New potager phase I

14 years ago

This is a picture of my Potager garden-phase one.

I am open to suggestions as I am used to gardening on flat areas.

front left corner is to back left corner faces due west

front right corner to back right corner faces due east

I am the northeast of a big magnolia and cedar tree.

I will not cut down any trees as this property has been in my mothers family for over a hundred years and we are trying to preserve the landscape as much as possible.

I have not completed the gates and I hope to have the headers and gates completed by the end of the year.

The gates will be a focal point so I am still experimenting. These gates will have to be at least 6 feet tall by 4 feet wide so I am leaning towards a two 2 foot panels that open outward with black chickenwire in the middle in leiu of boards to cut down on weight and allow for a better view. The board (header) at the top of the gates will be finished off look like a beam.

I keep moving the rock around (good exercise) im not comletely sold on the rock edge as of yet. the completed rock edge will go around the garden on the outside of the wire. this rock has a special significance as it came from a 1910 bridge on the edge of the property that was renovated last year. I tried a small rock wall on the other side of the garden (out of view) and really liked how it looked. My problem is terracing this area. The area around the dogwood is not planted as of yet. all of these plants are left over from the 50s and 60s (I call them garden ghosts) and will have to be moved and heeled in until I can come up with a plan.

The area behind the last bed (where the big pile of compost material and the rose trellis and rock are) is Phase two. The grade is very steep back here and it slopes down from the main garden to the boxwood. It is an east facing slope and is in shade from a magnolia most of the fall and winter. I think a terrace of boxes would work as the final grade from the top of the last path to the boxwood is over 3 feet. I am considering putting the composter down here or building a rain box in the right front corner.

Here is a link that might be useful:

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Comments (4)

mandolls
14 years ago
You have made great headway for Phase one. Its a beautiful setting, I am sure it will be gorgeous as it grows in. Thanks for sharing.
HerrGothic
14 years ago
very nice, can't wait to see more photos as it develops
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oliveoyl3
14 years ago
Lovely and well thought out. Fencing is a plus! Looks like you can zip in there to pick a basket full of **dinner** and back out without getting muddy. Is it a low area or is that just the photo angle?

It will be even more lovely once you have climbers on those posts. Plant what you like and it will be a joy! Annuals are good when you can't decide what permanent plants to accent with.

Do you have any chairs down there? Even a cheap plastic one works when you want to take a break. When I sit & think about my garden design while actually in the garden my ideas work better.

Do you have water nearby or do you have to haul buckets? My water isn't close, but I can pull the hose out there. We installed soakers this year for the boxes and I still hand water the seedlings. Old habit & I don't quite trust the soakers as they slowly water.

Thanks for sharing the photos and the setting. Very relaxing and green!

How thoughtful to preserve the landscape as historical with family memories! Most people don't have land in the family that long around here in WA.

Before my dad sold his land we dug up some of his garden soil to put in a large container as a portion of the mix with lots of compost. I didn't want to let it all go. I've used it as a nursery bed for a lot of different plants in the tradition of my dad growing a huge variety of vegetables and fruits. It's more nostalgic than anything and brings back memories when I tend the pot. This year I replanted with some dwarf daylilies received in a plant swap. I know they'll thrive in that pot.
lunarmoth
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you all

To answer your questions corrine1:
I am taking the picture from the back porch of the smaller house. (two houses on the property) the land slopes down towards the other house but has a steeper grade towards the back row of boxwoods.

I am working on the gates and will have climbers on the wood poles. I hesitate to put climbers on the black poles as they take the weight of the deer impacts and are under considerable side to side stress from the weight of the fence. (climbers have to be in the inside of the garden to keep the possums and racoons from climbing in) My great aunt made a fantasy tree out of two dogwoods back in 1954. (She twisted the trunks together when they were little whips) I am going to try to do the same thing with a woody plant that grows faster.

My long suffering hubby stacked two big rocks (Rock stacking was a favorite pass time of his when he was a kid) down at the low point to make a chair. The top rock is a smooth river rock from the old bridge that got renovated. I will take a picture and post later. It is quite comfortable and has a certain beauty to it.

The one advantage to having a down hill garden is the water is at the top of the hill so I am able to run a foot hose down to the garden.

I have sisters and cousins who grew up here on this farm so I have to remember that this place has memories for them too. The garden footprint is the original vegatable garden that was started by my great aunt and uncle who also lived on the property with my great grandparents and grandmother.

I keep finding "garden ghosts" (Peonies, daffodils, etc) that were planted back in the 40s and 50s. The boxwoods date back to the 20s.
Everyone wants some to plant at their homes so part of the potager garden will be a nursery bed that I can propagate the plants in for other relatives.