Are you ready to transform your outdoor space into an edible, diverse, and beautiful landscape? I’ve curated twenty-five edible landscaping ideas to get your creative juices flowing for your next garden project.
First, a quick disclaimer to always use caution when using the plants you grow for food and medicine. Read my full disclaimer here. Now let’s get right to it!
1. Plant in Guilds
In your edible landscape, grow strong, healthy, and productive fruit trees by planting them friends. Around your central key species (often a fruit or nut tree) Imagine planting a fruit tree in the center, plant nitrogen-fixing plants like clover, herbs that repel pests like basil, and groundcover like strawberries. Together, they create a self-sustaining ecosystem where each plant supports the others’ growth and health, leading to an abundant harvest.
2. Grow Edible Vines
Make the most of limited space by using walls, fences, or other structures to grow plants vertically. Whether it’s cucumbers climbing a trellis or grape vines growing over a pergola, vines add a whole new layer to edible landscaping. For more unusual edible vines, check out my article, 12 Edible Vines to Grow More Food in Less Space.
3. Grow Perennial Herbs
Cultivate herbs like rosemary and thyme in your edible landscape. Unlike annual herbs, perennials provide fresh flavors year after year, saving you time and effort in replanting. Locate a selection of perennial herbs close to your back door for easy access whenever you need to snip a few leaves as you’re preparing dinner.
4. Include Native Plants
Incorporate indigenous species, like serviceberry, thimbleberry, or wild strawberry (these are native to my area in the western U.S., but choose plants that happen to be native to your location), into your edible landscape. Native plants are well-suited to your local climate, require less maintenance, and support local wildlife. Many native species are edible too!
5. Grow Pollinator-Friendly Flowers
Boost your garden’s productivity by planting flowers that attract pollinators like bees and butterflies. These busy visitors help ensure better fruit and vegetable yields. They might not be edible themselves, but they add both beauty and diversity to your edible landscape. Some good examples to start with are lavender and bee balm.
6. Include Edible Flowers
Add a pop of color and taste to your garden by incorporating edible flowers like nasturtiums, violets, and chives. These blooms not only look pretty but also add edible treasures to your garden. Sprinkle their colorful petals on salads to add visual appeal, and often a spicy punch of flavor.
7. Build a Hügelkultur Bed
Create nutrient-rich raised beds or mounds using decaying wood, a technique known as hügelkultur. When done properly, these beds improve soil quality, retain moisture, and promote healthy plant growth.
Stack logs and branches of various sizes and cover them with soil, filling in all of the air gaps. Give it a good soak and cover it with mulch. As the wood breaks down, it releases nutrients into the soil, benefiting plants. Plant vegetables, flowers, and herbs on the top and sides of the mound for a low-maintenance garden.
8. Integrate Edible Mushrooms
Incorporate mushroom cultivation into your landscape. This unique addition not only provides gourmet mushrooms but also recycles organic matter efficiently. Either create mushroom logs and integrate their care into your landscaping maintenance routine, or simply innoculate the wood mulch around your plants with edible mushroom spores such as wine caps for an easy source of culinary mushrooms.
9. Use Bugs for Pest Control
Encourage ladybugs and lacewings to control pests in your edible landscape. These beneficial insects are nature’s own pest management team and can help keep your garden thriving without the need for chemical interventions. Avoid using chemical pesticides and instead create a habitat that attracts ladybugs and lacewings. Planting flowers like dill and yarrow can lure them in. Once established, these insects will help keep aphids and other pests in check, ensuring the health of your plants.
10. Build Beneficial Insect Hotels
Invite beneficial insects into your garden by building shelters for them. These insects, like ladybugs and lacewings, are natural pest controllers, helping to maintain a healthy balance in your garden.
Assemble a simple insect hotel using materials like bamboo, sticks, and straw. Place it in a sheltered area of your garden. The nooks and crannies of the hotel become cozy homes for these helpful insects, making them more likely to stay and protect your plants from harmful pests.
11. Plant Perennial Vegetables
Opt for perennial vegetables instead of annuals. These long-lasting plants are lower maintenance than annuals and provide food year after year without replanting. Grow a patch of asparagus, and once the patch is established in two to three years, you’ll enjoy tender shoots every spring for years to come. Rhubarb adds a tart kick to your desserts season after season, while artichokes reward you with their unique flavor year after year, reducing the need for replanting.
12. Plan for Extended Harvests
Extend your harvest by strategically selecting plants that produce at different times of the year. This approach keeps your garden fruitful throughout the seasons. For example, plant serviceberry, asparagus, and rhubarb for early spring harvests, raspberries and artichokes for summer, and apples and leafy greens for fall. Persimmons can be harvested even after your first frost! Depending on your climate and plant varieties, you might even have some fruits and vegetables to harvest in winter.
13. Espalier Fruit Trees
To save space and add interest to your landscape, train fruit trees to grow along a fence or wall using the espalier technique. By carefully pruning and training apples, pears, or many other varieties of trees to grow flat against a wall or fence, you can create a functional and visually appealing fruit-producing display.
14. Install a Cattle Panel Arch
Create an arch using cattle panels and grow edible vines on it. This unique structure adds height to your garden, maximizes vertical space, and provides a framework for climbing plants. Erect a sturdy cattle panel arch over a garden path or between raised garden beds. Plant grapevines, climbing beans, or any other vine at the base, and as they grow, they’ll cover the arch, creating a shaded, edible tunnel. Cattle panel arches can also offer support to plants that aren’t vines but tend to lean or group such as tree collards and goji berries.
