Rooted Garden Kitchen Garden Featured by Southern Living

There’s Always Space for a Kitchen Garden

That's what I'm thinking every time I help a Rooted Garden client or new student inside of Kitchen Garden Academy try to decide where they could possibly fit a raised bed in their space. Admittedly, I've never consulted with clients who have 0 outdoor space so I haven't yet conquered the challenge of growing food indoors.

But for all my clients who at least have a porch or patio, I always come into the garden design phase assuming there's a spot for a kitchen garden, even if they're convinced it's not possible.

One of the best ways I've discovered we can make this happen is with a Border Garden.

And it was a treat to share this Border Garden installation with Southern Living in their March 2020 issue entitled, Backyard Grocery.

Read on for a tour of this raised bed kitchen garden and be inspired to fit one in your own space, even if you're convinced it just won't fit in your space.

Kitchen Gardens Don't Have to Be in the Middle of the Yard

Many times, we assume that a kitchen garden will only work if it's right in the middle of the backyard. And for most of us, that's just not a possibility, so we dismiss the idea of going for a kitchen garden at all.

But kitchen gardens can actually fit just about anywhere as long as you get the most sunlight on your space as possible and ensure you've got the amount of growing space you're looking for to get the production you want.

For many of our Rooted Garden clients, their preference is a Border Garden like this one. This allows them to enjoy the benefits of a raised bed kitchen garden but not commit the entirety of the yard to it.

This border kitchen garden is a perfect example of fitting a lot of growth in a small space and maintaining the rest of the yard for other activities. This is a family of six with four kids that still want space to run and play, while also swinging by to pick a little fresh basil, arugula or a flower or two.

What's a Border Kitchen Garden?

After a few years of designing kitchen gardens for my clients in Houston, Texas with my first company, Rooted Garden, I came up with the term, 'border garden.' I realize this isn't some phrase never heard in the English language but I needed a term to comprise all the different gardens I'd designed that didn't stand alone in the middle of the yard but instead were designed to line up with other structures along the edges of the clients' home and landscape.

At first, I called a few of these 'Fencerow Gardens,' because many were set up along the fence lines of clients' front or backyards.

Then, I called a few of them 'Driveway Gardens,' for obvious reasons, in fact my kitchen garden in Houston was a 'Driveway Garden,' but that didn't have the sophisticated feel I was hoping for.

Then I called it a 'Sideyard Garden' and then realized 'Sideyard' wasn't a real word.

So, finally 'Border Garden' was the thing-a way to sum up all the possibilities of creating a raised bed kitchen garden that doesn't sit in the middle of your landscape but instead is designed along your fence, your driveway, or your side yard.

Keep Your Raised Bed Kitchen Gardens Near the Kitchen

One of the great reasons to set up a kitchen garden along the border of your home and landscape is to keep it near the kitchen.

Oftentimes, when your raised bed kitchen garden is out in the middle of the landscape or hidden away behind a shed or other structure, you'll end up using your kitchen garden less and skipping that last minute walk outside to snip some chives, gather some lettuce greens or pick a few cherry tomatoes for your lunchtime salad.

So, as you design your own raised bed kitchen garden, keep in mind that you should keep it near the kitchen.

For this Rooted Garden client, we designed the kitchen garden to be literally right outside the kitchen door. Right up those steps is the door to the kitchen and mudroom.

Keeping the kitchen garden near the kitchen means easy access to herbs, a few jalapenos, lots of greens, and even a few edible flowers to top a spring salad are all just a few steps away.

Use a Panel Trellis with a Border Kitchen Garden

When growing along the edge of your landscape or property, using panel trellises will enable you to maximize the potential for growth. Panel trellises will go on the back side of your border kitchen garden. Panel trellises will make the most of your more narrow border garden and allow you to grow fruiting and vining plants up instead of out so that you can make the most of the front of your raised bed kitchen garden, planting more medium sized plants alongside greens and flowers in the front.

Panel trellises should be at least 6' tall so ensure your vining plants have enough space to grow to their full potential (and not run out of rungs to climb).

Panel trellises come in a wide variety of shapes and designs. We chose this design to align with the modern style of this new Houston home. Choose yours to fit your home and landscape style too.