How to Create a Low-Maintenance Pollinator-Friendly Garden [With Links]

 How to Create a Pollinator-Friendly Cottage Garden

We love beautiful cottage gardens - they're like candy for pollinators like hummingbirds, bumblebees, and butterflies. These little flying friends don't just look pretty, they provide an essential service for humankind. According to the US Department of Agriculture, "Without pollinators, the human race and all of earth's terrestrial ecosystems would not survive. Of the 1,400 crop plants grown around the world, i.e., those that produce all of our food and plant-based industrial products, almost 80% require pollination by animals."

Unfortunately, in suburban areas especially, pollinators are in trouble. Due to climate change, overspraying of pesticides and lawn chemicals, and a lack of pollinator-friendly plants, pollinators have a hard time finding food and shelter.

The good news? Pollinator-friendly gardens are beautiful, and once you get them in the ground, the plants can be easy to maintain. Most of them are perennials or hardy, deer-resistant annuals like zinnias. 

Pollinator Garden Supplies: 

Butterfly House

Butterfly Feeder

Bird Bath Fountain Pump

Solar Pathway Lights

Star Solar String Lights

What Needs to Be in a Pollinator Garden? 

Some general tips for a pollinator garden are:

• Less grass, more garden beds. Pollinators can't feed on or shelter in vast expanses of grass. Removing the grass to create more garden beds is the first step to making your yard more pollinator-friendly: and the best part is, more garden beds, more room for beautiful cottage gardens! 
• And most importantly, restrict the use of pesticides and herbicides. Pesticides kill all bugs, not just the ones you don't want, and herbicides can severely harm pollinators. All-natural options like tick tubes and mosquito dunks are more effective and much less effective than sprays, anyway. 

How do You Organize a Pollinator Garden? 

As with any garden design, you want to layer the heights - not just for visual interest, but for the pollinators themselves. They need little spots to rest on and shelter in.

Start with your larger shrubs in the back, then your medium-height plants in the middle. 

If you're going with a cottage garden design, you can start small, then fill it in as you find plants you love. If you're using plants that spread, like butterfly milkweed and yarrow, make sure to leave space for them. 

Are Pollinator Gardens Low Maintenance?  

If you're planting a lot of perennials, pollinator gardens can be very low-maintenance! They come back year after year. 

Adding weed-preventing ground cover like creeping thyme or phlox can make it even easier. 

Not a pollinator, but a pollinator-appreciator! 

Are there Pollinator-Friendly Perennials?  

There are plenty of pollinator-friendly perennials. Some of our favorites are:

• Butterfly milkweed: an essential shelter for Monarch butterflies - a must-have for any pollinator garden!
• Catmint: this grows big and beautiful, and is especially beautiful next to a fence or trellis. 
• Salvia: similar to lavender, it grows big with beautiful color. 
• Lavender: perfect for dry areas with sandy soil.
• Yarrow: grows like crazy in sandy, dry areas. 
• Liatris: excellent to pop in as bulbs in the spring, they grow fast and don't spread too much.

Are there Pollinator-Friendly Annuals?  

• Wildflower Seed Mix is the easiest way to plant annuals. 
• Zinnias are deer-resistant and last until the fall. 
• Cosmos are a beautiful addition to our garden this year, they grow nice and tall. 
• Sunflowers are a favorite, as long as you protect them from deer when they're small (they'll bite the heads right off!) 

Our sweet Ray loved to watch the butterflies

How to Create a Dreamy Cottage Garden [With Tour and Links] | Updated 2023

How to Create a Cottage Garden

• Cottage gardens are full of pollinator-friendly plants and not too planned out. I love them because you can find a plant you love, tuck it in somewhere, and it'll fit right in. 
• The non-toxic pest controls work better and are much less expensive than the poisonous sprays! Mosquito dunks, tick tubes, and deer fences work like a charm. Neem Oil and Copper fungicide, applied on alternating weeks, will help with bugs that eat your plants and fungus that affects their health. For hungry rabbits and squirrels, Bonide's Repel-All Spray is a lifesaver. It uses this egg solid mixture instead of poisonous chemicals. It stinks to high heaven while you spray it, but keeps the critters away. 
• Dwarf trees are my secret for controlled shade. Have an area where you only need a little bit of shade? Dwarf trees are the perfect fix. 

Cottage Garden Supplies

Neem Oil for all natural pest control
All Natural Spray to Repel Pests
Flea and Tick Spray
Tick Tubes

My Personal Cottage Garden To-Do List

Here's my personal to-do list for my garden this summer:

• Remove grass from front yard and create a cottage garden adding seasonal interest.

