Ridgefield, CT

Connecticut Cottage Garden

MAY 2024 — The homeowners of this 3-acre property in Ridgefield, Connecticut, invited Rosewater Garden Design to add a pollinator garden as a centerpiece of their backyard and add privacy along the edge of their property. With such a big space to fill, we kept costs down by planting a mix of plugs and full-size perennials. I even included a few transplants from my own garden for good measure!

The really fun part of this project was going back over the summer and seeing how quickly even those little plugs grew in. The homeowners went the extra mile by installing a drip irrigation system that kept everything well watered and helped the plants get established in those crucial early months.

By mid August, Salvia, Echinacea, Culver’s Root, Sea Holly and Coreopsis were in full bloom. By next summer, the slower-growing perennials and native grasses will have had a full year to set roots and spread, and the island should be dense and full. A year after that, we will probably be able to divide the plant and spread them to new locations around the garden!