6 steps to a no work cottage garden

1. Start small. "Don't create a monster that you don't have time to feed regularly," Trout says. "Keep your cottage garden small, and most of all, fun." Over time, as your confidence grows, increase the size.

2. Invest in soil. "Starting with good, rich, organic soil where plants will thrive with a minimum of watering and fertilizing cuts the work from the start," Trout says. He also recommends doing a soil test to learn the type of soil you have. Add organic matter yearly, either by purchasing compost or making your own.

3. Position plants carefully. Much work in a garden comes from not having the right plant in the right place. As you gain gardening experience, you can push the envelope, Trout says. "But the healthiest plants -- ones that need less care -- are those that are in ideal conditions," he adds.

4. Select sturdy beauties."Choose high-performance, almost bulletproof plants," Trout says. "There is no absolutely right way or wrong way to create a cottage garden, so choose what you love."

Some of Trout's favorite plants include spring-flowering bulbs, purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), wild indigo (Baptisia australis), 'Stella d'Oro' or 'Happy Returns' daylily (Hemerocallis), New England aster (Aster novae-angliae 'Alma Potschke'), and Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia'Blue Spire').

For foliage interest, try lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis), lambs' ears (Stachys byzantina 'Helene Von Stein'), or blue fescue (Festuca glauca). Avoid high-maintenance roses. Trout suggests growing tough, disease-resistant Knock Out shrub roses, Meidiland landscape roses, 'Betty Prior' (a floribunda rose), or the old-fashioned climber 'Blaze'.

5. Cover soil. "Mulching helps maintain soil moisture levels and prevents weeds from growing," Trout says. "As organic mulch (bark, compost, or leaf mold) breaks down, it improves soil. Mulch also gives the garden a neater, more unified look."

6. Make it automatic. Trade dragging a hose around for hands-free watering. "I like drip hoses, as it's easy to put the water exactly where you want it -- and not on the foliage or flowers," Trout says. "It's also more environmentally correct: Less water evaporates into the air."

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