Food plants can be used in landscaping just like ornamental plants: so why not have beauty, greenery, AND something tasty to eat?  Edible plants don’t have to be confined to a kitchen garden: they can be integrated into the ornamental plants in the rest of your yard, or make up all of the landscaping.

Note that you don’t have to choose between an edible landscape OR a kitchen garden: the two actually go very well together.  Kitchen gardens can be a convenient and defined space to have your everyday vegetables growing, while you may have fruit trees, berries, artichokes, and less often used herbs making up the rest of the landscape.

Here are some examples of some edible landscaping projects we’ve done and ideas for you to consider for you landscape:

Vegetable Landscape

Your edible landscape can be a large version of a kitchen garden, growing all of your favorite annual vegetables and herbs.  This project was a front yard makeover, but could be done in a backyard as well.  It’s an easy project to quickly turn a lawn into a food producing paradise.

The Farm Yard
These were projects for the CSA trial program. Like the vegetable landscape, they were front yard makeovers which turned lawns into food.  The difference is that these gardens did not feature any landscape design: everything is planted in rows, with more attention given to production rather than visual interest, and giving a very “farm-like” appearance.  If you like that aesthetic, it’s a very cost-effective edible landscape.

Food Forest
The food forest is a concept in permaculture. It combines annual vegetables and herbs, perennial edibles, and fruit trees in a landscape that mimics the layers of a natural forest. We have not done any projects that fall under this description but would be interested in doing this type of permaculture design.

Ecological Garden

Like the food forest, the ecological garden features perennial food plants, but also integrates native and other drought tolerant plants that fit into our local ecosystem. This project has edible plants such as fruit trees, grape vines, artichokes, and culinary herbs close to the house, and native plants surrounding it.

Other edible features can be added to any landscape.

Grape or Kiwi arbor

Espaliered fruit trees

Edible hedges and border

Fruit trees for shade and visual interest

Installation Process

Assessment

The first thing we need to do is see your space.  It is helpful if you have first considered if your space gets enough sun (4-6 hours direct sunlight a day), and what kind of access to water it has.

Design and Pricing

After your assessment we will put together a design and estimate.  We can work through different drafts of these to fit your budget and garden needs before deciding on a final plan and cost.

Installation

Once the design has been approved by you, we get to work. Depending on the complexity, installation can take a day or a matter of weeks. Hardscaping, carpentry, and other building projects are usually subcontracted. Subcontracting arrangements can be made by you or us, depending on which you prefer.

Maintenance

Edible landscapes will have varying maintenance needs depending on the plants you have. To keep your garden growing you’ll probably want our Maintenance as well.