Edible plants year-round visual interest comes from layering types that shine in each season of the year. Your food garden does not have to look bare and sad when summer ends. The right mix of evergreen herbs, berry bushes, and ornamental food plants keeps your yard pretty from spring through winter.
I designed my front yard to look good even in January when most gardens sit brown and empty. Rosemary bushes stay green all winter and keep their shape when snow falls. Bay laurel adds a bold evergreen tree form to the space. Ornamental kale fills the beds with purple and white leaves that get prettier after frost.
A four season edible garden layers plants that peak at different times of the year. Fruit trees bloom in spring with clouds of white and pink flowers. Summer brings colorful peppers, rainbow chard, and ripe berries. Fall shows off the red and orange leaves of blueberry bushes. Winter brings out your evergreen herbs.
Spring starts the show with fruit tree blossoms that rival any flowering plant you could choose. Apple, cherry, and plum trees cover themselves in flowers for weeks at a time. Bees fill your yard with buzzing life during this burst of color. The flowers turn into fruit later but they look amazing right now.
When I first started my food garden I planted a semi-dwarf apple tree just for the spring blooms. That tree puts on such a show each April that my neighbors stop to take photos of it. The fact that it also gives me bushels of apples in fall feels like a bonus on top of the pretty spring flowers.
Summer brings the most color to your ornamental food plants if you choose the right ones. Rainbow chard has stems in red, orange, yellow, and pink that pop against green leaves all season. Purple peppers and eggplants look like decorations in your flower beds. Scarlet runner beans climb trellises with bright red flowers.
Fall foliage from edible shrubs matches anything a maple tree can offer your yard in autumn. Blueberry bushes turn brilliant red when cool weather arrives in October. Pomegranate leaves go golden yellow before they drop. Persimmon trees show off orange leaves while fruit hangs on bare branches.
Winter structure comes from evergreen edibles that hold their form when other plants go dormant. Rosemary shapes into hedges or topiaries that stay green year round in mild climates. Bay laurel grows into a small tree with glossy dark leaves. Sage keeps its silvery gray foliage through most winters too.
Ornamental kale and cabbage add bold color when you need it most in late fall and early winter. These plants get more colorful after frost sweetens their leaves and deepens their hues. They last for months and you can eat them anytime you want fresh greens. Most people think they are fancy flowers not food.
In my experience the best trick is to think about texture along with color in your plant choices. Mix fine-leaved herbs with bold-leaved figs and spiky artichoke plants. The contrast makes your garden look like a designed landscape instead of just rows of food plants. Even in winter those different textures catch the eye.
Plan your garden with at least two or three plants for each season to keep visual interest going all year long. Mix evergreen structure with seasonal color to create a landscape that works hard and looks great every month. Your edible garden can be the prettiest yard on the block with the right plant choices and a bit of planning.
Start by noting what you have now and what seasons look bare in your current yard space. Add one or two plants for each weak season this year. Keep building until every month shows off something pretty in your beds. The food is a bonus when your garden looks this good all year round for you and your neighbors to enjoy.
Read the full article: 10 Essential Edible Landscape Design Tips
