Cottage Garden - Novice Gardener

I’d go for the RHS Encyclopaedia of Gardening. I’ve got lots of gardening books, but that’s the one I still refer to most, because it’s got lots of ‘how to’ sections in it. It’s tempting to buy the prettiest book with lots of lovely pictures, but for a novice a reference book is much more useful.

Casdon

I’d go for the RHS Encyclopaedia of Gardening. I’ve got lots of gardening books, but that’s the one I still refer to most, because it’s got lots of ‘how to’ sections in it. It’s tempting to buy the prettiest book with lots of lovely pictures, but for a novice a reference book is much more useful.

I second this. It’s packed full of information. When your daughter has identified the plants she can then make her own notes on their care, maintenance etc. There is a lot of advice on Cottage gardening in books and online but learning about the growing conditions for each plant is the first step.

RHS encyclopedia will be a good reference. However as a keen gardener, who has moved many times, may I make some other suggestions. Firstly you need to live with the garden you have now for the first year. Having a simple notebook , where you can note what grows where, and the time of year things flower. Also , draw up a plan of the garden and the various areas, where you can then note where it is in sun or shade at the different times of day and in various seasons. Doing this will give you an overall knowledge of the garden and how the shady areas and sunny areas are . Taking simple photos will also give you the overall view to look at later. Then very importantly, test the soil in the garden in various parts of the garden as it can be different in the areas in the garden. When you know whether your soil is acid or alkaline and the type of soil - sandy or loam . These are your building blocks on the way to a great garden. When you know this you will then have better ideas of suitab le plants and where they are going to do well. Much more likely to succeed than buying a plant and not giving it the type of soil or light that it will prefer. Walk up and down the road and look at other gardens. You will get a good idea of what does well in your area. Best of all look around for the local gardening club and join it if you can. You will meet other keen gardeners and have the chance to buy and swap plants and get a lot of help and knowledge of the local area. So let the garden show you what it has , keep the photos so that in years to come you have a view of how it was when y ou arrived . Right now when they have just moved with lots to do so I would suggest that they get 2 or 3 pots, plant them up with miniature daffodils, or iris reticulata to give them something to look at close to the windows in the new year and plant some violas or pansies in one pot to give you something to enjoy right now. I have always enjoyed having a simple largish notebook where I didnt write every day, but did make a note of the date and what I have done that day, and what the temperature is like. Then I can look back over the year and see what worked well and what didnt. So I think a decent notepad and either a general rhs reference book, or if you know she3 is very keen on a specific plant find something on that. I am a galanthophile - snowdrops - and had over 100 different kinds in my last garden.
One last thing I think is worth doing is every Christmas day and New Years day I take a walk round the garden, Walk round to the left, then turn round and walk to the right. You will be surprised at how things can look different from each direction. I make a note of any flowering plants in my notebook. Have kept notes over 50 years and did move a lot but spent nearly 20 years in a later house and you can see how things flower earlier or later. It is my tradition and I go out whenever it suits me. Everyone knows I do this and so if things are getting a bit fraught with visitors or whatever, I can just announce I am going out to look round , which gives me a breather and no one gets upset! It is very calming and cheering to go out for a little while. I wish them the joy of their new home and garden .You never stop learning and enjoying your garden.

I agree about the RHS Encyclopaedia but Youtube is also brilliant for novice and experienced gardeners.
It's great to read about plants but seeing them planted and tended to is an added bonus.
I agree with Madeliene 45. It's good to get to know the garden first before doing anything and also see what plants pop up during the first year.
( I think she must have an amazing garden!)

There are some beautiful gardens amongst the gransnet users.
I love to see them, but it's rare that anyone posts photos, understandably.

I’ve actually got a book devoted to cottage gardens but I’ve just moved some furniture in front of the bookcase. From memory it was written by one of those really famous pre Monty Don gardeners. No idea why I bought it, given that I haven’t got a cottage and nothing grows in my garden anyway because I’m surrounded by trees. Then again I’ve got a house full of things that I bought for the cottage I dreamed of having one day.

A cottage garden has probably got a large variety of plants already, first task is to clear out the weeds and rubbish then see what comes up next year. Any early bulbs will already be showing, maybe a few more if needed.

