Potager du roi, Royal kitchen garden in Versailles, France
The Potager du Roi is a vegetable and fruit garden in Versailles, France, divided into geometric sections arranged around a central pond. Wide paths separate the growing areas from one another, and trained fruit trees line the walls and borders throughout the grounds.
Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie designed the garden in 1683 for King Louis XIV, draining swampy ground to create productive farmland. After the French Revolution, the garden lost its role as a supplier to the royal court and eventually passed to an agricultural school.
The garden belongs today to the École Nationale Supérieure du Paysage, a landscape school whose students learn and practice traditional growing methods on site. Visitors walking through the beds can often watch students at work, which gives the place a lively, everyday quality.
The garden is open from April through October and sits within walking distance of the Palace of Versailles, so combining both visits on the same day is straightforward. On weekends, a market selling seasonal produce from the garden takes place on the grounds and is a good starting point for a visit.
La Quintinie was among the first gardeners in Europe to grow asparagus out of season here by using heat and covers to control growing conditions. The technique he developed in this garden was later adopted by growers across France.
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