Gardening Goals for this year – A lovely Cottage Garden
Can you feel it too?
The rays of the sun have more energy, it stays light longer and the birds are chirping…Garden planning is calling!
For three weeks now everything has been covered with snow and the crisp -12°C prevail day and night. Although, it already feels like everything will soon be resurrected from hibernation. So it is time to set garden plans and goals.
Over the turn of the year I have actually given myself a lot of thoughts about it. However, there are so many ideas and wishs that I know for sure that getting done everything will not be realistic this year.
Therefore I would like to relativize the wishes and ideas in order to set the most important and decisive tasks for this year. With this in mind, the gardening goals should be more achievable and at the same time I hope for the great “wow” effect.
So, let us start with some inspiration and ideas, how our garden should look like. There are so many wonderful ideas on Pinterest! All pictures you will see here are from Pinterest, the links go directly to the pin.
Dream Garden Inspiration
Garden dreams put into perspective
1. Needs
Who doesn’t like to eat fresh berries, bake a rhubarb cake or drink homemade apple juice and all from your own garden?
Yes, exactly like almost everyone else.
So you will understand that I will definitely start this spring with currants, raspberries and rhubarb!
Fresh herbs should not be missing in the kitchen either. Hence this is the next big must. In addition to mint, rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley and dill, I would like to plant marjoram, basil, coriander and lavender.
Last year we already had fresh mint in the garden, which my mother gave us from her garden. So far this is in a pot, but this spring it is moving to the open!
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2. Desires
Now we come to our wishes. First would be a cozy sitting area with a pergola as sun protection. The ground for the sitting area should be of gravel or stones. However, there is such a great variety of vegetation for the pergola! I’ve already made a shortlist:
On the one hand grapevines. Not only that the plants look beautiful, but also that they can be harvested and processed into juice / wine or just eaten. There are even varieties that are hardy up to zone 5. We are in climate zone 3 and therefore have somewhat higher demands on the plants in Italy for example..
On the other side climbing roses or wisteria in combination with clematis also look incredibly beautiful. Honestly I tend to prefer clematis or roses…
Also, it would be fantastic to build a pizza / bread oven by ourselves and have it close to this sitting area. Of course this is a project for another year, but after all, you can dream.
My husband has few garden requests and is happy with my ideas. Regardless of this one thing is very dear to his heart: no grass.
And I totally understand him. Cutting the grass is such a annoying thing. In addition, it is such a big effort to get a perfect green meadow that we would rather do without it completely.
Therefore sooner or later I plan to create a flower meadow, like this one from Pinterest, with wildflowers along the property in order to reduce the proportion of pure grass meadow.
3. Other
I really don’t know where to put our shed. Because on the one hand it is a must. We really need to restore it. A part of the roof is already moldy and water is seeping in.
Moreover, we don’t need the entire upper floor. A reduction would have the advantage of more evening sun! On the other hand it is not an urgency.
The shed has been in such a condition for over 20 years and is still standing. Anyway, I think this year we will only find the time and pleasure to clear out the upper floor and make space.
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Cottage Garden Inspiration
During my research for garden ideas, I noticed that I kept landing on pins with the keyword “cottage garden”. But what exactly is a cottage garden?
English cottage gardens have a rich history. In medieval times, they contained herbs, fruits, vegetables, a beehive and often livestock, providing nourishment for poor cottage dwellers. If there were any flowers, these tended to have a practical, rather than an aesthetic, value
Discover Britain: English Cottage Gardens
Nowadays a “cottage garden” can be defined by an apparent informality of planting, abundant borders, a mixture of flowers and herbs, sometimes also fruit and vegetables, and the use of traditional materials […]
Discover Britain: English Cottage Gardens
Growing vegetables
In addition to beeries and flowers, I also would like to try out growing vegetables. I have already sown an aubergine and the real go-ahead will begin in march. Tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, pumpkins, a couple of cabbages for the winter and onions/ garlic and maybe even potatoes are on the list…
The aim is to harvest fresh vegetables straight from the garden in summer and to store some food for autumn / winter.
My conclusion
In general, I think that this year the focus will be on planting fruit bushes and vegetable patches (and herbs!). I can well imagine that we will start to clean out the shed. Also, it could happen that we unexpectedly prioritize the shed project and start the restoration. Who knows?
In order to determine the seating area the shed restauration should be finished. Also the open space, with no seating area, is much more practical for shed restoration. So nothing is in the way and you don’t have to be too careful.
In the end the tasks are not easy. And it won’t be a problem if I manage to plant only 3-4 herbs and the pergola is not in place yet.
Have you already set your garden goals for this year? Leave me a comment 🙂 I am very curious to hear about it!
Until next time,
