Join my container gardening silent vlog! I transform a bare container garden to a cottage inspired cut flower haven on a budget! Learn from my past mistakes as I tweak the soil for drought tolerant plants like lavender and stay budget friendly with dahlias and geraniums grown from seed! There is still time to plant in the winter garden!
00:00-00:22 Uninstalling Ollas
00:23-01:06 The Cottage Garden Design Idea Mistake 1
01:07-01:56 Soil Recipe for Drought Tolerant Plants Mistake 2
01:57-3:19 Digging Up Spring Bulbs Mistake 3
03:56-04:21 What is a Microclimate
04:30-05:57 How to Prep Soil for Planting a Cottage Garden
06:08-07:48 Choosing the Right plants on a Budget
07:53-10:22 Planting for the Cottagecore Vibes
Watch these videos next to learn more about gardening on a budget:
How to start plants from seed: https://youtu.be/niVUef8iQjQ
How to Make an Olla for a drought tolerant garden: https://youtu.be/Gv3wg68EciE
All the Spring Bulbs I Planted in 2023: https://youtu.be/XtylNJNz9Gs
Thank you for always watching. Today I am going to fix my mistakes and replant this container. The first mistake was not having a plan, so I am drawing out my dream cottagecore inspired container garden.
I decided on plants that would provide beautiful cut flowers and could take the intense heat this location provides. French lavender will be the center focal point, with dwarf dahlias to each side. The final design calls for geraniums and spring bulbs along the front as well.
The plants I chose all need well draining soil, which this container currently does not have. However, I remember a section in this wonderful book that includes a perfect soil recipe to follow. Here it is. Now that I know how to prepare the soil for these cottage plants, the work can begin.
There is one more mistake that I need to fix… Remember the bulbs I planned on planting in the front? Well, I had already planted them… Fall 2023 When I was planting them the first time I had dwarf sunflowers blooming in the back.
They took up a lot of space so I planted in the open space I had. They were all bunched up on the end here, which does not suit the new cottage planting design. So, I am being bold and up they come.
I will make another video to update you when these bulbs bloom in a few months, I hope to see you then. These are the tulips and freesia bulbs, I hope I found them all. The sunflowers sure enjoyed their spot last year.
This location is quite a microclimate in the garden. It gets all day sun throughout the whole year. And this wall soaks up all that heat and releases it at night. I never see frost here, even when the night time temperatures drop below freezing.
All this grit and and perlite should improve the drainage well. I will have to reinstall the ollas I took out earlier for the summer months when this location will be extremely hot. Keeping the soil evenly moist will be easier with the ollas.
That should insure a continual supply of cottage blooms to enjoy both out here and inside as cut flowers. I forgot that I planted ranunculus corms here too. I hope I can find them all and incorporate them into the design.
I am sure the bulbs and plants will appreciate this added boost of nutrients. Now to choose the plants that will be planted first. I am proud to say that I grew most of these plants from seed! October 2023 Here you can see the geranium seedlings that I am potting up.
They will appreciate their new home. I also grew these dahlias from seed. I am excited to see what shades of yellow and pink they become. In the autumn I will tag which varieties I like, and will save the tubers to grow again next season.
I will share updates on that process so make sure to subscribe to find out what colors they become. Placing the spring bulbs is a lot better with a plan. I had an idea to hide the water reservoir for the ollas behind the lavender.
Stepping back and viewing the plants together before planting is always a good practice. I am viewing them from many angles to make sure they are placed according to my planting plan. Now to do the planting. I am sure to plant each bulb at the depth they prefer
Using my hand as a guide. These roots are growing beyond the little pot, they will be glad to have more room to spread out. This french lavender smells divine! The gentlest touch of its leaves wafts its fragrance into the air.
I am going to try my hand at taking cuttings to propagate it. But that is for another video. I hope you choose to subscribe so I can share with you how all these beautiful flowers grow.
If you have grown these plants before will you leave a comment below on how you enjoyed them? I would love to learn from you. If you haven’t grown these flowers, will you share with me the ones you have? I am always on the lookout for more to grow.
The rain came to water all these newly planted cottage flowers for me. I am grateful. Now that these are watered in, let us go plant some roses…
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