Pretty and productive: Paths, pots, and structures work wonders in this small vegetable garden - Before & After

Sunset, May, 2002 by Sharon Cohoon

* A few simple changes can make a huge difference in a garden's flow and appearance. Rita Sprinkel's vegetable garden in Newport Beach, California, is located in a sunny south-facing side yard. Backed by a tall hedge that blocked out the wind, this plot yielded bumper crops of potatoes, tomatoes, and zucchini.

Still, Sprinkel wanted to increase production. And since she couldn't resist taking visitors back to her vegetable garden to admire her crops, she also wished the space were prettier. So she asked Lew Whitney of Roger's Gardens in Corona del Mar for help.

Better beds

Whitney's solution was to give the space more structure, by dividing the single bed into five smaller ones and separating them with 2-foot-wide gravel paths. To make up for some of the ground lost to the paths, he cut away 18 inches from the adjacent walkway and sacrificed some lawn in order to expand the bed by 4 or 5 feet. For visual interest and to maximize production, he brought in some vertical plant supports. Whitney placed a row of containers at the front of each bed and planted them with herbs, alpine strawberries, and edible flowers. Finally to keep the bed looking good nearly all year, he added permanent foliage plants--artichokes, rosemary, thyme--that also yield a harvest.

"Because of the paths, I'm not sure I actually gained any square footage," says Sprinkel, "but the garden seems larger." And, she says, it's certainly simpler to care for. "The paths make it easier to plant, weed, and harvest. Now every inch is accessible."

The division of the plot into separate spaces of different sizes (see box at left) and the introduction of containers and supports for vertical crops also encouraged Sprinkel to experiment. "I've tried snow peas, arugula, and alpine strawberries--all new crops for me," she says. "That has been fun." Best of all, no matter what she grows, thanks to the structure now built into the garden, it looks good.

All of which proves it doesn't require a major overhaul to make a difference. Individually, the changes Whitney made to Sprinkel's garden were all small. Collectively, though, they converted a humble vegetable patch into a chic potager.

RELATED ARTICLE: Details make the difference

IRRIGATION. Ooze tubing (also called weeping soaker hose) handles the watering. It's flexible and can easily be rearranged to conform to any crop.

BEDS. Each bed is outlined with 2- by 4-foot redwood header boards. Because the vegetable garden was trapezoidal (the 35-foot-long plot is almost 7 feet wider at one end than the other), Whitney did not make all the beds the same width. They start at 3 feet and widen to 6. This was done for balance, but it has other advantages. The variously sized beds lend themselves to different crops--the wider ones are great for sprawlers like potatoes, the narrower ones for tidy growers like leaf lettuce.

PATHS. Paths between beds are covered with Del Rio gravel and make it easier to plant, weed, and harvest all sides of the beds.

POTS. The bowls at the front of each bed are traditional Italian terra-cotta in style but made in China; nurseries sometimes sell them as terrachino.

VERTICAL STRUCTURES. The Texas Tornado tomato cages and bent-willow bean tepees from Roger's Gardens support sprawling plants and provide vertical interest.