Establishing the Framework

Before sowing seeds, set up vertical structures for an artful design.

Ellen Ecker Ogden is the author of books featuring kitchen garden designs with recipes for cooks who love to garden. Her newest book is The New Heirloom Garden. Each week you’ll receive artful garden tips and recipes.

In Vermont, it’s that in-between time of year before sowing and growing. The ground is still frozen yet I am busy setting up the structure to provide a vertical framework for vining vegetables while gracing the garden with an artful design.

Collecting objects to place around the kitchen garden, keeps me engaged in the design process in a way that goes beyond the plants. Adding whimsy and art gives the garden character and adds to my enjoyment year-round. This week, I am building a bamboo trellis for pole beans, adjusting iron tripods for the tomatoes, settling in the cedar benches, and hanging up the stone birdhouses in preparation for spring.

Artful Sources: Iron tripods [Battle Hill Forge]. Garden objects [Campo de Fiori]. Stone birdhouses and arbors [Kinsman Co.]

The Trellis

Gardeners often think of a vegetable as ground-hugging plants, yet many vegetables also love to grow vertically. Construct a trellis made with bamboo or rustic twigs, to instantly add height and make a dramatic statement. This can be done with a simple tripod of bamboo poles harnessed together or an antique trellis found at a yard sale. A trellis will give your garden flair while adding a vertical element that can be used for a range of plants to climb and ramble.

A Focal Point

Because focal points are what your eyes see first, it is a trick that gardeners frequently use to create visual order and balance. This concept is especially effective in a sweeping ornamental border to distinguish the massive layering of plants and is a tool easily adaptable to an edible garden design.

A focal point catches your attention and draws you towards that place to capture your eye. It is a foil to distract you from weeds in the path or spent flowers that have bloomed. It might be as simple as a decorative bench at the far end of the garden pathway, a classic obelisk placed in the center, or a large rock — anything unusual that makes a statement. Focal points can change from year to year, too, adding bright spots of color such as a tall stand of smoldering orange sunflowers, or a rustic trellis overflowing with deep blue morning glories.

"Gardens are the result of a collaboration between art and nature." – Penelope Hobhouse

The Fence

When I was in art school, our instructor would not accept a finished painting unless it had a frame around it. I have always thought of a garden fence in the same way: framing something beautiful to accentuate the beauty within. Instead of building an intimidating fence to keep out wildlife, consider instead how the fence can work in your favor. A good fence establishes the interior space as a sanctuary, where you are nurtured in comfort. It is as an enclosure, after all, that brings together a space much like a room in your house.

The Gate

Your kitchen garden starts at the gate. A unique gate can suggest the style or design of the garden beyond. Maybe it's a simple wooden frame, a captivating arbor smothered with climbing roses or an antique iron fence. Find something that accentuates this important transition between the lawn and the garden in a way to fits into your aesthetic. The gate creates a barrier but is also a visual cue that will set the tone of the experience of entering the garden. Add a bell or a chime, to ring before entering, as a reminder to take a deep breath and be present.

What’s Your Style?

Go beyond the nuts and bolts of basic gardening to explore ways to make your garden more engaging. Have fun, find objects that make you smile, and add an element of surprise. A true kitchen garden merges into the space where the garden and the home merge, opening the senses in new and inspiring ways.

Please share: Tell me what artful object do you bring into the kitchen garden that makes you smile?

"All gardens are a form of autobiography." – Artist Robert Dash