Palisades Potager
A (somewhat) formal vegetable garden
This garden has been a delight to develop. A bright sunny open location but with a maritime climate that keeps the garden a little cool at the height of summer. It was installed in July 2008 and we used all the native soil mixed with a large amount of compost.
Irrigation is a drip system that is turned on for one hour once a week during the hottest times of the year. Water is conserved by mulching all the beds heavily with compost made on the property in a three-bin system. Each bed has its own on/off water valve. The bed borders are a ledger cut stone called Oklahoma Sweetwater. The paths are made from decomposed granite. The hedge is Laurus nobilis and two crabapple trees.
Crops are rotated season by season and some beds are devoted to perennial plants such as asparagus, strawberries and cutting flowers. Melons, squash and pumpkins are grown on the edges of beds and allowed to roam along pathways during the summer. Corn, watermelon and beans are grown together in an interpretation of the “three Sisters” method used by Native Americans.
The owners are engaged in every aspect of this garden and this makes the whole process very satisfactory. I like to think of this garden as a somewhat formal but with a few nice idiosyncratic Californian touches.
