EDIBLE GARDENS / POTAGERS

Edible gardens can comprise of so much more than a humble vegetable plot or a few rows of berries. They can be an outstanding, decorative asset to your landscape, as well as producing delicious, organic produce and fruit. Every landscape can include edible plants, with many heirloom and new varieties readily available. They are best combined with texture interest and contrasting color in mind, in addition to their culinary properties. Vegetables come in ranges of blue-green, red and bright green leaf colors. Various herbs and aromatic perennials and shrubs, such as Lavender, can be included. You may also wish to plant annuals and perennial cut flowers. Edible gardens perform well in the Mid-Columbia, with its abundant sunshine during the summer months. Sheltering the garden from strong winds and choosing the correct varieties according to the site’s elevation are considerations.

A French Kitchen Garden or Potager is a structured ornamental vegetable garden, its beds often designed formally in repetitive, geometric patterns. A potager has year-round visual appeal. A series of paths connect the beds, being wide enough for comfortable garden work and pleasing to walk along. Raised beds lend themselves to this garden style. They produce earlier and abundant crops, especially if filled with the right soil mix. We prefer rough-cut cedar as a building material for these beds, however, wood plastic composite materials such as Trex or TimberTech are an option. A 2x8 or 2x10 top board doubles as a sitting ledge, also allowing for comfortable gardening. A trellis attached to the back or center of the raised bed lends support and ornamental quality.

Enclosure: Edible gardens may be partially or fully surrounded by a hedge or fence, lending privacy and an element of surprise at discovery to the garden within. Boundary plants may be shrub roses, ornamental shrubs or edible plants. Berry plants such as Blueberries, Red Currants or trellised Raspberries can be used as background or enclosure shrubs, being ornamental as well as edible. Blueberry leaves display vibrant red fall color as an added bonus. With the selection of several different cultivars, harvest can last over two months.

Fruit trees may be espaliered. In Hood River County, with its major fruit industry, fruit trees in home gardens need to be sprayed, to prevent them from being hosts for insects such as Codling Moth, which could infest commercial orchards.

Ornamental elements: Your edible garden can contain decorative and supporting vertical elements such as fences, trellises, obelisks and arches. Sculpture, birdbaths and containers form focal points and add interest. You may even wish to build a small greenhouse or cold frame, extending the growing season and raising your own vegetable starts.

Mount Hood Gardens Raised Beds: These custom-built Cedar Raised Beds at Mount Hood Gardens line the driveway to the company’s office. They allow for convenient and easy harvesting of vegetables and herbs, create a boundary between stock beds and office driveway, and add visual interest.

The raised beds in their summer glory in mid July	The center raised bed at Mount Hood Gardens in Mid July. Green and purple basil borders tomato plants, which will later be tied to the trellis.
Sakura Ridge Farm & Lodge Raised Beds: These generous raised beds double as comfortable seating to enjoy the fabulous views. The sitting ledges also facilitate easy plant tending and harvesting. The organically-grown vegetables and herbs provide culinary delight for guests and owners. Please visit the Commercial Installations section for a complete description and portfolio of the gardens at Sakura Ridge Farm and Lodge
The Kitchen Garden (potager) at Sakura Ridge Farm and Lodge, early June 2009. The raised beds are constructed out of rough-cut cedar and surrounded by cut bluestone squares to create a clean, easy mowing edge.

Residential Potager: A beautiful example of an ornamental vegetable garden, this Potager is part of a residential garden in The Dalles, Oregon. Raised beds are arranged in long rows, with an octagon-shaped bed framing the right side of the garden. A long front bed with a built-in center trellis, intended as a support for tomato plants, runs perpendicular to the remaining raised beds. Decorative focal points are the old school bell and fragrant tree roses surrounded by lavender. Wintergreen boxwood hedges add structure and a finished edge to the garden. The potager overlooks rolling hills of cherry orchards.

Measuring the future potager site in January of 1999	Potager Design
The potager after completion of the raised beds in late April 1999	The finished potager in its full glory, late July 1999

Residential Backyard Garden: A  standard-size backyard in a residential development in Hood River was transformed by a decorative and functional privacy fence and three small raised vegetable beds surrounded by lush, bermed screen plantings.

During construction in mid June 2006
A greenhouse allows for early-season propagation of vegetable starts and other plants, and anchors the southwest corner of the backyard, August 2006.	These raised beds are backed by an attractive privacy fence planted with climbers, early June 2007.

Return to: Residential Gardens