While growing vegetables and herbs is becoming ever more popular there are people who have a smaller garden and feel that ugly edibles will spoil their view. So how can you grow fruit and vegetables in a small area without it looking like a kitchen garden? The answer is by “Foodscaping”. This is the idea of Charlie Nardozzi the nationally recognized garden writer whose article I came across on the Gardening Know How website.

Sometimes trends just seem to compliment each other. Take gardening. For a number of years now the number of gardeners growing their own edibles has grown. At the same time, the average size of the American garden has been steadily shrinking. So, how does a gardener grow more of their own food in a small foot print? By foodscaping or edible landscaping. Simply put, edible landscaping is replacing purely ornamental plants in your yard with edible ones. The knock against growing vegetables, fruits and herbs in your yard was always they aren?t pretty. Well, that has all changed with the breeding of new varieties and the discovery that many of our favorite edible shrubs, vines and trees can be attractive, too.

In my book, Foodscaping, I highlight the places in your yard where you can grow edibles and suggest some of my favorite ones to grow for their beauty and ?edibility?. For example, you can plant blueberries, gooseberries and honeyberries as foundation plants around your home instead of the traditional spirea, lilac and juniper. Instead of a maple or oak shade tree, why not grow a standard apple, persimmon or mulberry tree? For smaller flowering trees, consider tart cherries, plums, and serviceberries (Amelanchier). For vines, replace a Virginia creeper or Boston ivy with hardy kiwi, grape or hops vine. Yes, you can eat hop shoots when they first emerge from the soil. They taste like asparagus. All of these will provide the beauty you are looking for in flowers and foliage, but also give you abundance of fruits to eat.
See more at Gardening Know How