[Alberto]

My customer told me they wanted "cottage" style landscaping and I don't know what that is. A lot of perennials?

[msfxJeep]

I would think English Cottage. I usually ask clients to bring magazine clippings to the first meeting so I can see what they are talking about. Their idea of 'cottage' and my understanding of the term may be 2 completely different things.

[dan deutekom]

This is probably what they are thinking of
Cottage garden - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[msfxJeep]

I've had a few people tell me they want that style because it's 'low maintenance'. Much like bedhead, it's a lot of work to make something look like it's no work at all. It's even tougher to convince a non-gardening homeowner of that.

[Gensparkie]

You got that right, Michael! People really don't "get it" that all those reseeding perennials and things tumbling into each other takes a hell of a lot of work to upkeep. Plants keep growing, so that look of fullness and ordered disarray turns into an overgrown mess if not kept up with carefully.

The looks of disbelief when you try and explain that to people....