Potager Gardening - Elements of the Kitchen Garden

Elements That Define A Potager

• A potager is usually defined, edged or 'boxed in' by some type of enclosure. The enclosure can be walls, fences, short boxwoods, vegetables, espaliered fruit trees or support for tall plantings. The larger structures or walls can provide a secondary job by producing a micro-climate through heat retention, keeping out wind and animals.
  
  
• Pathways are important to divide and define symmetrical plots for planting. I particularly like paths of pea gravel as it looks very tidy, but paths can also be made of coarse mulch, gravel or soil.
  
  
• Edging around plots can be permanent by growing boxwood hedging which looks nice year round or stone borders. Smaller borders or impermanent borders can also be made up of plantings such as flowers or vegetables. Borders which can be changed easily might be a good idea for the first two seasons in order to see what plants will work in given areas.
  
  
• Structure is an important element in your potager. Structure can be vertical in the shape of an arbor, small trees, a garden ornament. Structure is also walls, gates, and even terraces. Structure adds interest, and further defines the personal style of your potager.
  
  
• Order versus chaos. You might prefer a very formal potager, set out with boxwood borders, and neatly confined rows of planting. Your potager might start out with order, and as it grows becomes chaos, or a more romantic mixture of vegetables and flowers. Or your plantings from each seasonal beginning may by more informal, such as planting wildflower seeds.
  
  
• Center a focal point in your potager such as a small tree, garden ornament, urn, statuary. In my potager I have planted a bay laurel tree trimmed into a two-ball topiary. A focal point might also be an impressive artichoke plant, which renews itself year and year. More examples of possible focal points are a sundial, bird bath, obelisk, or a planted arbor.
  
  
  • Through posts, I'll describe plantings that can be used for either edging or fillers for the middle of the plots within the potager.
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