• Create paths in the side garden - one with crushers (Martha Stewart inspired) and the other with Irish moss) again removing all grass.

• Create path to pool with crushers also removed more grass and will remove grass on either side and plant to create privacy.

Once they're maintained, they need such low maintenance!

• Side garden in backyard. Remove grass and plant all pollinators in my bird and bee garden.
• Small lavender and catmint garden on the opposite side for pollinators.
• Create a mural with Ava on the side wall.
• Maintain slate path by weeding between slate and patching cement. 
• Add climbing roses to side arbor.

These beautiful climbing roses are a season-long stunner! 

• Work on sloped front garden to stop erosion and add privacy.
• Add to fairy garden
• Back garden install fence and add more plants this year. This has been a tough area due to the deer going to watch this one over the summer before adding more plants since I lost so many last year. Soil is poor so I had a rock wall installed and added all fresh soil and planted roses and hydrangeas two years ago but it is not doing too well.
• Create a Japanese garden in the backyard. This is going to be a huge task as it is a big space. Thinking of starting with planting dwarf trees and creating paths. Doing a lot of research first.
• Herb garden - growing sage, chamomile, mint and basil

These look and smell beautiful! 

• Rose garden front right - adding some low plants for weed prevention.
• Front of picket fence. Adding catmint and roses. 
• Paint adirondack furniture and maintain rock seating area under Japanese Maple. The mother of this tree died a few years after I moved in and I was devastated but she dropped seeds and one took off and is getting huge.
• Paint picket fence and maintain.

• Work on front paths to help with erosion. House is on a sloped side and water pours down path when it rains. Had to have the entire front of the house sealed. Working on the front of the fence to avoid the erosion.

Cottage Garden Advice

The best advice I can give while working on so many projects is something I learned from a mentor many years ago. Do a little of each project each day so it is not so overwhelming and before you know it you get so much done. This has worked for so many projects in my life from work to my home.  Yesterday morning was beautiful so before I went to the store I painted some of the front picket fence and then dug up some more grass for the cottage garden. When I was out shopping for groceries after work, I picked up a few lavender plants and catmint and soil for my iris moss path.  On a busy day I was able to fit in some gardening tasks I did not think were possible. This morning I will be weeding the irish moss path and putting down the soil and planting the moss.

The best garden inspiration: my beautiful daughter Ava and Old Westbury Gardens on Long Island

The Spring Entertaining Edit | Everything You Need to Know for Hosting Spring Parties Like a Pro

 The weather is warming up and it's time for spring entertaining. Whether you're planning an Easter or  Mother's Day brunch or just having friends over to enjoy the warmer weather, we have your spring entertaining guide ready.

Hostess Gifts for Easter and Spring Parties

Our custom gift baskets are the best Easter baskets or Mother's Day gifts. Just pick your size (small, medium, and large) and the curated gift basket that best fits the recipient. We'll fill it with beautiful finds and ship it right to you or your recipient. It makes the perfect hostess gift, Easter basket, or Mother's Day gift!  

Spring Table Inspiration for the Gardener 

For the gardener's spring table, it's all about bringing the outside in. Hand out seed packets as favors, and mint juleps make the best cocktails. 

Your early spring blooms like tulips and daffodils are perfect to brighten up the table. 

Want to elevate your cocktails, salad dressing, or dessert? Try our culinary lavender buds. 

Clockwise from top left: Vietri Fiori di Campo Assorted Dinner Plates | Vietri Fiori Di Campo Assorted Cereal Bowls | Lavender Lovers Seed Packet | Colette Olive Glasses | April Cornell Tablecloth | Culinary Lavender Buds | Bud Vase | Mint Julep Mix | Peonies Reversible Placemat | Garden Buds Wine Glass

Spring Table Inspiration for the Traditionalist

This look is all about the classics. White table linens, grandma's silver (or someone else's grandma's silver that you got at an estate sale for an amazing deal), piles of flowers in vintage vases and pewter ice buckets. 

We love our Arte Italica Bella Bianca line of dishes for their antique look with modern day durability - they're microwave, oven, and dishwasher safe. 

Clockwise from top right: Seashell sealed glass vase | Rowan serving platter set | vintage pewter ice bucket | Sofia coupes | Sferra tablecloth | Bella Bianca dishes 

Spring Table Inspiration for the Color Lover

We love a colorful spring table! Go durable with our melamine indoor/outdoor plates - they're great for kids while still looking stylish.

