How To Create a Potager Garden at Home in 7 Steps

For many cooks, a kitchen garden is a romantic idea, especially if you call it by its fancy French name: a potager (pronounced po-tuh-jay). Unlike a vegetable patch or an entire yard given over to unruly crops, the potager garden is contained and elegant.

Usually located in close proximity to the kitchen itself, a potager garden is meant to be tended and harvested daily. While a potager may sound like it belongs beside a French chateau, you can create one in a suburban yard or even a tiny city garden. We spoke to two gardeners who created potager gardens from scratch, and they shared their tips for how to make your potager dreams a reality.

Find the Perfect Spot for Your Potager

Sun is key for any kind of food growing, so look for a spot that ideally gets at least six hours of sunlight a day. In the northern hemisphere, place your garden on the southern side of any buildings or tall structures for optimal sun.

“In addition to an area that receives maximum sunlight, you also want it in an area that’s easily accessible and not terribly far away from the kitchen,” says Shavonda Gardner, an interior designer whose gardening hobby became so serious that she launched a separate Instagram account for her garden @thecottagebungalowpotager.

Design With Symmetry

In the potager garden, the layout and space planning are key. “Nothing about a French potager is haphazard. It’s a simple kitchen garden, but done with intention,” says Gardner. “For my potager, I included symmetrically-placed redwood garden boxes, gravel pathways, and a fountain at the center for a focal point.”

Gardner also recommends looking up classic potager inspiration images to help you create a plan that feels aligned with your personal style and goals. 

Build or Buy Raised Beds

Gardner and many other garden experts recommend growing vegetables in raised beds, so that you can control the growing conditions. As Nicole Burke explains in her book Kitchen Garden Revival, “Although gardening in the ground is possible and can be productive, it may take years to slowly amend a row of soil. But with raised beds, you begin with ideal conditions and then just work to keep them that way.”

However, Cathy Poshusta, author of the blog The Grit & Polish, whose vegetable garden is so pretty that it once graced the cover of Better Homes & Gardens’ Outdoor Living magazine, notes, “I love growing in raised beds, as much for the organization and beauty as the soil control.”

Incorporate Decorative Garden Structures

Potager gardens often include decorative vertical elements like trellises and tuteurs. “I replaced all my boring metal tomato cages with willow pyramids, and I love adding trellises for vertical climbers like sweet peas and cucumbers,” says Poshusta. Likewise, decorative cloches can add that vertical element and protect your crops from nibbling animals. Gardner has an arbor with climbing roses that defines the entry to her potager.

Incorporate Lots of Herbs

“I especially love herbs in potager gardens,” says Poshusta, who suggests thyme, oregano, sage, and chives for beginners. “They’re so beautiful and also edible, which feels like the essence of these French ‘soup pot’ gardens,” and, of course, she adds. “Lavender feels, oh-so-so French.”

Add in Low-Fuss Crops

If you’re new to gardening, select easy-to-grow varieties for your first season. Poshusta says kale, swiss chard, cosmos, and zinnias tend to be relatively hard to kill and produce all summer long.

Gardner suggests low or fast-growing veggies, including lettuces, radishes, beets, beans, cabbages, eggplant, tomatoes, and cucumber. 

Consider a Drip Irrigation System

Don’t position your potager garden too far from a water source, and set yourself up for success with an automatic watering system, suggests Poshusta. “Drip irrigation is ideal but something as simple as a sprinkler and a timer on your hose works too,” she adds.