How exciting, I hope her garden gives her the pleasure that mine have given me. The RHS book is great but I never use mine these days I use a phone app to identify any plant I don't recognise and online searches give me the information that I want about everything else. The books I still look at and enjoy are the ones that give me inspiration. I'm not going to recommend anything because I don't know anything about your daughter's garden, mine is nearly an acre of clay with lots of mature trees, so its got every aspect and is challenging but I've had over 25 years to knock it into shape but every year I have a part that's being redeveloped. Garden design and fashion change so I'm always keen to look for new books especially on the run up to Christmas. I wondered if she would enjoy a subscription to Gardener's world? I don't know anything about it but perhaps someone on here might know how suitable it would be for a novice gardener, just thinking it would probably give a guide to what needs doing when. I had a quick look online and thought Katie Rushden's book Plants, beds and borders looked interesting and good for a novice.

I think the OP is looking for book suggestions rather than gardening advice.

As well as the RHS encyclopaedia, I can recommend Carol Klein’s Life in a Cottage Garden and The Cottage Garden by Claus Dalby which has gorgeous, inspirational photographs.

Forming a relationship with a new garden is really exciting!

Thank you all for your wonderful answers/comments to my request - there are a lot of very passionate gardeners out there. I will save the responses to give to my daughter. After much researching yesterday afternoon I have purchased a book called “RHS Gardening Through the Year” by Ian Spence. Although not solely about cottage gardens this book (according to their blurb) tells us what to plant, prune, cut and cover - and exactly when to do it. Hopefully it will give her some inspiration on her “garden journey,”

That sound wonderful Beesh. At some point you may want to get her a gardening journal as well. Some will give lists of chores for each month to keep up, since some gardens can quickly get out of hand.

Although I can’t immediately see my copy, Geoff Hamilton ( sadly diseased) wrote a book called Cottage Gardens and another Paradise Gardens. They are probably out of print, but could be obtained second hand on the Internet.
Geoff presented Gardener’s World in the 1990s from his garden at Barnsdale in Rutland.

J52

Although I can’t immediately see my copy, Geoff Hamilton ( sadly diseased) wrote a book called Cottage Gardens and another Paradise Gardens. They are probably out of print, but could be obtained second hand on the Internet.
Geoff presented Gardener’s World in the 1990s from his garden at Barnsdale in Rutland.

I think that’s the one I’ve got. I’ll clear the stuff around the bookcase. If it is I’ll happily pass it on as part of my decluttering!

There it is. Quite happy to post it on if the OP PM’s me with an address. I even ( as a hoarder) save padded envelopes to refuse and this would actually be the first time I’ve actually got to use one of them!

For some reason page 103 is at the front of the book with some information about GCSE art and there’s a note from Radio Times saying please find enclosed your gift from Radio Times. Wonder if they gave them away because of a printing error? Wish I could remember but it is nearly thirty years old.

I'd measure the garden and map it out .
Photos help .
Definitely test the soil .I also like the RHS book .
I think that Carol Kline has some wonderful ideas .
Has she written a book on cottage gardens ?
If your daughter joins her local horticultural society she'll get lots of plants either cheaply or free .Local gardeners are a mine of information .
I hope that she has a wonderful time with her new garden .

I’d like to add how easy Roses are to propagate. There’s nothing like Roses for a real English country garden.

I have the Geoff Hamilton book and still refer to it. When I decided to revamp part of our garden last year it was the first book I took off the shelf for inspiration.

I also meant to say before that the Yellow Garden Book , (proper name National garden scheme. comes out each year with gardens to visit , county by county, where people open their gardens for the charity. So each year you may find new gardens or have the pleasure of revisiting a garden. You get the chance to see many types of gardens and the idea is that each garden should provide you with about 45 minutes of interest. You will see many interesting and lovely gardens and even if you visit a garden that does not appeal then that also helps you to think how you dont want your garden to look. There are often plants for sale, photos of the garden from the past so that you get to see the changes made and relate it to your own place . The book is set out county by county and then there are the dates that gardens are open - mostly private- and there is a short note of the type of garden and how to find it. It is always worth looking at the next two counties to where you are as in some cases a garden in another county may actually be closer to you than the next one in your county. Most are open on a sunday, but there are others that may be open all weekend or one other weekday. My husband used to say it was a wonderful but very expensive gift as I would be travelling miles and coming home with plants of course. So be warned! I always had the book with me when ever I went away too, so that there may be opportunities to go to other gardens elsewhere. I have got this book for many years and it has always been very worthwhile. As a galanthophile (snowdrops) I would go to some of the very earliest open gardens. I did a lot of winter garden things as I am a galanthophile (snnowdrops) and it is so cheering and uplifting to have wonderful snowdrops, iris retiulata and danfordii, and I had a lot of hellebores and winterflowering jasmin and hamamelis , all of which were wonderful to see at this time of year. Happy visiting and gardening

