Potager Or French Kitchen, Which One Is It?
Nothing is better than a potager garden, also referred to as a French Kitchen which means “for the soup pot” in French, near the house. Every gardener’s dream is to have the freshest produce and herbs nearby.
Potager History
Potagers have been around for centuries and remain popular today as gardeners look for peace and beauty in their gardens. Historically, potager gardens have had a strong impact throughout Europe. The German four-square gardens came from when Charlemagne made his campaign through France and into Germany.
In France today, potager layouts are more casual and modest. Unlike an English house garden, the potager focuses primarily on vegetables and herbs instead of flowers.
Potager Planning
Americans typically keep their gardens hidden. They build them at the furthest point from their homes. Being far away from the house brings neglect. It’s challenging and time-consuming to drag garden hoses and tools out to the garden after getting home from an unrelenting workday. Any gardener will tell you just how quickly the weeds can appear when you don’t check on your garden for a couple of days. It’s easier to step outside your home, into the garden, and start trimming up the garden than walking to the farthest corner of your yard. Growing a potager garden, you will love having this near your home!
Things To Consider With A Potager Garden
Consider how the site picked fits into the scenery. Think of how the wind and the amount of sunlight impact your garden. Plan your potager garden in an area where you may want to see it from a window or kitchen. Think about your plan, and sketch it out; shape and width, the size of walkways passing through your garden. Whether they’ll be winding, straight or abstract. As the season progresses and vegetables begin to grow, your garden beds will also grow and begin to fill. There is seldom exposed soil or much space between plants, and the potage beds soon are filled with plants, mulch, or composts.
The main things to consider are lines, plant varieties, and character. It’s vital to acquaint a center point to tie everything together. The idea is to have paths or lines of plants that will draw a person’s attention to it. The objective is not redundancy in your planting. Rather than having one massive bunch of plants, vegetables, or herbs, in one location, spread them around as accents. Potager follows the standards of garden planning to create beauty plus usefulness. Mixing herbs, flowers, and organic vegetables require careful planning of perennial plants, so they don’t interfere with the growth of an occasional harvest.
Potager Planting
Plant shrubs, berries, fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, and nearly anything that grows within the climate zone limitations of your garden. Outline your garden beds and boxes with low-lying lavender or leafy lettuce, cabbage, or parsley to make them easier to pick. There are an endless number of various mixes to plant in your potager. Different varieties can create a beautiful scene. Planting colorful sections of flowers, vegetables, fruits, and herbs next to one another will achieve a dramatic display. Gardeners have been mixing vegetables, flowers, and herbs in a potager for centuries. These gardens are a tapestry of tones and shapes.
Verticle Accents
Small natural trees generally stand at the edge of the potager. Strawberries, perennial herbs, and flowers line the pathway at your feet. Cut back Large spreading herbs like mint or tansy should be contained. Consider vertical accents like corn, tomato cages, or lattice for your beans.
Other than the desire for people to grow their own vegetables, a rising number of gardeners are making an effort to raise the most delicious produce to upgrade their cooking. Building a potager garden is the ideal way to get the results. Potager gardens show off the beauty of vegetable garden plants.