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How small is too small for a potager
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Posted by fernsk z2 Canada (My Page) on Wed, Jan 16, 08 at 11:19
| Hi all
I have a miniature back yard at my townhouse [17.5 x 17 feet]. Over the past 2 years I've destroyed all the tired old lawn, redesigned with a soft S shape from the gate to the step, used the lasagna garden method to create a rose/cottage garden effect in the top half of the S, and pined for a formal potager for vegetable growing. I do grow awesome cucumbers and tomatoes and peppers but I have zero design/order/prettiness with the veggies in contrast to the area devoted to roses, a cherry bush/tree and herbs [the cottage garden area]. My backyard faces south and with white stucco walls, cement walk and 6 ft fence it becomes a hot house during the summer [May-Sept]. I have an area that is about 3 feet wide x 7 feet long right beside my step to the back door that I use to grow my veggies. Is it possible to create a potager in that space? Help me to create order from my chaos please
Fern |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: How small is too small for a potager
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| Heavens yes. You can train vines up the stucco walls or espalier fruit trees against them. Even a small space can be a fine herb garden or greens/ edible flowers garden (forget about corn, winter squash or watermelon though). Think micro-greens, baby vegetables.... It can be changed from season to season because none of it (except perhaps espaliered trees) is permanent and that way you can play around with leaf textures and color combinations, flower combos, etc. |
RE: How small is too small for a potager
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| I understand what you mean by a hot house in summer. My mother has a similar yard as to what you describe. If you put in the vines suggested by greenwitch, they will help to reduce the heat and glare reflected by the block wall. You can put in a few flowering bushes to provide background height and additional shade. I think everything will naturally tie together once the space is filled in. Flowering plants are good companions for vegetables. Roses like onions and garlic.Nasturtiums, marigolds, and Santolina help to ward off insect pests. You can create height and visual interest by putting in a few blocks with a board across them for potted plants, or upending a large pot and placing another pot on top of it. Mulching would be a good thing, because of the heat contained in a small fenced garden. Depending upon your location, you could probably have a pretty good winter veggie garden in your yard. Kale, collards, broccoli, mustard greens, arugula, savoy, and others, can all grow well in winter if your climate isn't too harsh. Lorna |
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