Landscape with plants that are good enough to eat
You multitask all day long. Why not in your landscape, too?
Flowers are pretty, hedges (like fences) make good neighbors, and trees provide much-needed shade. But your landscape plantings can do more. Not only can they beautify your home, they can also help feed you and your family.
The good news is that you don’t have to dig up your garden or become a full-time farmer to do so, according to author Judy Barrett in “Easy Edibles: How to Grow & Enjoy Fresh Food,” (Texas A&M University Press, $22.95).
“There are plenty of ground covers, vines, trees and container plants that will not only beautify your landscape but will also produce a bountiful harvest of herbs, vegetables, fruits and nuts,” said Barrett, editor and publisher of the organic gardening magazine Homegrown and gardening columnist with the Austin American-Statesman.
It’s unlikely you’ll be able to grow all the food your family needs — you’ll still be taking regular trips to the grocery store — but nothing beats the satisfaction and peace of mind that comes with biting into a homegrown tomato or sprinkling a dish with herbs you tended with your own hands.
Before you begin turning your yard into a
garden for eating, Barrett has some words of warning: Don’t use herbicides and pesticides on anything you intend to consume.
“One reason for growing your own food is knowing that it’s chemical-free,” she explained. “So you don’t want to use these chemicals because they’ll get into your food.”
And second, use only wellaged compost and manure that’s free of any potentially dangerous pathogens.
Here are her suggestions for getting started:
Plant in a wheelbarrow: If the thought of having to dig up the ground to plant your fruits and vegetables gives you preemptive pain in the back, consider planting a wheelbarrow garden. It’s simple: Fill the wheelbarrow with soil, pop in the veggies and you’re good to go.
“You can move it around the yard, following the sun if you’d like, or move it under a tree that’s lost its leaves and then somewhere else when they grow back in the spring,” said Barrett.
Because wheelbarrows are higher, they’re also a good choice for gardeners who have difficulty getting low to the ground.
What you plant depends on the depth of the wheelbarrow. Carrots may not work because they need plenty of soil to grow in. Shallow-growing greens, such as Swiss chard as well as strawberries and most herbs, should work.
Finally, before filling it with dirt, drill drainage holes in the bottom of the wheelbarrow to help keep the soil from getting — and staying — too wet.
Herbs as borders: Sure, wax-leaf ligustrum, elaeagnus or red-tip photinia all make acceptable hedges. But they just grow there, taking up space.
Consider planting herbs such as bay or rosemary instead. Not only will they provide a yearround screen, thrive in full sun and require little water or other maintenance once established, but you can use the leaves while cooking.
Bay, sometimes called bay laurel, is an evergreen shrub with dark green foliage that can be neatly trimmed. Its leaves are used fresh or dried to season soups, stews and other dishes that cook a long time.
Rosemary also can be trained as a drought-tolerant hedge reaching up to 5 feet tall. Aromatic and pungent, the leaves are used to flavor lamb, focaccia, tomato sauce, pizza and pork. It comes in two varieties: upright and prostrate. So be sure to buy the former if you’re looking to develop a hedge.
Plant veggies in the front yard: No law says that vegetable plants have to be relegated to the back of the house, out of sight. Many have such fascinating foliage they make interesting additions to beds normally reserved for flowers and other ornamentals.
For example, ornamental sweet potato vines are popular for their attractive leaves, but the sweet potato tubers they produce tend to be bitter. How about planting pumpkin, melon or cucumber instead? They grow well in full sun and produce long, interesting vines that leave you with something good to eat.
“One of my most dramatic plants I have is a globe artichoke I planted several years ago in my front flower bed,” Barrett said. (The familiar artichokes sold in supermarkets are globe artichokes.)
The plant, she writes in her book, “grows quietly during the cool months, then become huge in early spring and produces more delicious globe artichokes each year.”
Food from trees: South Texas tree favorites, such as live oaks and cedar elms, are magnificent and inspiring. But why not plant something that will also produce food?
“The pecan is the state tree of Texas,” said Barrett. “When my husband had his first experience with them he said, ‘Food just falls from the sky.’ ”
Unlike growing veggies, growing a fruit or nut tree requires a long-term commitment. Many take years before they produce but even until then, they’ll still provide great shade.
To ensure you plant a tree adapted for our area, talk to local nursery people or the local extension service. They’ll steer you away, for example, from trying to grow a cherry tree, which requires cold weather to survive and produce. They should instead suggest a well-established variety such as fig, persimmon or plum.