What is an edible landscape?
It means filling your yard with plants that produce food, in the places where you would otherwise have lawn, ornamental shrubs, and ground cover. Berry bushes instead of boxwood. A grape arbor instead of a bare fence. Herbs along the walk. Fruit trees where the maple was going to go.
It sits alongside the vegetable beds, not instead of them. The beds handle the annuals: tomatoes, squash, the fall brassicas. The landscape handles the perennial layer: the plants that come back every year, get bigger, and ask for very little. In the Backyard Food Factory system this is the part of the yard that turns compost into food with the least labor of all.
Annuals start from zero every spring. Perennials build on last year. Once established, a berry patch or an asparagus bed produces for a decade or more, and most of them can be planted in late summer and fall when the beds are already busy. Build the edible yard a little at a time instead of all at once.
Getting started: sketch it on paper first
Before you buy a single plant, draw the yard. Then think through these:
- Spacing. Every plant has a mature size. Give it that space from day one. Pulling out crowded, struggling plants later is painful.
- Light. Make a sun and shade map of the yard across a day. Put perennials where they get the light they need. Remember deciduous trees leaf out and shade more as the season goes on.
- Pollination. Know which plants are self-fertile and which need a partner. One apple tree by itself may never fruit.
- Grouping and height. Picture the plants fully grown. Will the tall ones shade out the short ones in three years?
- Your zone. Pick plants that survive your winters and your summers. Your county extension office knows the local varieties and microclimates.
- Containers for spreaders. Mint, horseradish, and some berries will take over. Pots keep them honest and add visual texture.
- Label everything. Seedlings all look alike. Labels let you track what's thriving and what needs moving.
- Keep notes. Sketch what went where and how it did. Move things in late fall when they've stopped producing.
Then spend time out there, even in the heat. The success of an edible landscape is proportional to the attention it gets.
What to plant
Perennial vegetables first
- Asparagus. Two to three years to a real harvest, then decades of spring spears. The best time to plant asparagus was three years ago. The next best time is now.
- Artichokes. Big, architectural leaves for a sunny border. Mulch heavily to overwinter in colder zones; unharvested buds open into purple blooms the bees love.
- Garlic. Plant cloves in early fall through early winter. Rows of green stalks add height, and the harvest keeps for months.
- Horseradish. Give it its own bed with loose soil so you can dig the roots without disturbing neighbors. It spreads.
- Rhubarb. Big red stalks and huge leaves; it needs room. Eat only the stalks. The leaves are poisonous.
- Sorrel and sea kale. Perennial greens that double as handsome border plants and land in the salad bowl.
- Wild leeks (ramps). A shade-loving perennial for the ground under trees, thriving in fallen leaves.
- Lettuces and greens. Not truly perennial, but colorful varieties fill gaps between seasons and tolerate shade.
Herbs
A yard full of herbs is a fine idea on its own. Rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, chives, and lavender are perennial in most climates, forgiving of neglect, and add texture and scent along paths and borders. A single oregano plant can go strong for years.
Berries
- Blueberries. White bell flowers in spring, fruit in summer, red leaves in fall. They want acidic soil, which makes them a good candidate for large pots. There is a blueberry variety for nearly every climate.
- Raspberries and blackberries. Star-shaped white flowers, then fruit through the summer. Give them a fence or trellis and room to spread.
- Strawberries. A must-have ground cover, and a magnet for deer, rabbits, and birds. Netting helps.
- Grapes. A wall of green on a sunny arbor or trellis, with clusters hanging at harvest.
- Cranberries and pineberries. Cranberries are a challenging but beautiful evergreen ground cover. Pineberries look like white strawberries and taste faintly of pineapple, and make a good conversation piece.
Trees
- Fruit trees. Every climate can grow some. Apples, pears, plums, cherries, and peaches in temperate zones; figs, persimmons, and citrus where winters are mild. Dwarf varieties fit small yards and keep the fruit within reach.
- Nut trees. Pecan, black walnut, chestnut, and hickory in the South; hazelnut, English walnut, and almond in cooler zones. Ask your extension office which varieties do best locally.
- Citrus in containers. Lemons, limes, and tangerines grow well in pots and overwinter in the greenhouse (or the house) when the weather turns.
Plant only as much fruit as you can eat or preserve. Fallen fruit becomes a nuisance, and a wasp problem, fast. Keep trees away from driveways and windshields.
Perennials are the easiest customers the compost bays have. A yearly top-dress of finished compost and a layer of mulch is most of what they need. In the off-season, let the flock into the orchard: chickens clean up dropped fruit, eat the pests that overwinter in it, and fertilize the trees while they're at it. Prunings go into the compost as carbon.
How long does it take?
An edible landscape is a slow build. Berries and asparagus take two to three years to establish a root system and hit their stride. Fruit and nut trees take longer. Don't try to plant everything at once, and don't get discouraged that year one looks like sticks.
The flip side: the longer you wait to start, the longer until the first harvest. Start now and add a little each year. In a few seasons you have a yard that feeds you and asks for less work than the lawn did.
A word about accessibility
Almost every plant above can be grown in a way that doesn't punish your back and knees. Raised beds and large pots cut out the kneeling. Pots on rolling dollies chase the sun and come inside for cold nights. Waist-height planters and dwarf trees keep the harvest within reach. Design it for the gardener you'll be in ten years.
Two last questions
What about wild and foraged plants? Use them. Dandelion, purslane, violets, and other volunteers are food and, in some cases, medicine. They cost nothing and show up on their own.
What about weeds? Before you pull anything, check whether it's edible. A surprising share of what turns up uninvited is.
Have you looked at your front yard lately and wondered what it could be growing?