Indoor/outdoor pillows dress up your table. We also have these cozy new indoor/outdoor boucle throws for chilly spring nights!

Clockwise from top right: Laura Park acrylic napkin rings | Laura Park Summer Garden melamine plates | Vietri Baroque Glass Charger | Laura Park Gingham Indoor/Outdoor Pillow | Pine Cone Hill Indoor/Outdoor Boucle Blanket | Simpatico Candle | Tuscan Pitcher | Blue Pheasant Sofia Soft Pink Glassware

Spring Cocktail Recipes

Check our Mixologist Gift Guide for everything you need for the bar. 

Photo from Superman Cooks

Lavender Lemonade Mocktail: 

1 oz. Simply Lemonade (we like the all-natural taste with few sweeteners)

1 oz. sparkling water

.5 oz Lavender Syrup

Lemon

Lavender Culinary Buds

Ice

To make: Shake lemonade, simple syrup, and ice. Strain into a glass with more ice. Top with sparkling water. Cut a lemon into thin rounds. Dip half a round lightly into lavender syrup, then press into Lavender Culinary Buds to coat. 

To make it a cocktail: replace sparkling water with champagne or prosecco. 

The Lavender & Co. Spring Planting Monthly Calendar

We are positively fiending to get out into the garden and start planting! It's still a little cold here in New York, so we're planning our garden, hoarding plants, seeds, and bulbs, and waiting for the weather to warm up. 

Here's our handy monthly spring planting calendar - use it to plan your garden this year!

What to do in January and February in your garden: 

Here in the Northeast, there's not a lot you can do. This is a good time to plan: order your spring-planted bulbs and seeds. In late February, start your seeds in seed starter trays. 

What to do in your garden in March: 

Things start to thaw out a little bit in March. 

• Once the buds start appearing on roses, you can begin pruning them. Make sure to prune according to your rose bush's breed! Knockout roses and hybrids are easy to prune - prune criss-crossing or rubbing canes, anything thinner than a pencil, and you can hard-prune up to a foot above the ground.  Heirloom roses need more artistry and care.
• Once temperature lows at nighttime are above 25*, you can plant spring bulbs like ranunculus and anemones. We wait till the nighttime lows are 30*, just to be safe. 
• Some seeds require a process called "cold stratification." This can be sped up in the freezer - check your seed packets to see if they need this (some seeds like poppies benefit from it). March is a good time to start cold stratifying, you usually need 4-6 weeks.
• Plant grass seed, but be careful: some municipalities, like those on Long Island, outlaw fertilizer application until April 1 to avoid contaminating the groundwater. 

What to do in your garden in April and May: 

• You can start planting once the last frost has definitely passed. Here in zone 7, a good rule of thumb is Mother's Day weekend. 
• It's best to wait on clearing out fall leaves from your beds until nighttime lows are in the 50s. Pollinators and bunny rabbits usually sleep in leaves until late April/early May.
• Once the daffodils, tulips, and ranunculus blooms have died off, leave the green stalks - they'll need the photosynthesis to make the bulbs strong for next year. Some gardeners braid them together to look less unkempt. Once these get brown and die off, you can dig them up and store them in peat moss for the winter, or plant on top of them. Daffodils and tulips usually are fine to overwinter in zone 7, but ranunculus should be overwintered if you want it to be a perennial. 
• May is a good time to mulch, but wait until after Memorial Day if you have lots of oak trees. The oak tree "hair" and pollen sheds around this time and will get all over your fresh mulch! 

What to do in your garden in June: 

• Prevention is the name of the game when it comes to fungus and pests. Neem oil and copper fungicide are all-natural preventatives.  You could also use a more gentle, less expensive mixture of baking soda, water, and dish soap called the Cornell Formula for the fungicide. Both can be sprayed once a week, on different days: neem for pests, copper fungicide or Cornell Formula for fungus. Spraying early in the morning is best. 
• Roses are especially finicky and prone to fungus. Mulch, especially dyed mulch, can carry a lot of fungus in it and can infect your plants. Sweet plants like hibiscus will get eaten alive without neem oil. Make sure to keep an eye on your different plants to ensure they're getting the treatment they need.

What to do in your garden in July and August: 

• Make sure everything is being watered, dead-headed, and pruned as much as it needs. 
• Powdery mildew gets bad in the humid days of August, so spraying the mulch (where it often originates) and any powdery-mildew prone plants with copper fungicide or cornell formula is the best way to prevent it. 

