Meiow - a potager is simply a decorative veg, garden. The design can have raised beds but not necessarilly. The important thing is the design so that the veg. part of the garden is pleasant to sit in as well as useful. Very popular in France, hence the French name. My raised beds mean no digging and less bending at my age. But the great thing about potagers ia that you can incorporate up-to-date thinking about gardening. Flowers in the beds as well as veg. means more pollinators and food for bees and butterflies. Patterns made by the veg. are more restful to the eye than straight lines. Not having great clumps of the same veg. means less chance of disease and organic gardening is possible and productive. I will keep you informed of the progress of my potager with pictures, but I already love to sit in the middle and dream up schemes and combinations for the various beds. So the design is a successful one - the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
I like the idea of flowers in the veggie plot, too. Two years ago we suffered badly from blackfly, but last year we edged the whole veggie section with different marigolds, and had no trouble at all. It looked terrific, and due to the mild winter they kept flowering well into February this year!
Our nasturtiums, grown on the opposite side of the garden, did suffer with blackfly last year, so we shall grow them together with marigolds in future.
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My potager was finished on Tuesday and I am now busy filling the eight raised beds.
Hi happymaion,it looks great, but I still don't understand what a potager is?
Is it raised beds that grow veg & flowers, so not needing the need for digging?
M
Meiow - a potager is simply a decorative veg, garden. The design can have raised beds but not necessarilly. The important thing is the design so that the veg. part of the garden is pleasant to sit in as well as useful. Very popular in France, hence the French name. My raised beds mean no digging and less bending at my age. But the great thing about potagers ia that you can incorporate up-to-date thinking about gardening. Flowers in the beds as well as veg. means more pollinators and food for bees and butterflies. Patterns made by the veg. are more restful to the eye than straight lines. Not having great clumps of the same veg. means less chance of disease and organic gardening is possible and productive. I will keep you informed of the progress of my potager with pictures, but I already love to sit in the middle and dream up schemes and combinations for the various beds. So the design is a successful one - the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
I like the idea of flowers in the veggie plot, too. Two years ago we suffered badly from blackfly, but last year we edged the whole veggie section with different marigolds, and had no trouble at all. It looked terrific, and due to the mild winter they kept flowering well into February this year!
Our nasturtiums, grown on the opposite side of the garden, did suffer with blackfly last year, so we shall grow them together with marigolds in future.
dug up flower border in autumn. added compost and manure in winter. now just planted broad beans,potatoes and onions