Working with a garden consultant to design your kitchen garden can be incredibly exciting, but you might also feel a little nervous about getting the best possible space for your budget.

After working with many clients, I realized there are five questions clients can ask that are most likely to enhance the design process and ensure they end up with a space they'll love for seasons to come.

This is the first question you should ask your garden consultant:

Be Open to Advice When Working With a Garden Consultant

Asking this question lets your consultant know that you're open and willing to hear their best advice. 

I went on many garden consultations where I walked into a space and the client immediately told me which location they'd already chosen for the garden. Though our main goals as garden consultants are to help our clients and put their preferences first, location is just one of those aspects of garden design that you should accept guidance from your garden consultant. Just like in real estate, location matters—a lot.

When a client has already decided where they want their garden to go, it stifles opportunities to explore other possibilities during our one hour together from the outset. 

Picking a Location for Your Kitchen Garden

Here are some common reasons I've found for why clients have already decided which spot is best for the location of their garden. 

The first is priorities, especially if you are a new gardener. You might be hesitant to prioritize the garden in your space. You haven't gardened for long enough yet that the garden has become a part of your everyday life, and you're not sure you want the garden to dominate your landscape. 

Many clients who've already made up their mind are prioritizing things like play spaces for their children, outdoor eating areas, and swimming pools—and that's completely understandable. These things might be really important to you. 

However, it's also important to recognize that the other ways you want to use your outdoor space (i.e., eating, entertaining, playing) generally have fewer requirements for success than the garden does. A playground that's in the shade, for instance, can generally be enjoyed at the same rate as one in full sun. Similarly, you can probably take as much advantage of your outdoor seating space in one spot as another.

The garden, on the other hand, is not as flexible in its ability to find success and serve as much use in just any old spot of the yard.

It's okay to admit that the garden isn't your number one priority and thus you're not yet ready to fully commit to putting it in the most prominent or best spot in your yard. That being said, set aside your strong opinions about where it can and cannot go for a minute while you fully hear out your garden consultant on the location they think would be best for productivity.

The second reason clients have often made up their mind is due to bias. Food gardens, particularly vegetable gardens, have gotten a bad rap in the last few decades. Many people assume they're going to be unsightly, overgrown, messy—just not something worthy of being front and center in your landscape. If anything, this would be the part of the landscape you'll want to hide away, perhaps behind the garage or next to your AC units. I'm sure you've heard of lawsuits where neighbors have sued to have a gardener move their garden from the front of the home, and we all know that kind of garden.

Few of us would want to see that kind of space when we step outside or look out of our kitchen window, but you're setting yourself up for failure if you've already decided that your garden needs to be hidden. If you tuck your garden away somewhere in case it grows unsightly, you're almost guaranteeing that you will let it grow that way—it's like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Out of sight, out of mind is definitely a thing, and the more hidden away your garden is, the least likely you are to head outside to tend it, harvest from it, and enjoy it—the very activities that prevent a kitchen garden from growing unruly.

The third reason clients already have a garden spot in mind is because of aesthetics. Maybe they've worked with a landscaper or home developer or done a lot of planning themselves and completely mapped out their space to achieve a certain look. The outdoor kitchen looks nice here, the playground goes here, and the garden would look really pretty here.

I can't tell you how many consultations I've gone on where the client would say, "We're going to put the garden right in this space. What do you think?" and I wonder, "Do you really want to know what I think? Because I don't think that's a good spot."

While I definitely think aesthetics are important in the ultimate decision on location—in fact, I spend a long time discussing aesthetics as a factor in my book, Kitchen Garden Revival—it should not be the most prominent factor, one that disregards all others. The most important factor is actually sunlight, and the second is access to water. The aesthetics should play second fiddle to sunlight and water.

Overall, aesthetics should generally contribute to five to ten percent of the decision, not 50 percent.

The Aesthetics Is Just One Factor in Determining Where Your Kitchen Garden Should Go

This can be a tough pill to swallow for someone who has already been picturing where the garden will go and how it will fit in with the rest of their space.

Now, our goal at Gardenary and Rooted Garden is to ensure the kitchen garden feels like an extension of the home, something that's always been there. No matter where your garden consultant thinks is the best location, they will help you create an aesthetically pleasing space that mirrors the style of your home. It just may not be in the exact spot you were originally envisioning.

Your garden consultant can help you no matter the reason you've already determined where your raised beds should go.

If you haven't felt ready to make the garden a priority, they'll give you the confidence and the knowledge to find success in the garden. You'll enjoy caring for the space so much that it will just naturally become part of your everyday routine.

Your garden consultant will also help you tend your garden properly to prevent it from looking unsightly... ever. Part of Gardenary design is the use of elements, structures, and hardscapes that make the garden beautiful year round, even if it's bare in the winter or fully grown in the summer. Your garden consultant is there to help you have a beautiful garden every single season.

Finally, your garden consultant will create an aesthetically pleasing garden that belongs to your home, even if it's not in the location you originally imagined.

By asking your garden consultant this simple yet powerful question, you'll open up new possibilities in your space and save yourself many seasons of disappointment. You'll soon be well on your way to success in the kitchen garden.