I absolutely LOVED this!!! Thank you so so much for approving my wish!!

I’ve always struggled with my not green thumb, but this book was so incredibly informative, I feel like I can go into the next growing season properly and with enough knowledge that my backyard will actually be beautiful and cottagey!

This is a beautiful, helpful and inspirational book that’s brimming with good advice and gorgeous photos of the author’s own cottage gardens. Hubbard focuses especially on how to create a cottage garden with our changing weather and challenges from climate change, giving excellent advice on plants and strategies to address issues like wildfire risks, drought and heavy rains.

I appreciated that she focuses on sustainable gardening in terms of materials used (no more peat moss, for instance) and practices (no pesticides and practices like planting nasturtiums next to cabbages so the cabbage moth caterpillars eat those instead). I also appreciated that she recommends incorporating native plants.

She has all kinds of additional content too, from plans for children’s gardens to suggested plants for sensory gardens and so much more. Tons of photos accompany every bit of it so you can see examples of all of her tips and plans. She is also just imminently likable, and it was like getting a garden tour and a heap of wisdom from a friendly neighbor.

I personally love cottage gardens and my own gardens are a mix of native gardens and cottage gardens. I am definitely focusing primarily on native plants these days though, and would have liked to see more encouragement there. Some native plants are not as frilly and pretty as those classic English flowers, but they are often important food sources for pollinators and for the caterpillars that birds rely on to feed their young.

Hubbard‘s gardens are also far too neat and labor intensive for me, as well. That’s another reason I love my native flowers— they are used to thriving on their own without watering, fertilizer and special care. I leave the dried seedheads to feed the birds over the winter and sow their own seeds for next year, the dried stalks for overwintering bees, and so on. Hubbard says to rake up the fall leaves and go over them with the lawnmower a few times for sustainable mulch, but fireflies overwinter in those leaves and I’ve often found cecropia cocoons in our leafy areas, which next summer will split open to present the colorful, palm sized moths that are the largest in North America.

Those small comments aside, I do love the book and heartily recommend it.

I read a temporary digital copy of this book online for the purpose of review.

As a beginner gardener I found this book inspirational, informative, and aesthetically pleasing. Beautiful color photos throughout including detailed photos of layouts, techniques, and approaches and also of lovely flowerbeds, flowers, and produce. Definitely a resource I will come back to. I'm also going to make a purchase request at my library so others can enjoy it, as we have an active community of avid gardeners in my area.

This book was so lovely! I loved reading about the history, evolution, and vision for the future of the classic cottage garden. The breakdown of the sections and the beautiful photos left me wanting more when I got to the end. It is inspiring to see how a seasoned gardener sees the room for growth in gardening, and its ability to help people of different walks of life with a plethora of problems to solve. I enjoyed seeing the photos and getting inspiration for my own garden. There were many useful tips and steps to create your own cottage garden, considering various sizes and types of spaces. I recommend this to anyone looking for inspiration for their own garden, and looking for hope in the face of climate change, pandemics, and food insecurity.

As someone in the Midwest with an average boring yard that needs a little something, this book was perfect! I'm so inspired to transform my place into something beautiful.

A gorgeously put together book that is truly *chocked full* of helpful information, resources, and beautiful photos!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Contemporary Cottage Garden is a thoroughly written and beautifully composed book that reimagines the classic cottage garden through a modern, sustainable lens. The author thoughtfully balances aesthetics and practicality, offering climate-conscious methods that feel both attainable and inspiring.

What I appreciated most was the variety of gardens featured, there’s something for everyone, from traditional flower borders to kitchen gardens brimming with vegetables. I especially loved the inclusion of children’s garden ideas and the section on how to get kids involved outdoors; it felt warm, inclusive, and community-minded.

The photography is stunning, capturing not just the beauty of blooms but the textures of soil, leaves, and homegrown produce. I’m glad that the book didn’t solely focus on flowers but also celebrated vegetable growing as part of the cottage garden’s charm. Overall, it’s an engaging, mindful guide that encourages gardening with both heart and sustainability in mind. One of the most thorough books about modern cottage gardens-highly recommend.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this advance copy.

This book is gorgeously photographed! Each page is bursting with blooms, and I found myself taking notes on what to try in next year's garden. As a cottage gardener myself, I took particular interest in the sections on no-dig methods, the author's inspiring use of stone to delineate sections of gardens, and the chapter on perennial flowers for cutting. The style of cottage gardens are pretty classic, but I love that ideas of sustainability and modern gardening practices are considered here. This is a very helpful and inspiring book!

Garden coach Pam Hubbard has written an interesting book about planting a cottage garden as a response to climate change, pollution, economic upheaval, and stress, not to mention the desire to have a beautiful garden.

"The Contemporary Cottage Garden" begins with an informative history of the cottage garden. In its early 12th century origins, a cottage garden comprised plants grown in the earth surrounding a garden, typically grown by peasants, more for edibles than beauty. In the 18th century, English aristocracy escaped the city to the more genteel countryside and planted large-scale cottage gardens. Our present day cottage gardens fall somewhere in between, depending on the size of the gardener’s plot. Hubbard gives instructions for creating an English-style cottage garden, a garden with lots of color and curves, a casual rather than planned appearance—although much planning goes into a cottage garden—as much for meandering through as admiring. She then dives deep into making this cottage garden sustainable and organic on all fronts.

I’ve been reading a lot of gardening books, and I appreciate Hubbard's environmental awareness and timely approach. She presents a thorough explanation of how gardening can address climate change, pollution, and rising food costs. Many gardeners talk about the negative environmental impact of lawns and mitigating them by replacing lawn with a cottage garden or meadow. Hubbard does this as well and also offers steps for planting gardens that resist heavy rain, drought, or wildfire. She returns to the cottage garden's origins by including edibles along with the flowers. Hubbard includes steps for creating a cutting garden as a way for remote workers to bring the garden’s beauty to their home office. She also dedicates a chapter to creating healing gardens that offer comfort and calm, benefitting all dwellers, whether to address a specific health need or simply to enjoy with children or relieve daily stress. Hubbard's contemporary cottage garden is planned and planted to address the modern ills of the world.

Hubbard's instructions are clear and concise, if at times a bit cut and dry. Nonetheless, new and experienced gardeners who want to plant an environmentally and socially responsible garden will likely find something to learn in this book.

Thank you to Timber Press and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

#netgalley #thecontemporarycottagegarden #timberpress

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the free Kindle book. My review is voluntarily given, and my opinions are my own.

I absolutely loved this book, especially the stunning photographs. They reminded me of my childhood, and all of the countless hours spent in my grandma's enormous garden. It's always nice to get reminders of her, since she passed away about 15 years ago. Crazy.

This a wonderful book for anyone looking for ideas for their garden, or even just a coffee table book. Definitely would recommend.