15. Grow Nut Trees
Consider planting nut trees alongside fruit trees to introduce a protein source into your edible landscape and increase diversity. You can incorporate larger nut trees like chestnut or walnut as part of your overstory layer in the garden, providing shade and a nut harvest. (If you grow walnut beware that it can inhibit the growth of other plants that are sensitive to juglone.) If space is limited, go for smaller options like hazel, which has a shrub-like habit, or almond which is sometimes available on dwarfing rootstock.
16. Food Forest Layers
Develop a harmonious food forest with canopy, shrub, herbaceous, and vine layers to maximize your edible landscape’s potential. Start with apple or pear trees in the canopy layer. For shrubs, perhaps blueberries and currants. In the herbaceous layer, plant herbs like thyme and flowers such as calendula. Add a vine layer with beans or peas climbing up the trees. This straightforward approach fosters a diverse, complex, and sustainable garden.
17. Raised Herb Spiral
The idea of an herb spiral has become somewhat of a permaculture cliche, but I’ve included it because herb spirals do have their benefits, and can fit well into some edible landscaping designs. Herb spirals provide a compact and space-efficient way to grow a variety of herbs in one spot.
Construct a circular, raised bed with layers of soil. Place herbs that prefer drier, sunnier conditions on the south (or sunny) side of the spiral, such as rosemary and thyme. On the north (or shaded side) grow herbs like mint and parsley that enjoy cooler and more moisture-rich conditions. This arrangement maximizes your herb variety in a small area, perfect for culinary and medicinal uses.
18. Grow a Medicinal Garden
Grow an array of medicinal plants to provide even more value from your edible landscape. Plants such as calendula, yarrow, chamomile, and peppermint, have medicinal value that you may grow to use and love. For example, a cup of peppermint tea may calm an upset stomach, and a salve made from calendula is said to accelerate skin healing.
19. Choose Edible Ground Covers
Replace your traditional lawn with edible ground cover such as strawberries or clover. This not only reduces maintenance but also provides nutritious and tasty fruit or edible greens to garnish your salads.
Many strawberry varieties spread readily by runners, and after starting with a few plants you’ll soon have a carpet of strawberry plants. This sustainable alternative not only looks attractive but also serves as a fruitful and practical addition to your landscape.
20. Plant Aromatic Pathways
Line your garden pathways with fragrant herbs such as lavender and mint. These aromatic plants not only add a pleasant scent to your garden but can also be harvested for culinary and medicinal uses.
For example, plant lavender along the edges of your garden path. As you walk by, the gentle fragrance will envelop you. Harvest the lavender flowers for homemade sachets or use them to flavor desserts. Mint is another excellent choice that smells amazing, grows prolifically (sometimes too prolifically, so be prepared!), and provides a ready supply of leaves for cooking and salads.
21. Add a Pond or Water Feature
Enhance your edible landscape by adding a pond or water feature. These additions not only provide a calming atmosphere but also support aquatic plants and fish, creating a balanced ecosystem.
A small pond or water feature in a sunny area of your garden can support aquatic plants like watercress and water lilies. You can also introduce fish like goldfish or koi.
22. Edible Hedgerows
Plant edible shrubs such as currants, blueberries, or serviceberries to create natural barriers or hedgerows around your garden. These hedges provide privacy, aesthetics, and a source of fresh produce for your edible landscape.
23. Grow a Pizza Garden
Design a dedicated “pizza garden” where you can grow the ingredients needed for a delicious homemade pizza, from tomatoes and basil to oregano and peppers. In your pizza garden, plant tomato varieties perfect for sauce, such as Roma and San Marzano. Add basil for that classic Italian flavor, oregano for a zesty kick, and bell peppers for toppings. Take it a step farther and build your own outdoor pizza oven, to keep those pizzas cooking without having to heat your house with the oven in summer.
24. Embrace Edible Weeds
Expand your edible landscape by identifying and using edible wild plants that often grow as weeds. These plants are often hardy and nutritious additions to your garden. Learn to recognize and harvest edible weeds such as dandelion greens, purslane, and chickweed. These plants are abundant, resilient, and rich in vitamins and minerals. Letting them grow in your garden allows you to use what’s already thriving in your environment and turn these “weeds” into valuable edible resources.
25. Multi-Grafted Fruit Trees
Maximize space and variety by grafting multiple fruit varieties onto a single tree. This ingenious approach allows you to enjoy a diverse orchard in a limited area.
For example, consider grafting different apple varieties onto a single rootstock for a variety of flavors, textures, and colors. Or explore grafting multiple stone fruits such as plums, peaches, and nectarines onto one tree. Do your research to know which varieties are compatible when grafted together. This is also helpful if you have an ornamental variety of fruit tree and want to grow edible fruit, without having to wait for a whole new tree to mature, or to find space in a small yard to grow another fruit tree.
Conclusion
Incorporating these edible landscaping ideas can turn your garden into a thriving, diverse, and delicious space. Stay tuned for my upcoming food forest design guide to dive deeper into creating your own edible backyard ecosystem. Get ready to grow, nurture, and enjoy the fruits of your labor!
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