Edible Landscaping

A couple of years ago, I decided that I wanted to start growing more of our own food. We started a garden but I also wanted to grow fruit. Growing fruit in the traditional sense would have taken away from my garden space. About that time I found books on edible landscaping, they inspired me to look at our landscaping in a whole new way. I started reading up on growing fruits and looked through tons of catalogs to find dwarf type trees and bushes. I checked with our local extension office which had lists of fruit varieties that grew best in our climate. I realized that growing a lot of our own fruit within our landscaping would be a realistic goal.

The next several months I continued to research growing fruits and looking through catalogs. I, then went outside and started measuring and envisioning a new landscape plan. I set pots out where I wanted to plant trees, measured between them and kept rearranging them until I liked the spacing and look it gave the yard. Next, I looked at fruit bushes that would be good foundation plantings within the landscape. I drew up a plan and we made the transition in stages.

Once I had the trees and bushes planned and in the ground, we started working on other areas. We expanded our herb garden on the side of the house. We left spaces within the beds to put garden plants that also look nice within the beds. Some good examples are squash vines, pepper plants and herbs. Our yard is a little less than a 1/4 acre and we were able to plant apple, peach, pear, plum, apricot, cherries, blueberries, nectarines, grapes, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries, gooseberries and currants. When they are in full development we should at least be able to get enough fruit off of each one to eat fresh in season.

The benefits of this plan is we are able to grow a lot more of our own food. We know that it is organic and is grown in a sustainable way. We also have less grass area to mow and maintain. Last year, was the final step in the fruit planting plan so I will let you know how it goes as time progresses.

I encourage you to do some research on edible landscaping. Look at your current yard, See where you might be able to add some fruit trees or bushes.