Out
On A Limb / June 2007
An Edible Backyard
 Chives
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Gardening can provide relaxation, exercise, home improvement and…dinner. Early Americans planted for food as well as decoration and contemporary Americans have discovered that edible landscaping offers a multitude of benefits. The freshness and flavor of home-grown, fully ripened fruits and vegetables far exceeds that of prematurely picked, packed and artificially matured foods. Homeowners can control the quantity and type of pesticides and herbicides on what they grow in their backyard as well as avoid the dangers of certain commercial contamination. Home grown fruits and vegetables can cut down on produce purchases and offer the opportunity to grow unusual varieties that aren’t commercially practical. And, of course it’s interesting and fun, as conversation, and as an activity.
Edible landscapes can be just as beautiful and as welcoming as any garden. The entire space can be dedicated to producing fruits and vegetables for home use or a few edible elements can be incorporated in an existing garden scheme.
Fruit and nut trees, berry bushes, vegetables, herbs, edible flowers and ornamental plants can all be combined to reflect any gardeners style.
Every plant has optimum growing conditions that allow it to thrive, and gardeners will want to choose the best place in their yard for the types of plants they are growing. Many fruits and vegetables perform best in sites that receive at least six hours of full sunlight each day. Most also like well-drained soil. For beginners, parts of the yard that satisfy these conditions are good places to initiate an edible landscape.
A simple, one-for-one substitution is an effective, painless way to begin. Instead of planting a shade tree, plant a fruit tree. In place of deciduous shrubs, like weigela or burning bush, plant a currant or hazelnut. Rather than chrysanthemums, plant bachelor’s buttons. Edible plants come in nearly all shapes and sizes and provide color, contrast, scent, height, width and texture, just like ornamental plants. Plus, they’re tasty.
 Nasturium
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Even a typical small garden area, about 600 sf, can be planted almost entirely with edible plants and look just as beatiful as any traditionally decorative garden. Day lilies bordered by marigolds and accented by ornamental cabbage in the fall, and violas in spring, make an attractive presentation. For shady areas, try sweet woodruff and evergreen lingonberry. Add ornamental hot peppers, bell peppers and, of course cherry tomatoes. Plant creeping or lemon thyme around stepping stones. Red raspberries and blueberries make attractive foliage and afternoon snacks. Cherry plum, dwarf crabapples and dwarf pears make beautifully flowering small trees and fresh fruit. Herbs like marjoram, parsley, sage, garlic, chives and dill add flavor and texture to the garden and the dinner table. Iris and butterfly weed will provide tasteful color and interest.
The choices are easily changed to suit the garden or the gardener.
Easing into edible landscaping is a breeze. Just put a pot of herbs on the patio or include cherry tomatoes in a window box. That’s edible landscaping. A grape arbor makes an interesting garden focal point as well as a fruit source. Nasturtium, violas and calendula are all plants grown in a typical garden, but their flowers can be tossed in with a salad, along with day lilies. Red-jewel cabbage and colorful pepper varieties make attractive accompaniments to favorite flowers. Add contrast and a fresh look to the garden by tucking lettuce, radishes, or other greens into the flower bed. Basil looks good growing with coleus in a planter. And, for the long term planner, instead of a barberry hedge, plant gooseberries.
 Ornamental Cabbage
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Most edible plants do require a certain amount of attention to produce well - a little extra watering, pruning, fertilizing, or pest management. But, the additional TLC adds enormously to the yield, of pleasure and of produce, at the end of the year. It’s easy to start small, a single fruit tree in the corner of the yard, a few chocolate peppers by the house, some peppermint next to the garage. Success is delicious.
Gardens have included fruits, vegetables, flowers, and medicinal herbs for centuries. Monticello and Mount Vernon both boasted excellent edible landscaping with orchards and extensive vegetable gardens. Monastic monks and Victorian dowagers looked to their own gardens for seasonings, nutrition and good health for their families.
The possibilities for edible landscaping are as limitless and as lovely as a gardener’s dreams. Whether it is one per cent or 100 percent edible, a home landscape that includes fruits, vegetables, berries and herbs to share at the table is abundantly satisfying. Have a pansy! They’re fat-free. PL
Prepared with the research and information of Travis Beck and Martin F. Quigley, Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, The Ohio State University Extension.
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