Kitchen garden meets flower garden: edible and ornamental combinations

Why separate what belongs together?

The strict divide between kitchen garden and ornamental garden is really a modern invention. In traditional English cottage gardens, roses grew next to cabbages and lavender alongside beans. And it worked. Not just visually, but ecologically too. Flowers attract pollinators that your courgettes need, and some plants even repel pest insects.

Time to drop that artificial boundary. A vegetable garden need not be ugly, and an ornamental garden can certainly deliver something for the kitchen.

Combination 1: Tomatoes and marigolds

The classic of companion planting. Tagetes patula (French marigold) around your tomato plants brings multiple benefits. The strong scent deters whitefly. The flowers attract hoverflies that eat aphids. And visually it works too: orange marigolds surrounding red tomatoes is a gorgeous summer scene.

Plant the marigolds twenty centimetres apart around each tomato plant. They grow quickly from seed — sow them directly in April.

Combination 2: Lettuce, strawberry and pansies

An edible border that looks like an ornamental garden. Plant Lactuca sativa (lettuce) in assorted colours — red lollo rosso, green oak-leaf, purple batavia. Set Fragaria × ananassa (strawberry) as an edging plant along the front. Fill gaps with Viola tricolor (heartsease) — they are edible and garnish your plate as well.

The lettuce provides food, the strawberries dessert and the pansies a garnish. Everything edible, everything beautiful.

Combination 3: Herbs as an ornamental edge

Herbs are naturally decorative. Plant a border of Ocimum basilicum (basil) — choose the purple variety 'Dark Opal' for extra colour. Behind it, Allium schoenoprasum (chives) with its pink ball flowers in June. And Salvia officinalis 'Purpurascens' (purple sage) as a permanent, hardy accent. Practical and eye-catching.

Combination 4: The productive cottage border

For those thinking big: Cynara cardunculus (cardoon/artichoke) delivers spectacular silvery-grey leaves and edible buds. Plant it at the back as an eye-catcher. In front, Beta vulgaris (Swiss chard) in rainbow colours — the stems in red, yellow, orange and pink are every bit as decorative as any ornamental border. Add Borago officinalis (borage) for sky-blue star-shaped flowers that attract bees.

Combination 5: The fragrant kitchen garden edge

Along the path of your kitchen garden: Lavandula angustifolia (lavender) as a low hedge that releases scent at every touch. Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) as a structural plant at the corners. And Thymus serpyllum (creeping thyme) between the path slabs. You literally walk through a fragrant herb border to reach your vegetables.

The benefits of mixing

Pollination. Flowers attract bees and bumblebees that pollinate your courgettes, beans and tomatoes. More pollinators means a bigger harvest.

Pest control. Marigolds, lavender and rosemary repel specific insects. Tall flowers provide shelter for beneficial predators like ladybirds.

Soil health. Alternating plant families prevents soil diseases and exhaustion. Legumes like beans fix nitrogen that benefits the following crops.

Root systems. Deep-rooting plants break up compacted soil for shallow rooters. Conversely, ground covers keep the soil cool and moist.

Tips for success

Consider sun requirements. Tomatoes and peppers want full sun — do not plant shade-casting flowers in front of them. Lettuce and herbs tolerate partial shade.

Work with propagation schedules. Start marigolds, basil and lettuce indoors on the windowsill in March. That way you have sturdy plants ready when it is warm enough outside.

Rotate crops annually, but leave perennial herbs in place. Rosemary, thyme and lavender are perennial and form the permanent structure of your edible ornamental garden.

Discover your edible ornamental garden

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