Drive around any residential
neighborhood in the country and you’re bound to see the same,
standard landscaping theme—a few shade or flowering trees, a green
lawn and some foundation shrubs around the house. But it doesn’t
have to be that way. Imagine having a yard that looks beautiful and
produces fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs for you without a lot of
extra work. That’s edible landscaping.
Edible landscapes incorporate
food-producing plants into a residential landscape. It’s really
very simple. Instead of planting a purely ornamental tree, shrub or
flower, choose plants that are beautiful and that also produce an
edible crop.
Why Landscape With Edibles?
With concerns today about the quality,
price and safety of our food, many homeowners are interested in
growing some of their own food. Many, however, are overwhelmed by the
idea of starting a large vegetable garden or planting fruits and
herbs. Edible landscaping gives you the freedom to integrate as many
of these edible plants into your landscape as you like. As you gain
confidence in growing your own fruits and vegetables, you can
increase the size and number of the plantings.
While many homeowners may think edible
landscaping will take too much time, consider that a fruit tree
requires only a few extra hours of maintenance a year when compared
with an ornamental tree.
How to Get Started
As with most ornamental plants, edible
landscape plants grow best in full sun (at least 6 hours) and on
well-drained, fertile soils. There’s a wide variety of edible
plants to grow in almost any setting.
While an entire yard makeover using
edible plants might be your goal, it’s probably a bit too much for
most homeowners to tackle all at once. The best way to get started is
to substitute plants one by one.
 Raspberries. Photo courtesy of the National Gardening Association. For example, instead of planting a
flowering cherry tree, plant a sweet or sour cherry tree. Instead of
planting foundation shrubs such as yews and burning bushes, plant
blueberries and hazelnuts. Instead of planting inedible ornamental
flowers, grow edible flowers such as daylilies (edible flower buds),
bee balm (make tea from leaves and flowers) and nasturtiums (edible
leaves and flowers). Or, grow beautiful vegetables, such as
eggplants, Swiss chard and basil. Instead of a hedge of lilacs or
barberries, consider planting a hedge of blackberries or raspberries.
Container Edibles
If you’re strapped for space, try
container gardening. Plant breeders have given us edible plants to
fit into almost any size container. Dwarf varieties of tomatoes,
eggplants, cucumbers, herbs and even squash can grow in containers on
a deck or patio. There are diminutive fruit trees, such as the
colonnade apple tree, which grows only 8 feet tall and 2 feet wide
and produces a few dozen apples. You can grow dwarf tomatoes such as
“Window Box Roma” or herbs such as creeping thyme and rosemary in
small containers.
The options are limited only by your
imagination. For more great ideas, sign up for my free Edible
Landscaping e-newsletter at www.garden.org/ediblelandscaping/.
Charlie Nardozzi, a nationally recognized
garden writer, book author, speaker, and radio and television
personality, has appeared on HGTV, PBS and Discovery Channel
television networks. He is the senior horticulturist and spokesperson
for the National
Gardening Association and
chief gardening officer for the Hilton Garden Inn.
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