Episode: Six
Date: October 4th
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane
Story: Mitre 10 - The Perfect Cottage Garden

Have you ever wandered how to create the perfect cottage garden? Trevor heads down to his local Mitre 10 store to learn which plants will look the best in a cottage garden, and shows the best ways to keep the plants healthy and thriving.

Step 1: Design Themes

• Decide what themes you would like your garden to represent.
• A cottage garden can be formal, geometric or rambling.
• Your cottage garden should be beckoning, romantic, fascinating and sensory.

Step 2: Paths

• Paths are used to give you access to all areas of the garden, as well as to give shape to the garden.
• Paths should be quite wide to allow room to walk, even with plants spilling over onto the path.
• Consider using recycled materials to build your path.
• Mark the layout you would like for your garden and paths before you begin planting.

Step 3: Plant Choices

• Herbs of all varieties will look good in your cottage garden (rosemary, thyme, chives etc).
• Climbers such as wisteria and bougainvillea will also look great.

Step 4: Flower Choices

• A Cottage Gardens should be full of colour
• Try violas, lilac, geranium, poppies, lavender, roses, salvias, achilleas and weigela.

Step 5: Maintain and Evolve

• If a plant doesn’t grow well in one location, try digging it up and moving it to another.
• Plants flowers close together so there is no room for weeds to grow.
• Water conservation is important.
• Mulch will help to make the soil more fertile.

Featured Plants

• Lavender
• Native hibiscus
• Strawberries
• Thornless Berries

For more information and for your Mitreplan visit www.mitre10.com.au or visit your local Mitre 10 Store.