Cream-of-the-Crop Vegetable Gardens: Potager Design Ideas

Did you know pottage is a thick soup? Makes sense — original potagers (vegetable gardens) provided manor kitchens with ingredients for thick soup. Medieval monks elevated the humble veggie garden to art.

Here are gardening strategies and design methods based on the classic potager. You might be inspired to add a cabbage bed or start a rooftop lettuce garden.

Deborah Cerbone Associates, Inc.: Traditional potagers had separate beds with one crop each. Today's potager-inspired gardens combine edibles and ornamentals but draw design cues from classic plant groupings.

Beertje Vonk Artist — Group and Rotate Plants: Classic potagers had four beds with four crops rotating yearly. Today's gardeners want more varieties — plant in groupings, but feel free to add more than four.

Olivotti Landscape: When each bed has a different species, crop rotation is easy. Plant potatoes, onions, legumes, and brassicas in separate raised beds and rotate so the same type isn't in the same bed for three additional years. Keeps soil fertile, protects from diseases and pests organically.

The Brickman Group, Ltd. — Add Vertical Structure: Many vegetables need to climb for successful harvest. Use this need for beautiful design. Pea towers from sticks add vertical element and rustic charm.

Giannetti Home: Iron structures give a more formal look while meeting climbing needs.

Anne F Walters Company, Landscape Architects: Classic trellis provides vertical interest and doubles planting space. Sweet potato vine or watermelon vine works well.

Blasen Landscape Architecture: Potagers needn't look old-fashioned. Pair classic plantings with modern vertical elements for beautiful, functional combinations.

John Kraemer & Sons — Choosing Shapes: Monks showed creativity in potager designs — circular, rectangular, even triangular gardens. This circular garden draws inspiration from a humble monastic potager.

Clinton & Associates, PC Landscape Architects: Variety of rectangular sizes creates interest in an updated vegetable garden.

Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture — Try Raised Beds: When soil was hard clay or sand, raised beds were the solution. Piling new fertile soil in a raised bed creates an instant garden without backbreaking double digging.

Shades Of Green Landscape Architecture: Raised beds from 6 inches to 3+ feet tall. Taller beds help those who can't bend or kneel.

Banyon Tree Design Studio: For a modern, whimsical twist, try galvanized watering troughs.

Bright Green — Potager Placement: Apartment dweller? Grow herbs and salad greens in a kitchen planter.

The Brickman Group, Ltd.: Great sun in front yard, shade in back? Plant potager out front. Orderly groupings keep the look appropriate for a front walkway.

Mark English Architects, AIA: Rooftop great for sun-loving veggies and salad greens. Diagonal rows make a charming throwback to monastic potagers.

Jason Lee Design Studio, Inc. — Potager Plants: Various alliums (onions, scallions, chives) perfect for well-designed potagers. Vertical element, sweet spherical flowers, edible.

Andrea Meyers: Herbs are classic. Beginners try easy mint and cilantro.

Thyme is versatile and tasty. Creeping thyme softens planter and path edges; sprinkle fresh leaves on roast chicken.

The Outdoor Room, LLC: Take cues from old potagers — integrate raised beds, crop rotations, pea towers. Stray from classic design rules but heed organic wisdom that worked for generations.