The Edible Landscape the Edible Landscape

foodscaping: the edible landscape The Edible Landscape dible landscapes put us back in touch with the land we live on, the people around us, and the food we eat. E Maybe you’re interested in incorporating edible plants into your existing landscape or planning on designing a new section of your yard for both beauty and function. By utilizing the most effective water efficient methods, you can work within your city’s watering guidelines and grow some of your own food. No matter who you are, there is a style of edible gardening to meet your needs, suit your taste, and capture your imagination. A Shift in Perception While it was once common practice to maintain a yard consisting primarily of turfgrass (managed to be both labor and resource intensive), many people are opting to transition a portion of their landscape into vegetable, fruit, or nut production. The latest studies report that as many as 35% of American households are now growing at least some of their own food - the largest numbers in more than a decade. Why mow it, when you can grow it? Planning and Design Just like any other addition to your property, it is important to put some thought into the design of your edible garden or landscape in order to give you the best chance for success. Plant your food with an eye for the overall beauty of the landscape in mind. Defining Style Naturalistic - meandering lines flow organically through the landscape, reminiscent of the lines one might see in nature. Structured - clean, precisely manicured lines divide landscape sections Location: Right Plant, handle growing in areas strictly ornamental plants. geometrically, giving the Right Place shaded by your home, fence, Others do quite well with space an arcitectural Select the best possible or existing plants in the minimal irrigation. Whatever sensibility. location for each plant taking landscape? you’re growing, it is into account these factors: important that available Choose a design to Water water resources are used as complement or contrast the Size Plant the water first! Whether efficiently as possible. style of your house to make Be mindful of the mature you’re growing a few veggies your garden welcoming and height and width of your in pots, or incorporating Drip irrigation or multi- interesting to the eye. edible plant material, edible berries, shrubs, or stream rotors are great allowing room to grow and trees into your landscape, it technologies for reducing Consider proper spacing for airflow. is important to think about water lost to evaporation, • Structure water before you place any and can be retrofitted to an • Movement Light plants or seeds in the ground. existing irrigation system. • Layering heights Do the fruits, vegetables, Some edible plants might Soaker hoses and/or hand • Color contrast or herbs you want to grow require a little more water watering work great, too, for • Evergreens require full sun, or can they than our native and adapted, Continued 1 Continued from page 1 certain situations. Whatever the watering plan is for your edible landscape project, be sure to pair it with a ½” topdressing of quality compost and 2”- 4” of mulch to increase Soil kit online the effectiveness of the water in the root zone! Soiltesting.tamu.edu is your one-stop shop for everything Soil you need to get your soil Proper soil preparation and sample submitted to Texas maintenance is key to a A&M AgriLife scientists for successful edible landscape, testing. especially considering the challenges of the heavy clay, alkaline soils commonly seen in parts of Texas. We recommend starting out with a simple and inexpensive soil test from http://soiltesting. tamu.edu. Not only will it help Web Resources you decide which fertilizers you might need to add and in what amounts, but it might also prevent you from adding too Visit tinyurl.com/ much fertilizer or nutrients you aggievegselector to help don’t need, saving you money you figure out which and preventing runoff into vegetables work best in nearby bodies of water. your garden. What to Grow It’s always best to focus on Getting Started what you or your friends and Pre-Existing Bed family like to eat. You might • Remove undesirable, even be able to save a little struggling, or high money and reduce your maintenance grocery bill. Other people like plants to experiment with edible • Replace with plants that serve multiple well-adapted purposes. Many plants are edibles both edible and highly ornamental with varying Starting from colors and textures of foliage, Scratch showy fruits, and different • Remove bloom times for year-round existing appeal. vegetation • Add soil Consider amendments • Edible flowers • Install Irrigation • Edible tree crops • Install • Edible shrubs hardscape • Herbaceous fruits and • Plant vegetables • Mulch • Herbs 2 Edible Plants for North Texas Landscapes Showy Annual Vegetables Shrubs Herbs Vegetables are usually characterized Just like their ornamental counterparts, Many culinary herbs provide ornamental into two groups: cool season and edible bushes and shrubs should be value, as well. Perennial herbs, like warm season. Try utilizing cool season planted in spring or fall. It is a good rule rosemary, oregano, and mint, are cabbages, kales, lettuces, or other of thumb to avoid planting during the evergreen to semi-evergreen, while showy greens as cool season borders heat and water stresses of summer. basil, cilantro, and dill can easily reseed. in the landscape. Warm season fruiting • Bay Laurel • Basil vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and • Blackberries • Cilantro eggplant can be showcased for their • Clove currants • Culinary Sage bright colored fruits when temperatures • Elderberry • Dill warm up. Vining vegetables add both • Goji berries • Mint vertical height and textural interest along • Nanking Cherry • Oregano with color. Refer to seed packets and • Silverberry • Pineapple Sage plant tags for specific planting dates, • Rosemary or go to the Aggie Horticulture Planting • Thyme Guide: tinyurl.com/aggieplantingguide. Tree Crops • Mexican Tarragon • Beans Container grown trees are best planted • Beets in fall going into dormancy. Bare root Edible Flowers • Cabbage trees are best purchased and planted For those wishing to expand their edible • Eggplant before March or before the buds start to palate, some flowers have delicious • Kale swell. Although edible tree crops can be and interesting flavors. Consider, for • Lettuce planted at other times, it is best to avoid example, the cucumber-like borage or • Peppers planting in the heat of the Texas summer. spicy pepper-like nasturtiums. Not all • Sweet Potato • Apples flowers are edible, so make sure that it is • Swiss Chard • Asian Pear before tasting it. • Tomatoes • Figs • Borage • Okra • Jujubes • Mulberry • Cornflower • Peaches • Daylily Perennial Vegetables • Pecans, Walnuts • Dianthus Once perennials are planted, they come • Persimmons • Lavender back year after year, making the best use • Plums • Nasturtiums of natural resources. These vegetables • Pomegranates • Squash are not only beautiful and tasty, but also • Viola spp. require very little supplemental irrigation. • Artichoke Citrus (protect from frost) Always refer to the botanical name when • Asparagus • Kumquat (‘Marumi’, ‘Meiwa’) verifying whether a plant is safe to eat. • Radicchio • Satsuma (‘Orange frost’, ‘Artic frost’) • Sorrel • Loquats • Sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes) • Walking Onions, Garlic, Chives By Daniel Cunningham, Patrick Dickinson, Dotty Woodson and Clint Wolfe Illustrations and design by Gabe Saldana 17360 Coit Rd., Dallas, TX 75252 Subject matter currently under review 3.

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