Cottage Gardening
To discover the beginnings of companion planting one must go back to the cottage gardens, those small, closely planted gardens where vegetables were often mixed with both flowers and herbs.
Cottage gardening had been evolved slowly in Europe over many centuries. It grew up as a matter of necessity; plants were needed to keep the family alive. Initially, gardens, or more likely primitive enclosures near the house, were probably restricted to the growing of herbs for medicinal and culinary purposes; the vegetables were grown in fields that were more like modern smallholdings. As the peasants became stripped of their land they concentrated their vegetable growing into cottage gardens similar to what we think of today when we use that term. In the nineteenth century, many gardens were moved once again outside the confines of land around the house, this time to the allotment or to community garden plots. Here they continued to use techniques they had evolved in the cottage garden and, in many ways, the allotment is still one of the great bastions of cottage gardening, or companion planting, techniques.
Cottage gardening had been evolved slowly in Europe over many centuries. It grew up as a matter of necessity; plants were needed to keep the family alive. Initially, gardens, or more likely primitive enclosures near the house, were probably restricted to the growing of herbs for medicinal and culinary purposes; the vegetables were grown in fields that were more like modern smallholdings. As the peasants became stripped of their land they concentrated their vegetable growing into cottage gardens similar to what we think of today when we use that term. In the nineteenth century, many gardens were moved once again outside the confines of land around the house, this time to the allotment or to community garden plots. Here they continued to use techniques they had evolved in the cottage garden and, in many ways, the allotment is still one of the great bastions of cottage gardening, or companion planting, techniques.
The companion planting techniques that were used evolved out of the experience. This experience was handed down from generation to generation. Any changes being made as new methods were discovered by the cottager himself or shared by friends, possibly often the gardener at the “big house.” Many gardening theories of the time were tested at the big house, by its army of gardeners, before they were adopted by the cottager, for his techniques had to be successful or he and his family were likely to go hungry.
While many of the cottages maintained very attractive flower borders, as can be seen in the manywatercolourss done in the nineteenth century, there was very little time to spend on them. Country people were hard working, and spare time was more likely to be spent on the more productive vegetable gardens. The flower gardens, then, had to be easy to maintain and if possible look after themselves for long periods of the year. So gardeners would choose flowers that got along well together, that more or less helped each other create an environment beneficial to all, and that kept the garden in bloom spring, summer, and fall with interest provided by bark and berries in the winter.
The cottage garden has great appeal today because we are attracted to its well-intended informality, to its gentle interplay of so many kinds of plants. It has another great attraction, and that is that it creates a more natural environment in which plants can thrive so, once established, there is less maintenance involved.
Building a Potager Garden
If you only have a small or modest plot and want to grow a wide range of crops in an attractive, kitchen garden style, then I suggest you make your whole garden into a potager. This is where vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers are grown together in beautiful and harmonious ways. We have fenced an area of our garden off as a kitchen garden and I often think how well it stands on its own. It contains an attractive wooden greenhouse with a patio by the side of it. The plot is irregular in shape, but divided roughly into four to make crop rotation easier. Paths give access and there is a more or less central water feature.
As well as growing vegetables, we have soft fruit and apple-trees trained as upright cordons. These are great if you want to fit lots of fruit varieties into a small space. Each tree is secured to a stake and fruit grows on short spurs growing from the single main trunk, all controlled by summer pruning. The trees are spaced about 6 feet apart and make good vertical accents. Rows of flowers such as antirrhinums, gladioli, and zinnias are grown for cutting and sunflowers are planted wherever they will fit in. The paths are lined with thyme, sage, lavender, golden feverfew, and other herbs, many raised cheaply from seed.
Winter interest in a kitchen garden needs some work, but if you are clever with your path edgings and use evergreen herbs, there will always be some structure. A surprising number of crops stand during winter, including cabbage related crops (Brussels sprouts, Savoy cabbage, kale, sprouting broccoli) and leeks. Don’t be scared to use props to full advantage, but make them appropriate, such as terra cotta rhubarb and seakale forcers or lantern cloches.
