Megan Cooper shows us how to integrate edible plants into our garden.

By cultivating an edible landscape in your own yard, you can liven up your recipes with fresh, high-quality produce and beautify your property at the same time! Edible landscaping is an art form, and if you’d like to capture your garden in a painting, you can commission an artist like John Stoa. These tips will walk you through the process of planting an edible landscape, including choosing your crops, designing an outdoor dining space, inviting your loved ones over for meals, and even teaching other people about these practices.

Choose Tasty Fruits, Vegetables, and Herbs

As you decide what to plant, try to focus on produce you like to eat, as well as what will brighten up your yard. Treehugger recommends planting asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes, rose hips, common figs, chives, elderberries, and pansies.

Plan Your Garden Lay Out

The way you lay out your garden is just as important as what you decide to plant. Assess how much space you have, and then ensure that your plants will receive enough light. Keep in mind that building raised beds can maximize your space. Think about how you can rotate crops as seasons change as well.

Set Up an Outdoor Dining Space
As you lay out your edible landscape and designate where you’ll plant certain crops, figure out if you can leave room for a cozy outdoor dining space. By adding an outdoor dining table and chairs, you’ll be able to indulge in the fruits of your labor right where you grew it! Keep in mind that major upgrades to your yard could actually raise the value of your home.

Care for Your Garden

To properly care for your garden, you’ll need to check your plants daily for any signs of pests and address problems with insects or animals as quickly as possible. Gather and Grow also states that you’ll want to keep up with weeding, water your plants properly based on your local rainfall levels, fertilize your plants frequently, and harvest and prune your plants at the right time. For instance, you prune herbs after their first flowering to encourage more growth and harvest fruits and vegetables when they are ripe.

Share Education on Edible Landscaping
As you plant, cultivate, and harvest from your edible landscape, you’ll inevitably learn lots about gardening through trial and error! You can share tips and tricks with other people who are interested in edible landscaping by starting a YouTube channel. This is a great way to demonstrate the ins and outs of growing an edible landscape.

Host Meals With Friends and Family

When you’ve harvested from your landscape, and your kitchen is overflowing with fresh produce, why not invite your loved ones over to enjoy it together? You can show off your beautiful landscape, too!

Edible landscaping can be a fulfilling hobby. You’ll get in touch with the natural world and master valuable new skills. By following these tips, you’ll be ready to plant your garden, incorporate an outdoor dining space, host your loved ones for dinner, and share your knowledge with others.

Want to commission original art for your edible landscape? Turn to John Stoa! Fill out the contact form on our website today to learn more about ordering a commission.