Ever Thought About An Edible Garden?
Tom Johnson
Here's a great idea... what about growing your very own edible garden! It makes a lot of sense with the prices of fresh vegetables and fruits skyrocketing. Most vegetables have very decorative properties in either their foliage or flowers as well as being edible, so it's no wonder a lot of people are creating more natural gardens.
You'll find you can have a spectacular looking edible garden that will ease the pain on your budget and give you fresh vegtables, herbs and fruits year after year. If you're short on space you can grow them in containers or even on a window ledge.
Most people who create edible landscapes use perennial vegetables, because they come back year after year, without the need to replant them each year. The double bonus is that you'll have a spectacular garden that also feeds your family!
So with the choice of plants taken care of for a yearly harvest, all you need to do now is a little feeding, watering, occasional pruning, weeding and pest control. In exchange you'll have fresh fruits and vegetables for years and years.
These plants will die back for the winter months, but their growth pattern will ensure they re- shoot every spring for another season. Year after year you'll enjoy a wide variety of fresh veetables and fruits.
With a little research you'll find that you can replace a lot of your conventional garden with the large variety of edible plants available. You don't have to stop at ornamental vegetables around your garden, what about using some of the perennial herbs instead of shrubs or ground cover. Then there's the great advantage of replacing some of your trees with highly decorative fruit trees. If you're short on space there are many dwarf varieties of fruit trees that are not only pretty but prolific producers of fresh fruit.
Don't be afraid to mix up your planting, you can have some wonderful combinations with a little imagination. Edible plants can look at home in a flower bed and many herbs will give your garden an individual appearance.
For something different, try planting a herb such as curly parsley amongst your lobelia, pansies, strawberries or dianthus. Also for really pretty low growing shrubs, sage, rosemary and oregano look sensational.
Have you noticed the staggering varieties of lettuce lately? They come in some fantastic colors, with very pretty leaves. They would make great accent plants around your garden, you could even use them as edging.
With all this talk about vegetables, don't forget there are many plants with edible flowers or other edible parts, let's look at some. Sugar snap peas have striking purple, white, or pink flowers as well as the delicious peas they produce. They can look sensational when they're in full bloom.
Fava beans produce white and red flowers. Chives have amazing purple globe-shaped flowers. Dill has lovely yellowish blossoms. Nasturtium blossoms are edible, and some in red, yellow, and orange. Sage has blue and purple blossoms. And salvia also has blue and purple blooms.
Perennial herbs and vegetables are superb for planting in edible landscapes, because they require so little maintenance. You can try perennial broccoli, dandelions, sweet potatoes, rhubarb, sorrel, artichokes and Jerusalem artichokes, chives, fennel, garlic chives, ginger, and asparagus.
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