe, thank you! Last Saturday I discovered your KZhead channel , and it came at the most incredibly perfect time. You see, my Father passed away last week, and I found your video on how to plant a cottage garden when I was looking for migraine remedies after crying so much. I watched your video, then another, and another, and it lifted my spirits so much. I was already in debate whether or not to turn our front yard grass into a meadow, but your advice on how to do it and make it functioning and beautiful seemed to be a sign that in doing so it would be a perfect tribute in my Papa’s memory. So thank you good sir, you are a treasure! How I describe you to people about how wonderful you are- you are the Bob Ross of gardening. Eternally grateful!✨
Wow. I'm honored to hear the videos have helped to uplift your spirits while going through a painful time. It gives the work meaning and encourages me to continue. Hope you create the most amazing garden in your Father's honor!
@@suburbanhomestead I have many more videos to look through of yours, but if you haven’t done one about insect pollinators, it sure would be a helpful one! Happy gardening!
This was a MASSIVE effort on your part. Expertly done with amazing visuals breaking down the different forms of plants and what purpose they serve in a cottage garden. I didn't even think about parallax... but of course that's what creates intimacy. Like a camera trying to focus on a subject, your eye ends up doing the same thing, darting between a lacy cosmos and a panicle of rose blossoms or the seed head of a blue gramma grass. BRAVO! I will direct my customers to this video and your channel. It may highlight the cottage aesthetic, but these concepts can fit any style.
Thanks Mike. I'm encouraged to hear this. My goal was to create boil down the design process into theoretical concepts that could work with other things. Glad you enjoyed the insights!
I'll second that! Amazing job, thank you x
Siloe, you never disappoint! This was amazing. I love how you also shared some of the history of cottage gardens and compared them to different art styles. I've had the pleasure of visiting Anne Hathaway's Cottage garden in Statford-Upon-Avon. It was incredible. Such a wonderful contrast to the typical "lawn" front yard. Thank you for the gift of this video! ~Jennifer
Glad to have you stop by and that you enjoyed the approach.
@@suburbanhomestead I second this suggestion. Thank you so much!
Oh, as someone who lives literally half an hour from Stratford I’ve never seen this😅 Thanks for giving me the idea! Would be a fun day trip this weekend:)
Wow this is incredible! Just so impressed by all the content, graphics, editing and the formatting details of the video! Better than all the TV programs!
Thank you so much for the compliment
you have no idea how much i've been waiting for this! i've been checking to see if you've uploaded a video almost every day 😂 thank you! now off i go to watch~
Hope it’s been worth the wait.
@@suburbanhomestead OH IT MOST DEFINITELY HAS! I LEARNED A LOT AND ENJOYED EVERY MINUTE DOING IT ❤️ Thank you so much!
It’s only a matter of time before HGTV tries to pick you up! Yours is the best gardening show 💖💖
I’m always knocked out to see your new uploads. The visual storytelling is seriously the best and you have a great way of sharing information that people can use to make their spaces lovely. Love seeing the house interiors, it’s dreamy and can’t wait to see your garden evolve this year. Thanks for another great video! ✌🏼
Thanks Cade. Glad you stopped by, and its nice to hear that the storytelling was effective. I'm also really looking forward to how things will develop this year. I'll have to plant at double speed this time :-)
An outstanding video on creating a cottage garden and the drawings are superb.
Thank you so much for stopping by.
Automatic irrigation. Rain collection. Food forest. Swales. Earth works. Greening desert. Dwarf food trees for them small places
I've been binge watching all of your gardening video's and I don't even have a garden 😂! It's just so calming and relaxing to watch...
“A bit enthusiastic” - every gardener’s reasoning for purchases. 😄 Excellent video!
You are a true artist. In your home, your life style, and your gardening. Thank you for sharing this beautiful content with us!
