Creating Cottage Gardens

One of the advantages of the English cottage garden is a certain leeway allowed in designing: the gardens can (and maybe should) look not just profuse but robustly shaggy, saturated in themselves, burgeoning and blooming. Davis, a veteran of the cottage genre, here sets out to ``explode some myths.'' ``Cottage gardens do not have to be small or lawnless,'' she declares. But she also stays true to the fragrant, decorative clamber of the genre. Much of the book is devoted to making very specific recommendations: the best gray foliage plants to incorporate in a garden; small bush roses to consider using; which evergreens will be suitable. She also advises on mulching, watering, pruning, spraying; surveys some English, Australian and New Zealandish gardens; and attends to color schemes, as always a focus of concern and discussion. ``There is no such thing as the perfectly tidy tree,'' she cautions. Some photographs expose the shape of various gardens, while others are deluged with foxgloves and other blossoms. Similarly, her book should tame the challenges of gardening without narrowing its possibilities. (Oct.)