What to do in your garden in September and October: 

• Order fall-planted bulbs and get them in the ground. 
• Prune anything that likes to be pruned before the winter. 

What to do in your garden in November: 

• Spread corn gluten as an all-natural weed preventer on the lawn.
• Once the first frost hits, dig up dahlia bulbs and store in peat moss for the winter. 

Our Favorite Outdoor Living Finds: 

 

Clockwise from top right: Jamie Young Blanca Chandelier | Dash & Albert Zhara Rug | Mingled Denim Indoor/Outdoor Pouf | Ella Napkins | Rowan Wood Charger | Lastra Melamine Dinnerware | Modern History Celine Round Coffee Table | Miss Ella Indoor Outdoor Pillow

Brands We Love: Pom Pom at Home Bedding

Pom Pom at Home is one of the most-loved brands that we carry in the shop. Their fine linens give a lived-in, elegant look to any home. They only use 100% natural linen and cotton in their products, so we feel confident providing our customers with a superior product. 

Are Pom Pom at Home Linens Eco-Friendly?

Pom Pom at Home is dedicated to lessening their impact on the earth, and using all-natural fibers is part of their ethos. Their products are made from only 100% natural linen and cotton.

Linen is derived from the flax plant and it requires far less fertilizer and water than other plants that are used to manufacture bedding & clothing. They lessen our impact on the environment by utilizing 100% natural linen which happens to be the longest lasting of all the plant-based fibers. 

While Pom Pom at Home mostly offers linen products, their cotton products adhere to strict environmental standards, free of harmful substances and synthetics. 

Linen Bedding Basics

100% linen bedding has a relaxed, stylishly rumpled look. It won't be as perfectly crisp as 100% cotton percale sheets, but that's the look of linen bedding: you have to love it. Linen sheets are cool in the summer, and get softer and softer with wear. 

Best Pom Pom at Home Coastal Bedding 

There are so many options for Pom Pom at Home coastal style bedding. Their relaxed style is perfect for a easy, stylish beach home: think Malibu retreat or a cottage in Montauk. 

For a coastal look, we love the Jackson Bedding, which comes in a range of colors. Pair it with a dusty blue coverlet for a touch of color and an aptly-named Nantucket throw for chilly seaside nights. 

Shop the Pom Pom at Home Jackson Bedding

Shop the Dusty Blue coverlet and shams here

Shop the Pom Pom at Home Nantucket Throw

Best Pom Pom at Home Modern Farmhouse Bedding 

For modern farmhouse bedding, we usually go with bamboo sheets. They're silky smooth, breathable, and hypoallergenic. We then layer with a coverlet, like the Oslo White coverlet. Coverlets are great because they're another layer for warmth in the winter, and another texture for adding visual interest. Lately, we're loving the all-new Copenhagen pattern for the top of the bed and shams. It's the perfect modern farmhouse look! 

Shop the Oslo Coverlet

Shop the Bamboo Sheet Set in Sand

Shop the Copenhagen Collection

Shop Pom Pom at Home Bedding at Lavender & Co. 

Shop our entire collection of Pom Pom at Home bedding online at Lavender & Company! 

Virtual Interior Design by Lavender Fields

 If you love our style but don't live in New York, you can work with Lavender Fields with our virtual interior design service! 

How Virtual Interior Design Works

The first step is to get in touch with us via our online form. It helps us get a sense of your budget, style, and the scope of your project. 

Our designers will then get in touch with you to discuss your project. 

We can work with you on anything from paint selection to full interior design services. 

• Paint color and wallpaper selection
• Art and accessories selection
• Bookshelf styling
• Fabrics and Wallpaper by the yard from top to-the-trade-only brands
• Perfectly-sized lighting, rugs, and furniture for your space
• Furniture layout and selection

How Fabric and Wallpaper Ordering Works

We're able to source to-the-trade fabric and wallpapers that are only available to interior designers and architects: brands like Gracie Studio, Schumacher, Christian LaCroix, Scalamandre, Kelly Wearstler, and more. 

Hand-in-hand with our procurement services, we're also able to assist our virtual design clients in helping you with your custom project with your new fabric. If you're looking for stunning new window treatments or pillows with your new fabric or trimmings, get in touch with us here. 

Putting It All Together 

Many of our customers love everything in our shop, but are unsure of how to put it all together . We're able to help our virtual design clients pull together an entire look, from a properly-sized Dash & Albert rug to the perfect chandelier to coordinating pillows and all the accessories. 

Get in touch with us here to get started on your project!