So nice of you
Thank you for taking the time to do a multi year look at building a new space. I'm starting from scratch, in a house we bought in October that had been completely remdeled. Part of the remodeling was tearing out any landscaping that did exist and throwing in a couple clumps of monkey grass. Watching your videos has been a good reminder that I should approach this as a long term project, but I also have the impatience of a toddler. I want flowers! Now! And a productive vegetable garden to boot! Keep up the good work - you are the best of KZhead.
Thanks Alison. Yes, time and patience are key with developing a garden, and a high tolerance for failures.
I really enjoyed this video! I feel very reminded of my parent's garden. When I was young, I felt like my parents were kind of lazy with their garden, but with time, I understood how much love they had for nature to just let it run its course sometimes. Nowadays, I cherish their knowledge and care and I aspire to have a garden like theirs (and yours) some day. I can now see how much time, patience and knowledge it takes to grow such a natural paradise! If I told my parents that their garden was peak cottage core, they would probably look at me funny lol! Edit: I forgot to say: My favorite plant in my parents' garden must be their wisteria. It grows in a narrow alleyway between the garage and the house that gets almost no direct sunlight, but in the summer, it turns into the most beautiful pathway.
That is a great compliment to know the video evoked those memories for you! thanks for watching!
Siloe, I've been watching your channel over the years, and suddenly I find myself also living in upstate ny. We came from southern Idaho and it's *cold* here!! 😂 But your channel makes me feel like if I work at it, I can get a kick ass garden going and I'm really thankful to you for that. You've made a space where folks can see where their gardening endeavors could take them if I they set their minds to it, and I think that's so cool. We just bought a house here too, so this video is extra timely! Going from gardening in the high desert to the NY mountains is quite the change lol. Thank you so much for all your work, it really means a lot to me. 💜
It’s nice to know the video can inspire others to garden more.
The most important thing is to keep planting. Thank you for beautiful illustrations and wealth of information.
That is very true. Thanks for watching
I really enjoyed this! As an artist, as well as a gardener, I love how you uniquely describe/teach what you are designing. ♥️🌷
Thank you so much!
Impeccable! I've often read that in the third year, cottage gardens really start coming into their own. This year should be very exciting in your gardens! They are quite lovely already, and your home interior is also exquisite. Everything together creates quite a beautiful picture! Thank you for sharing it with us all. It is quite a gift!
The third year does seem to be the magic. Our sweet ex- neighbor told me when she gave us some divided perennials from her beautiful garden for our new home that the 1st yr they sleep, 2nd they creep, 3rd they leap. 😊
This is my second video from you, and I have learnt plenty already. We bought a house last summer, and now, as the planting season is approaching, I'd like to make our garden wildly beautiful. At the same time, I worry a bit because I am a zero-level gardener and only taking my first steps. But I will keep learning. Thank you for sharing your art with the world. Love from Ukraine!
How exciting! Wishing you good luck.
I always love your videos. They are beautiful and well made! It gives me ideas for a cottage style garden around the house. I just need to change the windows before so everything won't be crushed by the renovation crew!
I know exactly what you are talking about. I had to wait for the siding to get done.
Siloé, thank you so much for this. I've bought my first home - 100 years old, stone, in need of love and yet so filled to bursting with it - and am trying to make my own decisions about how this cottage garden will flourish. Your multi-modal approach to sharing your process is lovely, accessible, joyful. I'm deeply grateful. A question for you: would lilacs be more of a bushy plant, or a weeping pinnacle? We had them in our tiny yard when I was young, and they grew tall enough to hang the way you're describing pinnacles do. But I've also seen them pruned as bushy. Every year on mother's day, my older brother would hold my hand just before the sunrise as we crept out across the grass to clip a few fragrant gems before racing back inside, dew between our toes, to wake our mom with sweet smelling flowers and kisses. She passed away this past Christmas, so I'd like them to have pride of place in the garden I'm going to grow.
