Choosing Groundcovers for a Cottage Garden: Grass vs. Herbal Alternatives

Traditional Cottage Garden Floor

English cottage gardens used woolly thyme, pennyroyal, or chamomile—fragrant, flowering, but labor-intensive. Hand-weeding is constant; no herbicides can distinguish herbs from weeds.

Reality Check

• Chamomile needs perfect drainage, mild 4-season climate (like England). Fails in harsh US winters/summers.
• Pennyroyal looks like mint; hard to weed without killing it.
• Creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum) tolerates moderate foot traffic, zones 7–9.
• Moss: shade-only, slippery, no foot traffic.

Buckingham Palace & Old Westbury Gardens

Even royal chamomile lawns suffer from poor weeding. Old Westbury uses Kentucky bluegrass around cottage plantings—practical and beautiful.

Verdict

If you have endless time/labor for weeding, herbal carpets are stunning. For most, a well-maintained grass frame with herbal accents in beds is smarter.

Worth it? Personal decision.