Edible Landscaping?

Shayna picked a good one!

While searching for photos of people who had used vegetable plants decoratively with flowers and other landscaping elements I discovered there is a name for this, edible landscaping! I want my home and property to be both ornamental and useful. Edible landscaping seems to be an accurate description of our goals for our yard and garden.

When we moved last year we decided to not plant grass on the vast plain of top soil we call our front yard. Our first instinct was to grow a field of wildflowers. During the winter we have been seriously discussing exactly what we want to do with our yard. I have always felt that grass was a useless waste of our resources except in areas where our children like to walk or play.

Initially I wanted to plant our garden in the south facing back yard but we soon realized that it is far too wet to support veggies. Our side yards are small and shaded. The other options are our front yard or a lot way in the back of my parent’s yard.

We thought about it and talked about it. We decided we would plant non-hybrid or altered veggies, flowers, plants, herbs and pretty weeds all mixed together in our front yard. We want to plant only things that are native to our area, or at least happy growing in our environment.

We will arrange the vegetation so it will be pleasing to look at and hopefully the combinations will complement one another and produce better crops. We want to mix the veggies with everything else so we do not have big bare garden beds all winter (and often spring and fall here in Michigan).

We also want walking paths to enjoy our garden and allow us to care for it. We are thinking we may need to plant grass for the paths, but are researching and considering other options. We prefer something we will not need to mow but will be pleasant to walk on. We will not use rocks because we are planting over our seepage bed and the ground must be able to breathe and we want to provide a cushion so we do not pack the soil.

This edible landscaping will be an adventure and an interesting experiment, as I have never seen it done in real life. I am looking forward to eating yummy produce and and enjoying our beautiful yard this summer and fall.