The Cottage Garden

by Claus Dalby

Through over 700 exquisite photographs and evocative text written by Danish gardening celebrity Claus Dalby, explore the history and development of the beloved cottage garden design style.

In the pages of The Cottage Garden, you’ll first draw inspiration from the stories and landscapes of generations of famous cottage gardeners, including Gertrude Jekyll, Vita Sackville-West, William Robinson, Margery Fish, and Tasha Tudor. Then, meet modern cottage gardeners from around the globe who combine billowing masses of flowers such as poppies, delphinium, lupines, foxgloves, peonies, roses, lilies, and many more to create dreamy landscapes infused with the romance and wildness of cottage-style gardening.

You’ll find no formal lines, rigid rules, or perfect spacing in the cottage garden. Instead, the form is organic and purposefully unstructured. Plants self-sow here and there, bulbs pop up and spread unrestricted, and everything appears casual; though as you’ll come to learn through Dalby’s words, it is all done with great intent.

Overflowing with textures and colors, the cottage gardens featured throughout this book in hundreds of full-color photographs are found in places as diverse as Germany, Sweden, Denmark, England, and the United States. The accompanying text is derived from Dalby’s personal visits to these gardens, along with his intimate interviews with the resident gardeners.

Dalby provides useful details about the design, development, and continued evolution of cottage gardens. He shares the stories of these breathtaking modern cottage gardens in a way that allows you to glean inspiration you can use to create a cottage garden of your own, whether large or small. 

The gardens profiled in these pages exhibit the essential foundational elements and principals of well-designed cottage gardens. Whether home is in the countryside or a suburban subdivision, the profiled gardens will serve as both muse and motivation for the creation of a classic backyard cottage garden in your own space. This gorgeous tome is sure to become the bible of this much-adored classic garden design style.

Also by Claus Containers in the Garden

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Nature

863 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 5, 2023

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve gotten serious about my vegetable garden and have started a flower garden. I ideally want a “cottage garden” and have been looking for a good source. And walla I found this book.
It’s comprised of the history of cottage gardens and some original photos. It took me back in time with their stunning beauty. Flowering meadows and magnificent spaces. I wish to visit Christopher Lloyd’s house one day.
The author gave me historical insight on William Robinson who was the first to start a wild garden in the nineteenth century. Followed by several more beautiful gardens and their unique history.
And lastly she took me on a tour of several stunning gardens of today. I was enchanted and now have many ideas. I highly recommend to anyone who loves a flower garden.
Thanks Quarto Publishing Group via NetGalley.

[Wendelle]

A gorgeous, glossy, full-color photobook that celebrates the humble but abundant and lush cottage garden style, showcasing multiple enchanting, dreamlike, storybook gardens that are sure to charm and delight

[Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly beautiful photographs fill this book. Several gardens are shown of various sizes, in different seasons, and of multiple countries, although the majority are English. Information is given about various plants, flowers and even grasses used to create stunning gardens for beauty and relaxation. This would be lovely as a coffee table book but a gardener will get the most enjoyment. Thanks you to Quarto Publishing Group - Cool Springs Press for the temporary ARC via Netgalley.

[Christina Valastro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular photos! This is a great book for any gardener and gives you a glimpse into other people's garden ideas. I could spend an entire day looking at photos of flowers. This book is an excellent collection of garden information and photos. I felt like I was in a whimsical fairy garden in each page 🧚‍♀️🌸🌿

[Kami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fun, educational read with so many beautiful pictures!

[Kellie Arndt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top 5 garden book. Stunning, inspiring, historical, practical, this one sings in every key of the magic of the cottage garden.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perfection! I love the author's enthusiasm and stories about people and their gardens. Just beautiful!

[Kelly Hodgkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cottage garden has held a long-term fascination for me and has been an inspiration in the creation of our home’s garden. When I saw Claus Dalby had written this book, I couldn’t wait to read it…and read it in one go!

The visuals are gorgeous! The accompanying narrative is interesting and insightful! It is both fact-rich and inspiring! I wanted to rush to the garden shop and purchase the “missing” plants for our garden and complete the look!

At the same time, I felt I travelled gently around the world through these lovely gardens and met the fascinating creatives behind them through the interviews with the gardeners of these special places!

If you love gardens, don’t miss out on this delightful read! It is a five out of five on the enJOYment scale, and highly recommended!

