Edible Landscaping

Let’s say you have just moved into a new neighborhood. Your house is great but the backyard is empty. You get depressed and drive down to the supermarket to get some food to ease your sorrow. The food is great and fresh but is insanely expensive. What do you do?

You do what your ancestors did and grow your own food in that spacious backyard. Edible landscaping is easy it’ll blow your mind and tickle your taste buds.

Okay, you are starting from scratch, your first task is to plant some small trees and shrubs. These will provide shade for your edible plants, inhibit soil erosion and hey, they just look nice.

Next, prepare your soil. You’ll have way more success if you start composting and mulching. If you are really ambitious pick up some manure, while really gross, it will speed up the growing process. These soil additions plus the tress and shrubs will lower the pH levels in the soil making it easier for plants to sprout.

Now that you have the base for some great edible landscaping, start planting. Your first instinct might be to plant row after row of the same plant. While this is practical from an upkeep point of view, it actually isn’t ideal for growing. Try planting a little bit of everything everywhere.

This is how it works in nature and thus is how plants naturally grow. It will keep your soil rich and keep pests away. Plus it looks amazing. Once the plants bloom and the fruits and vegetables sprout you will have a veritable kaleidoscope of color to marvel at.

If you are a little pressed for space feel free to plant in containers. While not natural it will produce good results. Also, you can always sacrifice a bit of your lawn to the edible landscaping gods.

You won’t even miss that small patch of grass when you are munching on ripe tomatoes on a sunny afternoon. You can also maximize the potential of your edible landscaping by planting flora that grows less conventionally.

Try building a lattice and planting grape vines. These take up little space on the ground and will give a vertical dimension to your landscaping. Plus vines make grapes and grapes make wines and wines make for good times.