The Transformation
See It Before and After
Drag the slider to see this bed before Aaron's crew got to work, and after the cottage garden was complete.
Before
After
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Cottage and butterfly gardens that bloom with personality from spring through fall. Designed to attract pollinators and bring genuine joy every time you look out the window.
Request a ConsultationDrag the slider to see this bed before Aaron's crew got to work, and after the cottage garden was complete.
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There's a reason cottage and butterfly gardens feel so alive - they're designed that way on purpose. The right mix of native and adapted perennials creates overlapping bloom times, so something is always flowering from April through October. Monarchs, swallowtails, bees, and hummingbirds find what they need, and you get a garden that genuinely moves and changes rather than just sitting there looking the same week after week.
Aaron selects plants that work in Michigan's climate and your specific soil conditions, layered by height and bloom time so the garden fills in beautifully. He avoids the trap of planting whatever looks good at the nursery in spring, instead building a plan that accounts for how the garden will look and behave in June, August, and October, not just May.
These gardens tend to look a little wild and abundant, full in a way that feels intentional rather than overgrown. If that's what you're after, Aaron will make it happen in a way that's actually manageable to keep up with.
Start a ConversationWe take this work on across Washtenaw County. See what we build in Saline and Scio Township, or get in touch about your own property.
Common Questions
You need both host plants and nectar plants, and most gardens only have the second. Milkweed is non-negotiable if you want monarchs. It's the only thing their caterpillars eat. Beyond that, coneflower, bee balm, joe-pye weed, aster and liatris all perform well here and extend the bloom window from midsummer into fall, which matters more than any single plant.
It's informal by design, but informal and unkempt are different things. The trick is a strong edge and a repeated structure: a defined bed line, some evergreen or shrub anchors, and the same plants repeated in drifts rather than one of everything. That frame is what lets the planting inside it be loose.
Deer are a genuine constraint in much of Ann Arbor and we plan for them rather than pretending otherwise. A lot of the classic cottage palette is deer candy: hosta, daylily, tulip. We build around the plants they reliably leave alone: salvia, nepeta, agastache, yarrow, most ornamental grasses, and anything strongly aromatic.
Spring and early fall both work well in Michigan. Fall planting gives perennials a head start on root establishment before the ground freezes. Midsummer installs are possible but need consistent watering through the first season.
Aaron designs pollinator gardens across Ann Arbor that look amazing and take care of themselves season after season.
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