I received a complimentary copy of the book from Quarto Publishing Group – Cool Springs Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[bookwormnici · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cottage Garden is an absolute delight! This charming book invites readers into a world brimming with whimsy and enchantment.

The author's prose effortlessly transports you to a place where time seems to slow down, and nature's beauty takes center stage. It celebrates the simple pleasures of sowing seeds, nurturing plants, and watching them flourish. The author's love for gardening shines through each word, inspiring readers to embrace their own green thumbs and cultivate their own little piece of paradise.

Not only is The Cottage Garden a visual treat, with its beautiful illustrations that transport you to idyllic landscapes, but it also offers practical tips and insights for those looking to create their own cottage-style oasis. From choosing the right plants to creating charming garden structures, this book serves as a guide for transforming any outdoor space into a haven of tranquility.

[Susan Wachtel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Cottage Garden by Claus Dalby -Chock Full of Inspiration and Ideas


If you are a gardener who is looking for inspiration and ideas to add to your own garden, you will want to read Claus Dalby’s newest book The Cottage Garden.

Claus covers the history of Danish gardens and the English cottage gardens. He introduces men and women who were influential in the style and design of cottage gardens. Best of all are the wonderful pictures that fill this book showing gardens from around the world, including England, Germany, Denmark, New England, and Sweden. I appreciate the detailed information that Claus shares about plants, varieties, and design elements in each garden. He highlights big and small gardens and has photographs from the four seasons.

The Cottage Garden by Claus Dalby is an inspiration to any gardener. From style, to plants, to the exquisite beauty found on each page, readers will come away excited to try news plants and design in their own garden.

I highly recommend The Cottage Garden by Claus Dalby. It would be a lovely gift for gardeners, and those who love the beauty found in creation. If you are looking for inspiration and help in your own garden, I encourage you read this book. It will be released on September 5, 2023. I look forward to get my own copy of this book.

I would like to thank Quarto Publishing Group, Cool Springs Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy of The Cottage Garden by Claus Dalby. I was under no obligation to give a favorable review.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Cottage Garden is a well written and inspirational gardening guide to design and planning by Danish gardening expert Claus Dalby. Released 5th Sept 2023 by Quarto on their Cool Springs Press imprint, it's 336 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats.

Beautifully photographed throughout, the author is meticulous about naming cultivars and providing exact names for the plants chosen. Many of the specific gardens have features which are pointed out and analyzed for readers to copy/modify for their own garden situations. The book also contains a surprising amount of history and minutiae about the gardeners responsible for the renaissance of the cottage garden aesthetic in Europe and the Americas.

The book doesn't have a table of contents, but there's an exhaustive cross-referenced index in the back of the book. It's mostly an inspirational guide and reference to plants to choose and techniques for building a cottage-y garden, whatever size the gardener has to work with.

Four stars. Beautiful and inspirational book.It would make a good selection for public library acquisition or home use.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Cottage Garden by Claus Dalby is absolute perfection from the historical information to specific plants to creating one's own cottage garden. The photography invites to the ethereal and sublime, as close to fairy tale lands as one can possibly get. And the good news is, cottage gardens are achievable. I garden in climate zones 2a as well as 8b which are drastically different and each full of possibilities. Of course a 2a garden is far more limited but there are countless ideas in this book not just about plant combinations but also structures, meadows, insects, nostalgia, rooms and nooks and crannies. The words "spellbinding" and "enchanting" are made for books such as this.

Whether you are seeking the pure enjoyment of poring over superlative beauty or are dream of a cottage garden of your own, this book is for you. I love that anyone can enjoy salivating over the pages, whether a new gardener or an expert. If this does not inspire, nothing will. All that is required is curiosity and love for beautiful things.

My sincere thank you to Quarto Publishing Group - Cool Springs Press and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this spectacular book. I already have ideas in mind for the 2024 season!

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gorgeous book full of cottage garden inspiration and beautiful photos. I appreciated that Dalby tells the names of all the flowers pictured. And it is brimming with swoon worthy garden porn.

After a while I got increasingly frustrated with it though because all the gardens are so perfect and they’re all wealthy people with dream houses and carefully manicured cottage gardens. I know a lot of people consider that aspirational but I really prefer ordinary people’s gardens to society ones who give tours. He talks a lot about Instagram and if you like Instagram gardens and Martha Stewart (whom he name drops that she gave him a tour and follows him on instagram) then you will love this book. It reminds me of how “farmhouse style” interior design looks nothing like real farmhouses.