Thanks. I'm glad you have been enjoying them. I would say lilac are right in the middle :-) that is the problem with classification. so it depends on how you use them the height you keep them at, but my vote is weeping panicle.
The best produced GARDEN channel on KZhead! Thanks for all the great work you do.
I feel transported into the 1800’s watching your videos.
I live in an old stone house built in 1732 in Chester County, PA, and the cottage garden aesthetic matches my home perfectly. Thank you for all of your tips! ❤️
Bow down to you Siloe. Such a masterful video and garden plan!
Thank Summer. I feel honored.
This is the best cottage garden video ever !! The visuals are stunning, loved the graphics and comparison to various paintings. Clear explanation about soil, water and sunlight requirements for each plant and so beautifully recorded over many months. Thank you very much for making this wonderful video.
This series just keeps getting better. As a non-garden owner, I'm living vicariously through yours. :)
So nice of you
Same ! My bulbs got dug up by squirrels in my planters on my deck😓😭
Beautiful! Everything about you video is just perfect! And a book on your table with those botanical illustrations is wonderful! Thank you
What a beautifully made video ! Glad to see you used John Singer Sargent’s paintings and how nice to display them in one of your frames on the wall ! I’m sure you love his work as much as I do - Joachin Sorolla is another favorite of mine. I really admire your gardening skills and video making talent. I’m sure this garden is going to be spectacular. Congratulations on your new house. 🌷
Thank you. Sargent’s hardline of paint is just something else.
I feel guilty watching all this mesmerizing content for free.
I almost skipped your video and I am so glad I didn’t. Your lifestyle is beautiful, is what I am working towards. I’ll save your video to rewatch and make notes as I work on my garden this year.
I’m obsessed with series. You have done such an incredible job at entertaining and educating us on creating our own dream cottage gardens. I will be looking to your videos for my design this year! Keep up the incredible work!!
I just love your videos, they always make my day. As many people already mentioned - the artistry, thorough information, everything is just the highest quality. Once again - very well done on the video and your garden, it's beautiful. Can't wait to see more.
Thank you Lidia
I'm going to get a notebook and pen, and I'm going to watch again!
This was a great tutorial Siloe! Congratulations on 100K subscribers! You deserve it! Those Sarah Bernard peonies are gorgeous and aromatic.
Thank you! I can't wait for them to develop further.
Wow! This is a master piece! I’m feeling really crappy today and this video is exactly what I needed. What a masterpiece 🌟🌟🌟
I’m loving this series. Especially during the drab Ohio winter. Plants bought for my cottage garden are. BUSHY: roses & hydrangeas COLUMNAR: lupines, yarrow, blazing star SCHUPTURAL: lilies WISPY: babies breathe, poppies VINING: yet to be determined SPRAWLER: lavender, thyme WEEPING PANICLE: climbing roses
You are well set.
This video has me so excited for this year's garden!! I have been so inspired by your cottage garden videos that I have a large plot laid out just waiting for seedlings to be put in.
Awesome. Good luck with the garden this year.
Every frame is an artistic composition and a door to more gentle and garden world. Thank you for sharing your gifts.
Thank you for the kind words
Thank you for another wonderful and helpful video! I always look forward to watching them. I'm in the process of designing and redesigning beds around my house, so seeing this video now is great timing. Congratulations on your subscriber milestone!
Hello dear , how are you doing?
Watching your garden evolve has been a joy - I have been enjoying the journey. Thank you for sharing your creative gifts with us! Here in Colorado, drought, windstorms, and other erratic weather have taken their toll on my garden this past year. But I'm looking forward to a spring of renewal and rejuvenation. Your videos provide long-distance inspiration and encouragement. 🌻
You are so welcome! and hope you have good gardening weather this year
And now you always have subject matter!!!!❤❤❤❤❤🖌
Your channel has come such a long way, it’s amazing to see the difference. Awesome
Thank you Siloé. I learned a lot. It helps as I’m still working on my flower beds and choices. 👍🌹🌾🌻🌺🌸
Hi Siloe, I love the mix of videos you produce. The deep dive into history and fun facts about different plants is interesting. I learn so much from these videos. I appreciate that you share your process along with both failures and successes. That is real life in the garden. :D I know you want feedback about what viewers want/like about your videos. Honestly, I like them all. I can get quick "how-tos" from other places, but nobody else combines art, history, and practical advice in gardening videos the way you do. That is what I come to your channel to see. (Your short videos are great, too.)
