Edging Plants for Kitchen Gardens: Create a Plant Border Around a Vegetable Patch

Last Updated on March 1, 2024 by Kimberly Crawford

A border of plants around a vegetable patch can be useful and decorative. Here are ideas for edging plants to surround the kitchen garden.

In gardening, a border uses shorter plants at the edge of a planting bed. In a vegetable patch or kitchen garden, border plants can surround it on all sides. Plants in a vegetable garden should tolerate a full sun location planted in well draining soil.

Edging plant ideas can inspire gardeners to make use of every spot of ground. For example, vegetable plants surrounded by tall fencing is a good location for bulb and cutting flowers. The kitchen garden is a common sense location to add herbs harvested for cooking.

In this article

Baby Greens and Microgreens

Baby greens and microgreens are tiny plants requiring very small spaces to grow. One seed packet will produce a multitude of leaves to harvest. As an early season border, use baby greens as a temporary edging around a small kitchen garden or mix with other cool season plants such as violas or pansies.

Baby greens and microgreens are tiny leafy vegetables, harvested when the plants are immature. Cool season vegetables such as radish, mustard or lettuce are types of plants grown for this purpose.

Growing Herbs With Vegetables

Growing herbs with vegetables is frequently done as a convenience since both types of plants are harvested for cooking. Gardeners can narrow appropriate herbs to choose by identifying the desired border height and how they will be used.

Perennial herbs such as thyme and chives are short, harvested frequently through the season or allowed to flower. Woolly thyme has very tiny leaves with pink flowers attracting bees. Chives have long succulent leaves with pompom shaped blooms.

Chives are in the same family with ornamental alliums grown for flowers. The foliage of Allium ‘Summer Beauty’ and ‘Mongolian Gem’ are examples of shorter plants that thrive into autumn with fall colors. All Alliums discourage wildlife making them an excellent border plant.

French tarragon and lavender are examples of taller perennial herbs. Many gardeners value lavender plants for the fragrance and the attraction from pollinators.

Flowering Bulbs in Kitchen Gardens

Gardeners will fence in a vegetable garden to protect produce from hungry wildlife. Spring flowering bulbs, like the rabbit’s favorite tulip, will thrive behind protective fencing allowing beautiful cutting flowers to grow.

Other flowering bulbs and tubers to consider include Crocus, Dahlia, hyacinth and lilies. Check culture requirements and look for shorter height varieties appropriate for the edges of a vegetable patch.

Perennials and Annuals with Edibles

There are annual plants frequently planted with edible plants. Short marigolds quickly fill out and are inexpensive to grow. Sweet alyssum is an annual plant that has fragrant flowers and is low growing.

Low growing perennials such as Gaillardia ‘Goblin,’ candytuft, Scabiosa and creeping phlox are potential ideas for a border around vegetables. Short cultivars of perennials like Coreopsis, Veronica or daylily can be considered where a cutting garden is wanted.

Drought Tolerant Sedums and Vegetables

Sedums are drought tolerant plants offering many choices for a border. Sedums stonecrop and hens and chicks are short enough for gardeners to step over.

The annual plant Portulaca and the perennial ice plant are drought tolerant, too. This allows them to withstand the hotter drier fringes of a vegetable garden.

Concrete and Wooden Edging Ideas

Two common man-made edgings for vegetable gardens are wooden planks and concrete or cinder blocks. Plants that have a trailing structure will soften the hard rough lines on these low edgers.

Cinder blocks have open spaces large enough to hold a six-inch pot. This is a great opportunity to make a living border that is changeable each year.

Growing edging plants around a vegetable patch will add a finished appearance to the garden. A variety of edible and decorative plant choices are available from which to choose.