Edible Landscape, Creating Visual Interest

One of the great things about the concept of edible landscape is the great variations in visual interest that you can create in your yard ( or on your your porch, deck or patio for that matter). I think that is why I originally started planting edible landscape. I moved into our family farmhouse about thirty years ago and it came with a large, pretty yard that would take most of my time to maintain. It was loaded with Rhodadendrons, azaleas, begonias and a very large annual bed the length of the driveway that had been planted to exactly the same annuals every year since I could remember.

I knew several things right away about that yard. 1. I didn't have the time to take care of it or the money to hire people to do it. 2. It looked a lot like every yard in the area. Everyone planted the rhodies and azeleas and it reminded me of a lot of new subdivisions today. All of the front yards look the same because the same subcontractor designed all of them. 3. Rhodies and azaleas bloom once a year, we get our first hot weather the same week, then they are exceedingly ugly when the blooms fizzle. 4. I never have liked begonias. I used to be the poor fool who got to take care of them when I was growing up and they just don't appeal to me that much. 5. I was bored with that annual bed and I didn't like the colors in it anyway. Pink and yellow (or that much of it anyway) just didn't inspire me to work in my yard.

The begonias, being on the top of the hated list went first. That is what I'd like to write about today. I have some kind of ingrained need for visual diversity. I didn't really want plants that were all the same and in straight rows like the begonias had been. I decided to try to put in an herb garden in that spot. I really knew nothing about herb growing or cooking with them, but it sounded so much more fun than those life sucking begonias. I started slowly, but over the years I have learned that growing something both visually interesting and useful in your landscape can be a lot of fun. It has also led to some great eating.

On my quest to learn more about the herbs I discovered many other great ways to use edible landscape for fun and food. One of the first things I found that gave the yard great visual interest was artichokes. Here was a very unusual looking plant that also yielded an intersting edible flower. I have never really gotten into eating them, but the rest of my family did so I pretty much grow them all the time. They do grow and produce pretty well here if you give them enough water. I have never been much to cover them in the fall (we tend to be real busy with hazelnut harvest then and I just forget) so I have to replant them every 3 or 4 years, but that has given me the opportunity to move them to a different place each time to add interest to a different part of the yard. Wait until my family sees where I'm going to put them this year!

I do recommend trying unusual plants like artichokes. They can be a great addition to your edible landscape.

Grow What you Eat!

One of the great things about the concept of edible landscape is the great variations in visual interest that you can create in your yard ( or on your your porch, deck or patio for that matter). I think that is why I originally started planting edible landscape. I moved into our family farmhouse about thirty years ago and it came with a large, pretty yard that would take most of my time to maintain. It was loaded with Rhodadendrons, azaleas, begonias and a very large annual bed the length of the driveway that had been planted to exactly the same annuals every year since I could remember.

I knew several things right away about that yard. 1. I didn't have the time to take care of it or the money to hire people to do it. 2. It looked a lot like every yard in the area. Everyone planted the rhodies and azeleas and it reminded me of a lot of new subdivisions today. All of the front yards look the same because the same subcontractor designed all of them. 3. Rhodies and azaleas bloom once a year, we get our first hot weather the same week, then they are exceedingly ugly when the blooms fizzle. 4. I never have liked begonias. I used to be the poor fool who got to take care of them when I was growing up and they just don't appeal to me that much. 5. I was bored with that annual bed and I didn't like the colors in it anyway. Pink and yellow (or that much of it anyway) just didn't inspire me to work in my yard.

The begonias, being on the top of the hated list went first. That is what I'd like to write about today. I have some kind of ingrained need for visual diversity. I didn't really want plants that were all the same and in straight rows like the begonias had been. I decided to try to put in an herb garden in that spot. I really knew nothing about herb growing or cooking with them, but it sounded so much more fun than those life sucking begonias. I started slowly, but over the years I have learned that growing something both visually interesting and useful in your landscape can be a lot of fun. It has also led to some great eating.

On my quest to learn more about the herbs I discovered many other great ways to use edible landscape for fun and food. One of the first things I found that gave the yard great visual interest was artichokes. Here was a very unusual looking plant that also yielded an intersting edible flower. I have never really gotten into eating them, but the rest of my family did so I pretty much grow them all the time. They do grow and produce pretty well here if you give them enough water. I have never been much to cover them in the fall (we tend to be real busy with hazelnut harvest then and I just forget) so I have to replant them every 3 or 4 years, but that has given me the opportunity to move them to a different place each time to add interest to a different part of the yard. Wait until my family sees where I'm going to put them this year!

I do recommend trying unusual plants like artichokes. They can be a great addition to your edible landscape.

Grow What you Eat!