Thank you so much. I may not be able to upload in the frequency that others do, but I'll hope to make the videos worthwhile to watch. I'll probably throw in a few less produced tour etc, here and there, but I want to continue the deep dives as well.
The consideration for people from the tropics is really appreciated
Oh my gosh, Siloe, this was EXACTLY the kind of tutorial I've been looking for!! THANK YOU!!! I can't wait to see the next video in this series!!!
This is amazing! I’m spending the first full year with my new garden and this is helping so much. Despite all my research, I hadn’t seen such a clear breakdown into plant categories, and it’s really revolutionizing my plans! Your patience in taking all this footage and waiting til now to upload it is incredible, and so helpful. 🙏🙇♀️ It was so inspiring to see it all come together over time, and seeing how you balance not spending too much money but also having a full garden your first year! Thank you so much for your patience and clarity in teaching all of this. I’m gonna go be a patron!
Thank you for recognizing the effort put into making these condensed videos. They do take time to produce, but I hope they are worth the wait.
Thank you for the focus on the form of plants rather than the specific varieties. I live in central Florida and the cottage garden style just makes my heart sing. I am slowly figuring out how to achieve the feel in my own gardens, aside from my edible gardening which more often than not takes priority.
You should try mixing in the edibles with the decorative plants! It’s how cottage gardens traditionally worked and is a tried and tested method:)
I'm also in central Florida! I'm gonna do research on native plants that fit these forms. I'm definitely looking at blue daze as my sprawler
@@RMRKatie look up the channel Wild Floridian.
Came across your channel by happenstance...wonderful content and weaving art and how it juxtaposes within the garden is so much more in line with my garden philosophy...so thank you! for sharing and having such wonderful content!! My advice for the 'weeping' plant would be to the left of the front steps in a rounded garden bed that you could then add a sweeping path to the other side of your home (which is so wonderful by the way). At my old home in Illinois, we created a Potager garden, which was both functional and aesthetically pleasing - both key elements for me still - even after moving here to the mountains in the Pacific Northwest. I am so pleased you are implementing that style into the Cottage Garden as well. peace + blessings-Anne Marie
I’m in bed with Covid feeling amazing watching your videos, which rather beautiful movies about nature and your talent and dedication. So inspiring! Thank you 🙏
I am a landscape and garden planner. i like your style, your approach to nature and the way you make videos, thank you for your work. greetings from austria.
Hearing that you don't need specific plants for a cottage garden and the shapes are more important is very nice for me. I live in Australia and really wanted to start a cattage garden but i was hoping to mix native Australian plants such as grevileas and banksias into it for the native bees and insects, so its nice to know that i can still keep the cottage garden look with them
Amazing! Thank you for this! Beautifully shot and explained
This was so fantastic! So many channels lack details! Beautiful 😍
Your videos are incredible and I love the format. You have inspired me to start a cottage garden in my front yard :)
That is awesome!
You nailed it again, Siloe! The amount of time and long-term planning that goes into these videos is incredible and it's certainly paying off. I love the sketchy animations. What software are you using for that?
Thanks Greg. I always appreciate reading your comment. It sure took some planning to pull it off, that is for sure. I built the 3d models in cinema 4d and rendered them out with several passes using sketchtoon and composited everything in after effects.
