Fruit Trees, Vegetables, and Herbs in the Landscape

This narrow side-yard in San Diego was designed with raised beds for vegetables. Citrus and grape vines fill-in this landscape.

   Exciting news. Edible Landscape Design, a website devoted to encouraging people around the world to garden sustainably, has written a full page on my business. The harvest garden is a theme near and dear to my heart.  Simply stated, sustainability outdoors involves working vegetables, fruiting trees and shrubs, and herbs into the landscape. Some folks that want to devote their entire outdoor space or to edibles, others that wish to allocate a significant portion of their property to the concept, and still others want a low-key approach with fruiting plants sprinkled throughout the landscape.  Any of these design approaches is doable; in the San Diego area, most homeowners prefer either or both of the last two options.

     I have always had a soft spot for using edibles in the landscape, and have done so in my own home landscape for many years.  Years before I began full-time consulting and design, I helped start a specialty nursery and landscape business solely devoted to using herbs, vegetables, and fruiting plants in the landscape.  My eyes were opened.  Our plant list was extensive, especially when adding traditional herbal garden plants into the mix.  We had violas, scented geraniums, society garlic, artemisia, lavender, and even roses in our sales beds.  I worked with the late Sherrel Hall in those days, a local legend of sorts who became one of my best friends.  Sherrel was instrumental, not only in bringing this type of landscaping to the attention of San Diegans, but also in getting the word out on vermiculture, another of his passions. He was a force of nature, a bit eccentric but a kind and caring person.  I do not share his off-the-charts zeal for this type of landscape, but the sustainability theme is one of my personal favorites.  When clients mention they wish to use edibles in their landscape, I am more than ready to work their desires into the plan.

      In my next few blog post, I will go into more detail about designing edibles into the landscape: what it takes, working it into the overall theme, the plants that can be used, and how much you should take on (as imagined, this is not a type of landscape that will prosper without homeowner sweat equity).  Stay tuned.  

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