I find that most gardening books have irrelevant advise these days. With climate change the times for planting, pruning etc don't seem to apply any more.

madeleine45

RHS encyclopedia will be a good reference. However as a keen gardener, who has moved many times, may I make some other suggestions. Firstly you need to live with the garden you have now for the first year. Having a simple notebook , where you can note what grows where, and the time of year things flower. Also , draw up a plan of the garden and the various areas, where you can then note where it is in sun or shade at the different times of day and in various seasons. Doing this will give you an overall knowledge of the garden and how the shady areas and sunny areas are . Taking simple photos will also give you the overall view to look at later. Then very importantly, test the soil in the garden in various parts of the garden as it can be different in the areas in the garden. When you know whether your soil is acid or alkaline and the type of soil - sandy or loam . These are your building blocks on the way to a great garden. When you know this you will then have better ideas of suitab le plants and where they are going to do well. Much more likely to succeed than buying a plant and not giving it the type of soil or light that it will prefer. Walk up and down the road and look at other gardens. You will get a good idea of what does well in your area. Best of all look around for the local gardening club and join it if you can. You will meet other keen gardeners and have the chance to buy and swap plants and get a lot of help and knowledge of the local area. So let the garden show you what it has , keep the photos so that in years to come you have a view of how it was when y ou arrived . Right now when they have just moved with lots to do so I would suggest that they get 2 or 3 pots, plant them up with miniature daffodils, or iris reticulata to give them something to look at close to the windows in the new year and plant some violas or pansies in one pot to give you something to enjoy right now. I have always enjoyed having a simple largish notebook where I didnt write every day, but did make a note of the date and what I have done that day, and what the temperature is like. Then I can look back over the year and see what worked well and what didnt. So I think a decent notepad and either a general rhs reference book, or if you know she3 is very keen on a specific plant find something on that. I am a galanthophile - snowdrops - and had over 100 different kinds in my last garden.
One last thing I think is worth doing is every Christmas day and New Years day I take a walk round the garden, Walk round to the left, then turn round and walk to the right. You will be surprised at how things can look different from each direction. I make a note of any flowering plants in my notebook. Have kept notes over 50 years and did move a lot but spent nearly 20 years in a later house and you can see how things flower earlier or later. It is my tradition and I go out whenever it suits me. Everyone knows I do this and so if things are getting a bit fraught with visitors or whatever, I can just announce I am going out to look round , which gives me a breather and no one gets upset! It is very calming and cheering to go out for a little while. I wish them the joy of their new home and garden .You never stop learning and enjoying your garden.

Everything here your daughter needs to know when she first moves in. Genius. Frame to hang by back door.
Get a book as well.

I'd say don't rely on just one book to tell you how to do everything. Experienced gardeners' advice is great, but if your daughter is a total novice I think she should also build up a personal knowledge of her own garden very slowly. My golden rule for a dealing with a new garden is: don't do a thing for at least a year - you don't know what's asleep in the ground until it springs up, so if you plant something in what looks like a bare patch, you might ruin a lovely display that's waiting to come up. Being a gardener takes a lot of patience and a good memory (four seasons a year and they're never the same twice!). Reading other people's advice is great, but also keep your own diary of what happens and what you do, season on season, year on year. Be prepared to learn from your mistakes (which can be very costly!). It would be useful to join a local gardening club - gardeners are a friendly bunch and will love helping a novice with - well, just about everything!

I tried to show a picture of my town garden in summer but it has come out as a jpeg. I don’t know if it will open after I post this. I thought it would be nice as there aren’t any photos of gardens on here.

That's pretty.
I love cottage/natural gardens.