EDIBLE LANDSCAPING IS BECOMING A VERY POPULAR LANDSCAPING TREND
I have been transforming my landscape to include more edible plants and fruits — especially with my container gardens. I recently moved a couple of years ago and I love my edible container gardens.
So, you may be asking ‘what is edible landscaping’? Edible landscaping replaces plants that are merely ornamental. In other words, you are now landscaping with food-producing plants that are creating a multi-functional landscape, providing returns with the fruits and vegetables being produced.
WHY EDIBLE LANDSCAPING?
If you think about it — adding edible plants to any landscape makes nothing but sense. Why not?
- There are plenty of health benefits to growing your own fruits and vegetables. Most fruits and vegetable nutrients and flavor are at their highest immediately after harvest.
- Growing some of our own vegetables and fruits increase our food security. This allows us to be less dependent on foreign food sources.
- Growing some of our own vegetables and fruits helps reduce our weekly food costs.
- It is fun to go outside and pick your own harvest. It is convenient, it is fun, and it gives us exercise.
Edible landscaping makes perfectly good sense to me. It just takes a little creativity and “thinking outside the box” when it comes to adding more texture and color to your existing landscape or to your container gardens. Blueberries make excellent deciduous hedges, as do raspberries and blackberries. Lettuce can add color and texture along a border. Thinking of wanting a flowering, ornamental tree? Try pears, peaches, cherries. They have beautiful flowers in the spring with the added benefit of providing fruit in the summer and fall.
How cool it would be to go outside your door and grab some fruit and pick some lettuce — all knowing that your fruits and vegetables are grown organically. Here’s to your health!
PLANT A LITTLE HAPPINESS!!!!!
Can you post a list of plants and photos? Looking for examples on how to incorporate them into existing landscaping.
Mimi,
Good Afternoon.
Great question and request. As for a list of edible plants… that includes the fruit tree, small growing fruits such as blueberries, raspberries, etc. Then as for vegetables, you can grow tomatoes, peppers, etc. and if you have enough room then you can grow squash and melons. Everything will need a minimum of 6 hours of direct sun. Each and every plant has its own growing dimensions. So, you need to take this important fact into consideration when you decide what plants can fit with your existing landscape plants. I hope it works out for you. Doug