Creating a Potager:

1. Creating a Potager: A Kitchen Garden Hideaway Lois Royer - jont@umd.edu

3. What is a Potager? • French term for a kitchen garden • A place for beauty, relaxation, and edibles • (Don’t worry about the pronunciation)

4. Basic Vegetable Gardening • Site • 1. Type of garden • 2. Size and costs • 3. Location Soil 4. Testing 5. Preparing 6. Improving Seeds 7. Best crops 8. How to plant 9. Using transplants Sustain 10. Feed and water 11. Weeds 12. Harvest!

5. Creating your potager • Dream what you want • Assess what you have • Then think realistically

6. Start Small and Flexible • Close to house is best • Must have sun for veggies • Water available • All gardens need care costing time or money (often both)

7. Make a written plan • Start with graph of existing plot • Take photographs and measurements • If desired begin a journal or notebook • Make a 3-5 year plan • Learn more every year

8. Pattern • Geometric patterns are great when viewed from above • Endless possibilities • Use center stake and rope to make circles • Check for square when making rectangles, corner to corner measurement should match

9. Theme and Mood • Formal hardscape can still create a relaxed garden • Rigid themes can be confining or fun • Consider the surroundings, especially your house • Remember it is your garden, do what you like

10. Cottage style is forgiving but not maintenance free

11. Try a modular approach • Start with the center area or one section • Build a few beds each year • Don’t add beds unless you easily maintained your current areas

12. Enclosure for Protection and Privacy • Keep out Critters- especially deer • Design feature • Blend with feel of your location • Create a world apart

13. PATHWAYS • Room for cart • Grass or mulch • Add stone or brick in the future • Keep sharp edges

14. Building your Beds • Consider your reach • Watch corners and round areas • Think where you will stand and have stones ready • Raised beds have pros and cons • Sheet composting makes easy bed prep

15. COLOR & TEXTURE • Flowers add color and interest all season • Principals used in flower gardens work well • Vegetables have a wide range of textures • Don’t forget the variety of HERBS to use

16. Create Focal Point & Go Vertical • A focal point draws attention to the garden • Use plants or structures • Vertical supports will greatly increase use of square footage

17. PLAN FOR CHANGES • Vegetables are mostly annuals • Some are harvested before end of season • Some take all season to grow and mature • Prep for these ongoing changes • Expect to need to fill holes, maybe with flowers, containers, or mulch

18. Refine your practices in the future as you gain experience • Crop rotation • Succession planting • Larger garden • Start seeds indoors • Try new plant varieties • Extend the season • Plant for winter visual interest

20. Find inspiration

21. Appreciate Simplicity

22. Make the garden your own

23. My garden so far

24. Resources Grow it! Eat it!- http://extension.umd.edu/growit Access to valuable and practical gardening tips and information. Share your experiences in our blog. Maryland Master Gardener Program- http://extension.umd.edu/mg Consider becoming a MG volunteer Home and Garden Information Center-http://extenstion.umd.edu/hgic Can answer your gardening questions… Call the “hotline” Mon-Fri, 8am-1pm. 1-800-342-2507 Send questions and photos 24/7 through this web site for a quick and thorough answer.

25. This program was brought to you by Maryland Master Gardener Program Howard County University of Maryland Extension