NOTE from editor: check with your homeowners association before planting anything in your yard. Many communities restrict or prohibit growing certain fruits. Almost all homeowner associations have rules about what can be grown in your yard.
Imagine your garden with full of plants that produce your favorite fruits and vegetables. You will be able to enjoy all the fruits whenever you wish and at the same time, your garden will have a special value and overall attraction. Edible landscaping offers a lot of benefits when compared to the traditional ornamental landscaping. You can either install a completely edible landscape of transform a part of your garden with the edible elements. It is mostly used for residential landscaping. Different kinds of fruit, nuts, vegetables, berries, herbs, edible flowers and aesthetically pleasing plants can be incorporated into the landscaping.
Ideas for edible landscaping
1. Use potted herbs on the patio.
2. Cherry tomatoes can be included in hanging boxes or window boxes.
3. A grape arbor is beneficial.
4. Grow borage, violas, calendula, nasturtium, etc. and include their flowers in salads.
5. Day-lilies are edible.
6. The corner of your yard is the best place for planting a fruit tree.
7. Red-jewel cabbage can be grown in your yard.
8. Colorful pepper varieties like Habanero and Lipstick can be grown alongside the flowers.
9. grow radishes, lettuce and some other short lived greens into a flowerbed.
10. Instead of a barberry hedge, grow gooseberries.
11. Use a planter to grow coleus and basil.
12. Yellow or rainbow chard is worth trying.
13. Chives can be grown around your mailbox.
14. Raspberries can be grown along your fence.
Reasons for incorporating an edible landscape
1. Enjoy freshness and flavor
The most important reason for incorporating an edible landscape is for enjoying the flavor and freshness of the edible items like the fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc. If you are used to buying them from the market, they may be a few days or weeks old which means that you are not getting them fresh. The flavor would also have changed slightly. You can avoid this by enjoying fresh and flavorful items from your garden.
2. Avoid the effect of chemicals and pesticides
Most of the fruits and vegetables are grown in different kinds of conditions. Most of them are even sprayed with dangerous pesticides and chemicals for keeping away pests. All these chemicals are harmful to our body. You can be free such concerns when you have home-grown fruits and vegetable without the use of chemicals. They are healthy and safe for everyone in the family.
3. Save on grocery bills
Fruits and vegetables, and other edibles plant items have become very expensive, especially if you are looking for some nutritious varieties. Instead of spending a lot of money on these items, you can as well grow them in your garden and enjoy them as much as you want anytime without going to the market. So you will be saving a lot on your grocery bills. Apart from that, you can also sell the excess amount and use the money for other purposes.
4. Grow unusual varieties
Some varieties of fruits and vegetables are very difficult to find. You may have to go in search of these varieties and finally end up buying some poor quality ones. You can easily overcome such a situation by growing such unusual varieties in your home garden. Then you will be able to enjoy them whenever you choose. Such items may not be available in the stores too.
5. Interact with nature
The most interesting part of having an edible landscape in your home is that you can interact with nature and have a lot of fun. You can come to know about a lot of things on different kinds of plants, how they grow, what their requirements are and a lot of other things. If you are a nature lover, there is no better way to interact with nature along with your edible landscaping.
Most of the plants used for edible landscaping can survive with minimum care. Some of them may require a little maintenance including pruning, watering, fertilizing and pest management. The fruit trees may require only very little time of care. The yield may be enormous. So, involve yourself and take care of your plants more often if you want to enjoy the benefits of edible landscaping.
About the author: Alia Haley is a blogger and writer. She loves writing on health and technology. Beside this, she loves cooking. These days she is reading a book on importance of salad in diet.
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