It really is beautiful, but I don’t live in a fairy tale European country home and I prefer real old time functional, messy, character filled, herby, working, whimsical cottage gardens. Still recommended, just with my cranky old lady caveat. 😉

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

[Tissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cover: I like it!

Photography books—the ones addressed as coffee table books—are my personal brand of pick-me-up. These books don’t demand as much energy as novels, they are informative with a soft, soothing undertone, and they simply let you enjoy cool aesthetics.

it’s a win/win, really.

The Cottage Garden showcases gardens that offer a distinctive take on the English cottage aesthetic, displaying color-matched flower beds and quaint sheds. Even so, not all of them are from England! For example, German, Swedish, and Danish gardens are present as well. Each of them has an introduction, too, offering the reader some info about the owners.

My favorites? Der Mutter-Tochter Garten (Essen, Germany) and Kerstin Mannergren Aagren’s garden (Kivik, Sweden).

My only complaint is about the file itself. Old phone, the pictures became blurry when I tried to zoom in; new phone, it says the PDF is too heavy, but then it loads anyway and they’re sharp as a razor. Keep that in mind if you opt for the e-reader version.

4 stars on GR.

[Want more? Check out Bookshelves & Teacups]

[Randal White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely one of my favorite books of the year! Spectacular photographs and descriptions of "cottage gardens" in many different countries. I (along with my wife) are avid gardeners. This book describes our theory and practices to a "T'. The style is perfectly described as "no formal lines, rigid rules, or perfect spacing in the cottage garden. Instead, the form is organic and purposefully unstructured". That's us! What some people we know call a "mess", we try to point out the well thought out theory and structure that we are using.
The author has really touched the two of us with this book. Knowing that there are others (many, and famous at that) who have cottage gardens reaffirms what we are doing.
This is an absolutely incredible book! Even if you don't like gardening, you will absolutely be enthralled with the photos in this book. I highly recommend it. In fact, we are pre-ordering several copies of the book ourselves. One (maybe two, because it will quickly become worn from reading and re-reading it), plus a couple of others for our gardening friends for Christmas gifts!

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

If, like me, you’re wont to flip through the pictures first, then you might also be fooled into thinking this a pretty dull gardening book. That’s not to dismiss the photos, actually Claus takes some of the highest quality pictures of gardens I’ve ever seen, but there’s a general quality of green blah that I think overwhelms a first pass at this book. Probably has to do with when the photos were taken, and what was in bloom at the time (not enough!) But in terms of picture quality, he’s able to capture views of gardens with framing and apertures and vision that gets much closer to what you might actually see if you could walk in his shoes.

He does an incredible job with research and storytelling to build up a whole worldview around how cottage gardens developed, who helped envision them at their greatest, and how you can build your own. It’s really well produced, and there’s a lot here to bring back to your own garden.

[Hazel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Cottage Garden by Claus Dalby is a beautifully written book for all keen gardeners.

The book initially covers the history of the cottage garden looking at Landscapers from the past from Gertrude Jekyll to Tasha Tudor. It then delves into an array of modern gardens inspired by the cottage garden theme.

I found this book very informative and the photography was amazing. You could spend hours lost in the gardens looking at the beautiful flowers they have photographed. The author gives some history of the gardens and tells you all about the different areas in them. He is obviously knowledgeable and very much loves gardens himself which comes across in the book.

A book you will go back to time and again for inspiration.

Thanks to Netgalley and Quatro Publishing for the ARC Copy. This review is my own opinion.

[Marissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite daydreams is having a beautiful, enchanting garden with the classic stone cottage, filled to brim with wild flowers of all colours. Maybe there are some magical faeries living in there. Maybe other whimsical beings. So when I saw this book, I knew it would be right up my alley.

The Cottage Garden is an absolutely gorgeous book. It’s filled with exquisite cottages and fantastical gardens. Not only are pictures stunning, but Dalby also tells the names of all the flowers pictured, gives us tips, and provides insight for building our own mesmerizing cottage gardens.

This book is perfect as a coffee table piece for those interested in cottagecore, witchy vibes, and fairylike vibes. Although you might spend all day looking through the gardens, wishing you had your own.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and give an honest review
of this book.

I love the look of a cottage garden and the fact that you can plant every plant you want in it. It does take some planning as this book explains.