@@suburbanhomestead I’m sure many of your viewers may not realize that you’re gathering footage for up to a year (or more) before finishing the video. It makes my brain hurt just thinking about it! Your explanations of arranging shapes in pleasing patterns is really helpful. I always struggle trying to plan that out.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow It is quite a challenge and I have to hold the urge to just use up the best footage all at once.
Thank you for your amazing videos!
What an inspiration! So stylish, so full of character. I love accidentally finding humans like this, who give me a real charge of energy and joy. Great work with this channel, thank you!
This is just fabulous. Going to have to watch several times through and take notes. Thanks, Sileo!
Love your videos! Definitely has me thinking in different ways on how I would be grouping my native plants as a transition our home from the big box store plants from the previous owner to all natives for our region
That is awesome. The same concepts apply to any type of plants, that is why I wanted to keep it general, and show the overall effect.
I absolutely love this video! Thank you!
As always another amazing video.
You are truly an artist, and I love that your garden is a co-creation with nature, the plants, and all of life.
Thank you for your hard work and making such a beautiful garden and beautiful video for us! You are truly a gifted artist!
Excellent, thank you. 👌💕
absolutely amazing !!!!!
This videos is beautiful. And I learn so much when you talk about garden design! Stepping us through from pictures of established gardens, to plant images and categories, to actual plants in the ground is so, so helpful.
It kind of fell in place for me now when you spoke about the different shapes and structures, amazing ❣ You seem to have a really beautiful home, thank you for including those clips as they are another level of inspiration Looking forward to the next episode 🌻
I am a lazy gardener. I lived in an apartment for many years and didn't have a yard. I bought a packets of wild flowers and planted them in pots on my balcony. They're not perenials, but they drop seeds at the end of the growing season and come back the next year. The colors are beautiful. A few medium sized pots made the balcony look like a meadow.
I wish you could make a playlist of just the "Cottage Garden Design Masterclass" series so I wouldn't have to search for them and could watch them in order. Thank you. Kim
I’ve been preparing my front yard for a new cottage garden for months. This video is so full of great information! As a KZhead creator of 14 years, I just geek out over how well you communicate the information and how yummy your videos look stylistically. You’re a new favorite!
Thank you! this means a lot to me. I'm really trying to make the information as accessible and inspiring as possible to get people gardening more!
@@suburbanhomestead Very polished & creative in every way.
These videos are masterful! The amount of love and time put into them is immediately apparent! The editing and presentation is absolutely gorgeous. I am so excited to see more!
Love your videos. Please make more!
Wonderful video, 10/10! Thank you so much!
Awesome video Siloe! Without the awareness of design, when you’re looking at the garden you know “something” is wrong, but it’s wretchedly difficult to put your finger on just what. You’ve gone that extra level deeper where so many garden shows miss the point we’re struggling for. Love it, thank you so much. What about a Cornus kousa ‘Chinese Dogwood”, Robinia decaisneana ‘Pink Wisteria Tree’, or a lilac shrub/tree of some sort?
I’m really happy to know this approach has been especially useful.
Glad you include plants for tropical climate. Hope you can give list of zone 10-12 plant to achieve cottage style garden
I allow the garden to design itself..well said. Just lovely
Absolutely lovely! Thank you so much for sharing.
Muito obrigado por mais um vídeo. Como sempre, excelente qualidade técnica e conteúdo.
Foi você quem fez as animações das plantas no projeto? Ficaram ótimas! Fez elas individualmente ou usou a biblioteca de um programa?
Obrigado. Fiz toda a animacao do zero.
i love love love learning all the theory behind your work
Your garden is coming along so beautifully!
FRIGGIN LOVE THIS VIDEO!
Gorgeous!!!
Love this!! Please NEVER stop!!!
Love watching your garden ideas.
Loved this episode. So much good info!
This is so helpful. Thank you so much 🙏
Yes!! I love the art with the gardening teachings!!
Thank you very much! It’s been extremely pleasant to watch