10 Essential Edible Landscape Design Tips

Envision walking into your yard and picking fresh fruit off the vine beside your flowering roses. This miracle occurs through edible landscape design, which combines edible plants with beauty by utilizing ornamental design principles. You develop spaces that nourish both body and soul, and they are also beautiful.

This strategy saves you money on groceries while doing the environment a favor. You reduce food miles and help the local ecosystem. Even better, the gardens improve the curb appeal of your home with bright colors and textures throughout the seasons. Starter gardeners can begin with a single herb pot.

Edible landscape design means putting food plants into decorative arrangements using ornamental gardening principles. Instead of having pure ornamental shrubbery, blueberry bushes take their place. Instead of flower beds, there are fields of kale and chard. Such methods create a beautiful realm in which to feed the family and add to the curb appeal.

This idea first arose in the paradise gardens of Ancient Persia and in the cottage gardens of England, where herbs and flowers were intermingled. The modern revival was inaugurated by pioneers best known for their book, "Edible Landscaping." Miss Rosalind Creasy's book points out how strawberries would border the walks as attractively as the little plants that have been favored, such as impatiens.

You can begin small - with just one basil plant on a windowsill or a small cherry tomato seedling. You do not require expert skills or a big area. I started with a few mint cuttings from a friend's garden. That one pot has since grown into my whole front yard transformation.

Edible landscape design reduces your grocery costs by hundreds of dollars a year. A small blueberry patch gives you pounds of fruit each summer, while herb gardens supply free seasoning all year. Compare that to supermarket produce, which may have traveled thousands of miles, losing nutrients along the way. Your homegrown produce tastes better and is more nutritious.

Transform your garden visually with strawberry borders, replacing mulch or rainbow chard, to supply vibrant color. Fruit trees provide spring blossoms, followed by summer shade and fall harvests. These edible elements outshine the traditional ornamentals that furnish continuing interest through constantly changing seasons.

Share your extra crops to build community ties. Spare tomatoes go to neighbors, while berry bushes are conversation pieces with passersby. I have traded my surplus zucchini for eggs from neighbor's chickens to create connections through abundance.

Observe sunlight patterns in your yard for two full days before any planting. Note spots that receive full sun for 6 hours or more, and shady corners that receive 3 hours or less of sunlight. To accurately map solar paths, use free apps on your Smartphone. This prevents sun-loving tomatoes from being placed in dark nooks and crannies, where they will not reach their full potential.

Use stealthy planting techniques to work with HOA restrictions. Design vegetable gardens as ornamental displays with colorful chard and flowering nasturtiums. Name fruit trees decorative specimens because cherry trees in full bloom are just as attractive as non-fruit-bearing ones. I have helped many clients do well in their inspections this way.

Improve your soil by working two to three inches of compost into the top layer. If you have heavy clay, add coarse sand to help with drainage. Test the pH, as blueberries need an acidic soil, while asparagus prefers a neutral one. Properly prepared soil means stronger plants and better crops.

Begin with inexpensive seeds and cuttings before investing in expensive perennials. Lettuce seeds are only pennies by comparison to nursery plants. Take cuttings of your friend's rosemary bushes or ask for divisions, phase in your project with quick-producing annuals in the first year. Later, add the long-term berry bushes.

Organize plants according to their light requirements. Grow those plants that love full sun, such as tomatoes, peppers, and rosemary, where they will receive at least six hours of light daily. To protect shade-loving plants, such as mint, kale, and wild leeks, plant them in the shade of trees or at the base of north-facing walls.

Select deer-resistant plants for gardens subjected to animal access. Rosemary, onion, and lavender give off odors that are repugnant to animals and are lovely about the garden as well. I have planted garlic and hot pepper plants as barriers to protect more desirable plants that animals may attack. They are effective guards without the need to erect fences around the crops.

Inspect typical sizes of mature plants to prevent overcrowding problems. Dwarf apple trees won't exceed 8 ft. in height, while bush cucumbers require only 2 ft. of continuous space. Space blueberries (4-6 ft.) apart, 18 in. between crowns of asparagus, to get healthy growth.

Substitute decorative grasses with grains such as Carolina Gold rice and barley. They provide similar wavy textures and movements while simultaneously generating edible products. They create wonderful visual experiences in borders and require no more care than conventional landscaping grasses.

Develop natural barriers to repel deer and rabbits, plant fragrant rosemary, pungent onions, or peppery arugula as borders around your garden. To avoid the predations of these animals, add a chicken wire fence, buried six inches deep, wherever beds are vulnerable. This will keep unwanted pests out without the use of chemicals.

To circumvent HOA restrictions on vegetable gardening by using aesthetic workarounds that comply with regulations, bed vegetable gardens as ornamental displays of colorful rainbow chard and flowering nasturtiums. Present fruit trees as decorative specimens, since cherry trees compete well with non-edible ones for beauty and seasonal interest.

Amend poorly drained soils with specific ratios of amendments to meet the needs of your own soils. For heavy clay soils, for example, use a three-part compost to one-part coarse sand mix per square foot each year. Check the pH, as blueberries prefer highly acidic soils with a pH below 5.5, and asparagus prefers moderately alkaline soils with a pH near 7.0.

Make the most of limited spaces by growing trellised beans and cucumbers vertically. This can save up to 80% of the ground area. In my urban dwelling balcony garden, I grow strawberries in stacked planters and also have wall trellises with pockets for growing herbs, thus giving me an abundant crop in small spaces.

Transform your average yard into a food oasis in which your body and spirit nourish themselves. This transformation is a form of beauty, creating beauty for a purpose. You will harvest the freshest possibilities right from your kitchen, just fifteen steps away, while living in a landscape that nourishes your daily life with vitality.

Start with a single pot of basil in your kitchen or on your balcony, as it is easy to cultivate and build confidence before trying anything more ambitious. My initial foray into herb growing resulted in my entire front garden being edible, illustrating how easy this endeavor is for anyone, regardless of their experience or lack of space.

Tiny Changes yield years of abundance through compounding growth. That first blueberry bush produces fruit for decades, and perennial herbs are likely to spread. Each enlivening season, your edible landscape becomes more productive, requiring less effort to yield increasing rewards from your investment.

Reinvent beauty through delicious abundance where cherry blossoms become summer fruits and rainbow chard eclipses flowers. Your landscape will become a conversation piece that showcases just how breathtakingly beautiful functional spaces can be while feeding your family.