Purpose

The Cottage Garden started as just that, a garden at the front of the house that this gardener, and passers-by on a busy street, could enjoy. It is now also a test garden to establish what will actually grow in the area without protection. This is not a pampered garden in any way. Mostly organic, the only time any chemicals are used is in years when either the ants take over and heave up the garden soil and destroy root systems, or the years when the grasshoppers are thick. One year the grasshoppers ate the buds off all the flowers. It was a year of growing stalks. Not a pretty sight.

Garden location

These gardens are located in the State of Maine, U.S.A. The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map divides the U.S. into 11 Plant Hardiness Zones based upon average minimum temperatures. These gardens are on the edge of zone 4 and 5. We enjoy temperatures as low as -30 degrees F. Most zone 5 plants will not survive the winter without protection.

This is not a public garden, it is an attempt by the author to discover what will grow in her climate, and to learn about the plants themselves.

There are three distinct areas in GreyWing's Garden

The Cottage Herb Garden

This is a relatively small garden, being about 35 feet by 20 feet. It contains perennial flowers, herbs and wild roses.

The Field Herb Garden

A small field on one side of the house furnishes the field-type herbs on this site. Examples are goldenrod and Queen Anne's Lace.

The Woodland Herb Garden

A small wooded section of the yard at the back of the house provide woodland type herbs such as sarsaparilla and starflowers.

We also have a small vegetable garden that gets destroyed by the woodchuck living in the back yard wooded section.