When Laura of @lauras_little_cottage_garden moved into a new home with a blank canvas garden, she had no idea that a whole new chapter was about to begin. In addition to a new home and a new baby, Laura decided to study for her RHS Level 2 qualification and moved on to become a gardener. Find out what the proud owners of a thriving villa garden and busy farm are up to for the first time this year…
What made you start gardening?
Image courtesy of Laura Woolley
I’m a gardener by trade, creating a cottage garden aesthetic on a small (fairly) new build site in Milton Keynes. I also have a garden where I grow cut flowers for home arrangements, and I also grow some fruits and vegetables.
When we first moved in, our small garden (11m x 9m) was a blank canvas, but while I was on maternity leave with my first son, I got serious about transforming this space. I started growing a few things from seeds and was completely hooked from there.
After being made redundant during the national lockdown, I decided it might be a good time to retrain. I attended Shuttleworth College one day a week to study my RHS Level 2 qualification. I then became a member of the WFGA and completed my WRAG certificate at Kingsbridge Farm. I have been a self-employed gardener for three years now and I absolutely love it.
What inspires you in the garden?
Image courtesy of Laura Woolley
I am passionate about nurturing pollinators and creating safe habitats for local wildlife. If your garden is full of bees, butterflies, and birds, the space will feel full of life and more enjoyable. There is currently a family of great tits in the nest box. It’s so lovely to watch the great tits nesting while we sit and eat breakfast.
I am completely addicted to growing from seeds! I find great joy in nurturing life and witnessing seeds transform into flowers and vegetables. You can also grow some very beautiful varieties that cannot be found in garden centers.
I also love trying my hand at gardening in different areas. I have a deep shade area and I try to keep it as interesting and full of flowers as possible. In stark contrast, I have lots of sun and some container areas that are difficult to get right. I love having to come up with new ideas about what works best in different situations.
What do you like to grow?
Image courtesy of Laura Woolley
I use my garden as an opportunity to surround myself with my favorite colors and scents. It has a color palette of pink, peach, purple, and white. Roses are my favorite because they smell so good. I think scent is so important to the senses, so it’s a great feeling to sit in a garden surrounded by beauty and scent.
I also love growing cut flowers because locally grown organic flowers are more environmentally friendly. I find great joy in cutting and arranging flowers. It’s a very considerate act and brings a moment of calm to a busy world.
What is your favorite gardening style?
Image courtesy of Laura Woolley
The cottage garden is my absolute favorite. I love how a small space is packed with lots of pollinator-friendly plants, making it feel more intimate. It also has a more casual vibe, and I love the wild look when everything is in full swing (usually late summer).
This style is perfect for me. Since the border is packed, there is no need to weed, which is a big advantage. I love cottage garden plants like roses, foxgloves, columbines, alliums, and hardy geraniums, just to name a few. I also love that cottage gardens allow you to incorporate upcycled and vintage pieces as planters to add character to your new build site.
I have a self-seeder in my garden so I can save time and energy growing and planting from seed. These are stronger, more vigorous plants that are better suited to my growing conditions, and I’m here for it!
What are you most proud of?
Image courtesy of Laura Woolley
I would have to say that I am most proud of our spring bulb display and hellebore collection. Hellebores are a big passion of mine. I love that they bloom when I need them most, in the middle of winter. They come in a variety of shapes and colors, but the ruffled double is my favorite. When I see varieties that I don’t have, I tend to buy them, so I plant a lot of them in my garden.
Spring is my favorite season, so I want to welcome it in good spirits. I like to have a bunch of spring bulbs right by my back door so I can admire them. I really enjoy planning the spring bulb display each year and find it very rewarding when they bloom. I prefer to include early and late blooming varieties in my bulb display to allow for as long a flowering period as possible. Pack as many bulbs as possible into the container without touching each other for maximum display impact. My favorite variety is the double-flowering late tulip, which resembles a peony. In fact, I’m interested in all double flowers. they are so beautiful!
What are your future plans?
Image courtesy of Laura Woolley
Although I don’t have any immediate future plans for the garden, I am trying some new things on the farm this year. By dividing the bed with a simple brick path, I finally understood what an extra-large bed meant. This means you no longer have to walk on the soil and tamp it down, and use that small space to grow different crops and flowers each season.
This year I will try dark colored dahlias! I usually stick to pastel colors, but I think darker shades will be added to fall arrangements. I’m really looking forward to watching them grow and incorporate them into my mantle vase.
What are some gardening tips for beginners?
Image courtesy of Laura Woolley
A gardening tip for beginners is to invest in soil. Improving soil health is the best thing you can do for your garden. I try to mulch all the beds and borders once a year and it makes a huge difference. A thick layer of organic matter is dragged into the soil by earthworms over time, improving the soil’s structure. Plants grown in healthy soil are stronger and better able to fight pests and diseases. Mulching also helps retain moisture in the soil, which is increasingly important during this time of increased drought.
We recommend that those just starting out grow their own favorite plants. Your garden should make you happy. Create a garden filled with joy by focusing on your favorite colors, textures, flowers, shrubs, and trees.
Grow like Laura
Image: Dahlia ‘Orange Turmoil’ by Thompson & Morgan
If you’d like to grow the plants and flowers Laura features on her Instagram page, here are some of her favorites.
Follow Laura at @lauras_little_cottage_garden to see her garden grow and change with each season. For even more inspiration, our complete series of featured gardeners includes a wealth of highly knowledgeable growers worth following.
Thompson & Morgan’s horticulture team produces a wealth of content about gardening and food production. Since the first seed catalog was published in 1855, Thompson & Morgan has grown to become one of the UK’s largest mail order seed and plant companies. Through publishing catalogs and operating an award-winning website, Thompson & Morgan is able to provide home gardeners with the highest quality products money can buy.
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