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In the past gardeners and developers designed their landscapes with ornamentals to provide beauty and curb appeal to enhance the value of their homes. Food crop gardens were often isolated from the rest of the yard. As we fast forward in time over the past 20 years, many home landscapes have become much smaller, with no room for separate vegetable or fruit gardens. That trend seemed to be acceptable to most home buyers until the recent interest back to food production started about three to four years ago. As homeowners began trying to squeeze food gardens into their limited landscape space, people started to experiment with blended food and ornamental gardens.
The thought of having ornamental and food crops inter-planted may sound a little strange at first. But there are some very good reasons why this system can work. The first reason is that many food-bearing crops are very attractive plants. Think about strawberries as a cover crop, a blueberry bush with its lovely red wood in winter, beautiful blooms in spring, and bright red leaves in autumn. Or an apple tree with its beautiful spring blossoms and lovely fragrance.
Another reason food crops and small yards make sense is that plant breeders have been developing new dwarf fruit trees, berry bushes, and ornamental shrubs that are quite compatible when crowded together. When using new dwarf food plants, just keep some basic gardening principles in mind. For example, blueberries like acidic soil, so group them with azaleas, camellias, or rhododendrons. Replace flowering trees with fruit trees since they have lovely flowers and fruit. Make sure you put them where you can still apply pest controls if necessary. Grow plants vertically to maximize space. Growing grapes or kiwis on an arbor is very easy. Pole beans and snow peas on arbors can be beautiful and very productive in a small space. Raspberries, and blackberries are also space efficient requiring a space of about 4 feet wide by 20 feet long to produce 20 quarts of raspberries or 30 quarts of blackberries a year.
If you have a garden with good soil and raise annual flowers for a colorful show, think about mixing vegetables right in with the flower display. Bush beans, pepper plants, cabbage, kale, collards, a mix of colorful lettuce, all will enhance the seasonal display. These plants like regular watering, so plant them with flowers that like water. Remember that many flowering plants are edible too. Daylily flowers and pods, nasturtium flowers and leaves, calendula flowers, honeysuckle flowers, tulip and rose petals all beautify a salad.
Most good cooks love the idea of having a small garden with fresh herbs near their kitchen. The nice thing about growing herbs is that most of them are drought hardy, easy to grow, with few pests. Put them in pots on your patio, or group them together with other drought hardy plants in a sunny location. If you have an interest in learning more about edible landscapes, visit the OSU Extension office.
Steve Renquist is the Horticulture Extension agent for OSU Extension Service of Douglas County. He can be reached by e-mail at steve.renquist@oregonstate.edu or by phone at 541-672-4461.
The thought of having ornamental and food crops inter-planted may sound a little strange at first. But there are some very good reasons why this system can work. The first reason is that many food-bearing crops are very attractive plants. Think about strawberries as a cover crop, a blueberry bush with its lovely red wood in winter, beautiful blooms in spring, and bright red leaves in autumn. Or an apple tree with its beautiful spring blossoms and lovely fragrance.
Another reason food crops and small yards make sense is that plant breeders have been developing new dwarf fruit trees, berry bushes, and ornamental shrubs that are quite compatible when crowded together. When using new dwarf food plants, just keep some basic gardening principles in mind. For example, blueberries like acidic soil, so group them with azaleas, camellias, or rhododendrons. Replace flowering trees with fruit trees since they have lovely flowers and fruit. Make sure you put them where you can still apply pest controls if necessary. Grow plants vertically to maximize space. Growing grapes or kiwis on an arbor is very easy. Pole beans and snow peas on arbors can be beautiful and very productive in a small space. Raspberries, and blackberries are also space efficient requiring a space of about 4 feet wide by 20 feet long to produce 20 quarts of raspberries or 30 quarts of blackberries a year.
If you have a garden with good soil and raise annual flowers for a colorful show, think about mixing vegetables right in with the flower display. Bush beans, pepper plants, cabbage, kale, collards, a mix of colorful lettuce, all will enhance the seasonal display. These plants like regular watering, so plant them with flowers that like water. Remember that many flowering plants are edible too. Daylily flowers and pods, nasturtium flowers and leaves, calendula flowers, honeysuckle flowers, tulip and rose petals all beautify a salad.
Most good cooks love the idea of having a small garden with fresh herbs near their kitchen. The nice thing about growing herbs is that most of them are drought hardy, easy to grow, with few pests. Put them in pots on your patio, or group them together with other drought hardy plants in a sunny location. If you have an interest in learning more about edible landscapes, visit the OSU Extension office.
Steve Renquist is the Horticulture Extension agent for OSU Extension Service of Douglas County. He can be reached by e-mail at steve.renquist@oregonstate.edu or by phone at 541-672-4461.
