French Potager
An 8×8 formal kitchen garden framed in lavender and flowers, with lettuce parterres, leeks, haricots verts, and a chef's herb rail.
About This Template
The potager is the French answer to the vegetable patch: a kitchen garden laid out to be beautiful, where lettuces are planted like bedding flowers and the border is part of the harvest. This design frames the whole square in bloom — lavender, marigolds, snapdragons, and dianthus along the top and bottom, with two herb rails running down the sides carrying thyme, chives, tarragon, chervil, and sorrel: the fines herbes shelf, growing. Inside, the beds are arranged as formal rows: alternating green and red lettuces planted in a checkerboard, a carrot-and-leek section, slim haricots verts beside golden beets and turnips, a brassica parade crowned by spiral Romanesco, a chard-and-celeriac line, and a full strawberry edge for dessert. It is as much parterre as plot — and everything in it gets eaten.
Benefits
- 1A vegetable garden designed to be looked at — the border is part of the harvest
- 2The fines herbes rails put tarragon, chervil, and chives steps from the pan
- 3Flower framing brings pollinators and predatory insects into the vegetables
- 4Checkerboard lettuce replants square by square without leaving visible holes
- 5Formal structure makes succession planting and rotation self-evident
Growing Tips
- 1Replant each lettuce square the day you cut it — the pattern is the point
- 2Pick haricots verts at pencil thickness, every two days without mercy
- 3Clip the lavender frame after first bloom to keep the edges crisp
- 4Blanch the endive and frisée under pots for the authentic pale hearts
Included Plants (32)
Lavender×4
Lavandula angustifolia
Spacing: 45 cm · 18 in
Marigold×7
Tagetes patula
Spacing: 25 cm · 10 in
Snapdragon×2
Antirrhinum majus
Spacing: 25 cm · 10 in
Thyme×3
Thymus vulgaris
Spacing: 30 cm · 12 in
Chives×8
Allium schoenoprasum
Spacing: 15 cm · 6 in
Parsley×4
Petroselinum crispum
Spacing: 20 cm · 8 in
Sage
Salvia officinalis
Spacing: 60 cm · 24 in
Rosemary
Salvia rosmarinus
Spacing: 60 cm · 24 in
Tarragon
Artemisia dracunculus
Spacing: 45 cm · 18 in
Chervil×4
Anthriscus cerefolium
Spacing: 15 cm · 6 in
Winter Savory
Satureja montana
Spacing: 30 cm · 12 in
Sorrel×2
Rumex acetosa
Spacing: 25 cm · 10 in
Lettuce×3
Lactuca sativa
Spacing: 25 cm · 10 in
Radicchio×2
Cichorium intybus var. foliosum
Spacing: 25 cm · 10 in
Endive
Cichorium endivia
Spacing: 30 cm · 12 in
Carrot×12
Daucus carota subsp. sativus
Spacing: 8 cm · 3 in
Leek×6
Allium ampeloprasum
Spacing: 15 cm · 6 in
Green Beans×8
Phaseolus vulgaris
Spacing: 10 cm · 4 in
Golden Beet×8
Beta vulgaris
Spacing: 10 cm · 4 in
Turnip×8
Brassica rapa subsp. rapa
Spacing: 10 cm · 4 in
Cabbage
Brassica oleracea var. capitata
Spacing: 50 cm · 20 in
Cauliflower
Brassica oleracea var. botrytis
Spacing: 60 cm · 24 in
Romanesco
Brassica oleracea var. botrytis
Spacing: 60 cm · 24 in
Savoy Cabbage
Brassica oleracea var. sabauda
Spacing: 50 cm · 20 in
Broccoli
Brassica oleracea var. italica
Spacing: 45 cm · 18 in
Red Cabbage
Brassica oleracea var. capitata f. rubra
Spacing: 50 cm · 20 in
Celery
Apium graveolens
Spacing: 25 cm · 10 in
Celeriac
Apium graveolens var. rapaceum
Spacing: 30 cm · 12 in
Swiss Chard×2
Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris
Spacing: 30 cm · 12 in
Spinach×4
Spinacia oleracea
Spacing: 15 cm · 6 in
Strawberry×6
Fragaria x ananassa
Spacing: 30 cm · 12 in
Perennial Dianthus×3
Dianthus gratianopolitanus
Spacing: 25 cm · 10 in
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