The garden photographs are delightful. They include not only lovely flowers and gardens but quaint houses, sheds, and out buildings. The yards are often filled with tools, implements, fences, and seating areas. All of these things add to the charm of the cottage gardens pictured.

The author shares with us gardens in places like Denmark, England, Germany and the US. What a wonderful armchair tour!

If you include this book in your gardening library, I guarantee that you will refer to it time and time again.

[joyce w. laudon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a lovely book. It offered me a perfect escape from my life as I looked at absolutely gorgeous photos as I whiled away some time. By the way, the text included in each two page spread is also quite informative. Some of my favorite entries were on Gertrude Jekyll, Vita Sackville-West and Tasha Tudor. I also liked the ones entitled Childhood Memories, The Mother Daughter Garden and, A Special Harmony. That said, wherever a reader looks they will find respite and enjoyment as they visit England Germany, Sweden, Denmark and the U.S.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It's a haphazard approach to gardening in which empty spaces are banned."

Dalby's book is just lovely, brimming with stunning photographs of breathtaking gardens located in several countries. He delves into the history of the cottage garden, and provides valuable advice on creating your own colorful slice of paradise. This delightful book will serve as a source of inspiration during planting season, and a comforting reminder of better times to come during those long winter months.



Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for sharing this.

[Susan Bewley · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to gorgeous garden eye candy, nothing beats the beauty of The Cottage Gardens. The book is filled with gorgeous photography and information on each of these cottages and the various plants that fill these colorful gardens. In a way, this book feels like a tour throughout Europe and the United. While there is some information on plant care, some shows how you can create a landscape with a mix of romance and wilderness. When it comes to books on discovering the most beautiful gardens, nothing beats these books in creating gorgeous, classic gardens that you dream of being your own backyard!

[Nicole Lorenz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a lovely book of photos and stories that captured a good variety of cottage style gardens in different parts of the world. I appreciated that the names of the plants were provided but I do wish that there was a little more instructional techniques included. Tips for garden layouts or plant choice would have been very helpful.

If you want to be inspired by the gardens of others, this book is a great resource. If you’re looking to create your own cottage style garden, use this for inspiration, but you’ll need to read up on techniques elsewhere.

[Hayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book for any gardener!
I’m so nosey when it comes to other people’s gardens so this is the perfect book for me! Full of stunning, colourful photos, my plant wishlist now has several additions! I loved the authors informal writing style, reading the book felt like chatting to a friend. I shall be purchasing many copies and gifting to friends, family and myself!

Thank you Netgalley, Quarto Publishing and Claus Dalby for this ARC.

[Sabs ✨️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC Rating 4.25/5 ⭐️

This was a really nice book.

Claus Dalby explores the history of the cottage garden and includes such lovely organic, unstructured cottage garden photos.

It helps break down different gardens and details flower varieties and makes for such an amazing reference. The fluffy, dreamy, slightly wild landscapes that they detail are soft and romantic.

Thank you, NetGalley, Cool Springs Press, and Claus Dalby for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.

[Helen Leighton-Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic book, absolutely full of inspirational photographs. The information of each suggested flower is clear and concise. Several types and sizes of cottage gardens are illustrated and from different countries. Suggested garden structures, walls... houses even are all considered here. Photos are from different times of the year too, to give a sense of all-year-round riots of colour. excellent book.

[Lauralee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Cottage Garden is an absolutely beautiful book. It’s filled with gorgeous cottages and magical gardens. It’s informative but enchanting. I especially liked that it features a small piece on Tasha Tudor, one of my favorite artists who also had a lovely garden. I recommend for anyone who loves gardening or just appreciates beauty.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review and opinions are my own.

[Jeanniehay64 · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful book, I love cottage gardens and this book showcases them wonderfully.

Full of stunning photographs which detail all different flowers some I have and others I’m wishing for. The tips and visuals will make anyone want to plant a little cottage style into their own garden no matter how big or small.

I definitely want to buy a hard copy as I can enjoy looking at the beautiful gardens whenever I need some inspiration.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cottage Garden by Claus Dalby is an absolute delight. This homage to gardens, specifically the style known as cottage gardens, will bring joy to gardeners, cottage aficionados, and flower lovers. The stunning photos of the beauty of nature in all its vibrant colors will have you planning your own garden, even if you live in a city apartment.

[Sylvia Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully photographed book that would be welcome on the coffee table of any gardener or plant lover. I would recommend a hard-copy of this book because the digital edition doesn't not easily lend itself to lazy afternoon perusing

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.