Kitchen Garden Style: Design, Plants & Accessories for Edible Landscapes

The Basics

The Design

Most kitchen gardens aim to produce food efficiently and beautifully. Many create a focal point: herb collection, traditional sculpture, or ornament. Some plants dictate design by rows (beans, peas); others need spreading/support (cucumbers, tomatoes). Fruit trees add vertical interest and camouflage architecture; some trained flat against walls (espalier) or set in an allée (rows flanking a path) leading to garden entrance.

The Plants

What do you like to eat? Answer guides planting. Consider:

• Successive crops. Plant cool- and warm-weather vegetables for continuous harvest spring–fall. Early spring: lettuce, greens (mesclun, mustard, arugula), peas, radishes, carrots, broccoli. After cool harvest: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, herbs. Fall: potatoes, cabbages, kale.
• Horizontal and vertical growers. Train tomatoes into towers/cages to keep vertical. Grapes on pergola.
• Dwarf or container varieties. Limited space? Enjoy apples, pears in patio containers.
• Herbs. Separate herb garden smart for expensive produce.
• Seeds versus seedlings. Many vegetables/herbs reliable from seed—economical. Try peas, beans, squash, lettuce, mesclun, beets, kale, broccoli, radishes, carrots.

The Accessories

1. Hardscaping

Efficient harvest planning is important, but include hardscape: borders, paths, support structures. Towers, cages, supports for tomatoes keep them growing up, not over other vegetables. Tower can be sturdy/formal or rustic (tepee from three twigs for snap peas). Raised beds (stone, wood, brick) facilitate planting, growth, harvest, and look organized. Fence to keep out animals.

2. Water Features

May not want raccoons/rabbits, but birds, bees, butterflies welcome. Birdbath encourages them.

3. Accents

Kitchen gardens feature utilitarian but beautiful accessories. Blanching pots keep rhubarb, asparagus, celery from turning green. Bee skeps and sundials—traditional herb garden centerpieces. Garden cloches (glass bell-shaped covers protecting from temperature extremes) also make beautiful ornaments.