Planting a Cottage Garden Border for Cut Flowers

A border planted for cutting is a different creature from one grown purely for the view from the kitchen window. It has to earn its keep, producing stems week after week from June to the first sharp frost, and it has to do so without collapsing into a shabby mess by August. The good news is that a cutting border is also one of the prettiest things you can grow, and it asks for very little beyond decent soil, a bit of staking and a willingness to wield the secateurs.

The trick is to combine hardy perennials, which return year after year and give the border its bones, with generous sowings of annuals that flower their hearts out for a single season and fill the gaps while the perennials settle in. Get that balance right and you will rarely need to buy flowers again.

Choosing the Right Spot and Preparing the Ground

Most cut-flower plants want sun, and plenty of it. Aim for at least six hours of direct light a day; anything less and stems will be weak, floppy and prone to mildew. A south- or west-facing border is ideal, ideally with a hedge or fence behind it to shelter the taller stems from wind.

Prepare the ground properly the autumn before, or a good month ahead of planting. Spread two or three inches of well-rotted manure or garden compost over the surface and fork it into the top six inches. Remove perennial weeds such as couch grass and bindweed with real determination, because you will never get them out once the border is full. If your soil is heavy clay, add grit; if it is thin and sandy, the compost is doing double duty by holding moisture.

Set out the border at least four feet deep if you can. A narrow strip looks charming but gives you no room to work, and cutting borders need access from both sides.

Perennials for Structure and Stamina

Perennials are the investment. They cost more per plant than a packet of seed, but they come back year after year and many of the best cut flowers fall into this group.

• Alchemilla mollis – frothy lime-green, wonderful with almost anything, and it seeds about politely.
• Astrantia major – dusky pinks and whites on long wiry stems; superb in a jug and long-lasting.
• Sedum spectabile – flat heads of pink that hold their shape for weeks and dry beautifully.
• Penstemon – repeat-flowering if you keep cutting, though it wants sharp drainage in winter.
• Phlox paniculata – intensely fragrant, so plant it near the path as well as in the cutting rows.
• Helenium – russet and gold daisies for late summer, when the border can otherwise flag.
• Lavender – for scent, for drying, and for the bees.

Plant these in groups of three or five rather than singly. A block of astrantia cuts far better than a lone plant, and the border reads more strongly for it.

Annuals to Fill and Flower Freely

Annuals are where the abundance comes from. Sow them in short rows behind the perennials, or in patches among them, and successional sowings every three weeks will keep the supply going.

• Cosmos – the backbone of any cutting garden. Sow 'Purity' or 'Sensation' in May and keep picking.
• Sweet peas – sow in autumn or early spring, give them a wigwam of hazel, and pick every other day without fail.
• Nigella – quick, cheap, and the seed heads are as lovely as the flowers.
• Calendula – hardy, cheerful, and flowers from June until the frost sees it off.
• Zinnia – needs warmth, so raise under cover and plant out after the last frost; the reward is brilliant, long-lasting colour.
• Cornflower – sow direct in April for a haze of blue in midsummer.

Don't overlook a few biennials and bulbs either. Wallflowers, honesty and sweet William, planted in autumn, will give you scent in May before the annuals have found their feet.

Planting for Colour and Scent

Think in terms of a palette rather than a jumble. A cutting border that reads well from the house usually works best with two or three dominant colours repeated through the season, plus plenty of green and white to lighten it.

For scent, concentrate on sweet peas, phlox, lavender, pinks, stocks and roses. Scent is strongest in the evening, so plant scented things where you will pass them at dusk, and cut them early in the morning for the house. A bunch of phlox or sweet peas brought in at breakfast will perfume a whole room by lunchtime.

White flowers earn their place in any cutting border. They lift mixed bunches, work in every room, and many of them – Cosmos 'Purity', white astrantia, white nigella – are among the easiest things you can grow.

Cutting, Conditioning and Keeping the Border Tidy

Cut in the cool of the morning, taking a bucket of tepid water with you. Choose stems where the bud is just opening – most flowers last far longer cut at that stage than fully open. Take them straight into water and leave them somewhere cool and dark for a few hours before arranging.

Strip the lower leaves so no foliage sits below the waterline, and sear the ends of anything milky, such as poppies, in a flame for a few seconds. Change the water every couple of days and re-trim the stems; most bunches will gain several days.

Finally, keep picking. This is the single most important job in a cutting border. Every stem you cut is a signal to the plant to make more, and a border that is regularly harvested stays compact, floriferous and far less prone to disease than one left to its own devices. Come September, you will be carrying in armfuls.