Best Potager Garden Design for Vegetable Garden Layout

Last Updated on April 5, 2024 by Real Men Sow

Creating a potager garden is better than planting traditional ruler-straight rows of plants. Plus, you won’t have to deal with the muddy gaps of the places where plants used to be. The way to grow your own food at home can be done without making a vegetable plot that looks out of place in your garden. This is why coming up with a potager garden design is a very personal and effective activity to do as a gardener.

 

potager garden

Things to Consider in Making a Beautiful Potager Garden

The focal point can be any plant, an ornamental kale container, an archway or obelisk dripping in beans, or a tall globe artichoke. You can also use pathways or lines of plants to draw attention to it. You can achieve rhythm by repeating the same plants at regular intervals throughout the design. If you grow a lot of one type of vegetable, or herb, place them in accents or as edging. Pest Insects would also be confused and would less likely attack your crops.

Low lavender, box hedges, cordon-trained berrying plants, step-over apple trees can be used to edge vegetable plot borders or beds. This creates a sense of rhythm in the garden. You could also use your kitchen favorites like lettuces and parsley to make it easier to harvest them regularly.

Picking out Your Plants for Potagers

Colors play a big part in making a beautiful Potager. Contrasting colors would make your vegetable land more pleasing to the eyes. Ornamental Plants like orange calendula, pink echinacea, golden sunflowers, electric blue cornflowers, and many more would make your Potager look more in bloom and would attract insects. These insects would encourage pollination. 

The plants’ texture also has a big role in making a beautiful Potager. Plants’ contrasting shapes would give amazing effects in your Potager.

Potager Garden Design for the Best Layout

The shapes of the beds can be any shape – rectangular, square, rectangular, triangular or L-shaped, and there are endless possibilities for patterns. You don’t have to stick with traditional rows. Let your imagination run wild. Checkerboard patterns are also possible. Alternate red and green lettuce varieties are my favourite combination. Formal, geometric and symmetrical design help create an orderly feeling. The gardens of the French Renaissance offer a wealth of ideas and inspiration in this style. Although Celtic patterns are a good starting point, it is important to not make the design too complex, especially in small spaces.

The garden’s non-plant parts should not be overlooked. While paths can be made from almost any material, brick, gravel and bark look great and require very little maintenance. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on plant supports, rainwater barrels, composters, or even plant pots. Hand-made and recycled products are charming. Why not incorporate them into your potager design?

What does Potager Garden Design Mean?

A potager garden is simply an area of vegetable land that follows the guidelines of garden design. It is intended to produce a space that is both ornamental and productive. It is important to establish a focal point that ties the entire design together. The best thing about a potager? Most of the crops must be rotated every year. This gives you the opportunity to create new designs each year. 

Real Men Sow
Real Men Sow

Hello, I’m Pete and I’m currently based in the west of Scotland, in a small place called Rosneath, where I’m exploring my garden adventures. I personally started gardening around 6 years ago and initially, I started out by growing my favorite fruits and berries, such as strawberries, Raspberries & Gooseberries. Since then I’ve added a lot of vegetables and working closely with my neighbor, it’s been a lot of fun.