Edible Landscape Design

We've recently begun to offer full foodscaping design services, especially for clients who want to replace their front lawn with an edible garden - and so need it to look particularly nice.  

This project was for a south-facing front lawn in the Dunbar area, the yard measuring about 33x33'.  The client wanted to replace her front lawn with a system of raised vegetable-growing beds and cedar chip paths.  In such a sunny location, just about any vegetable or fruit will grow well, and you can layer the kinds of plants from front to back (sunwards to shade-wards) in each successive bed.  So the full-sun tomatoes, beans, squashes, or herbs, provide part-shade for turnips or beets, and closer beneath the sun-loving plants, more consistent shade for lettuces, kales, mints, parsley or asian greens. 

The client also looked to create some kind of barrier around the yard to prevent dogs (and maybe overly-eager human scavengers!) from coming in - while not making it unfriendly for the neighbours.  And finally, she wanted  to replace her straight-shot, broken concrete walk with a winding walk of pavers.

In designing the yard, our first decision was that the garden needed a focal point - both visually from the street, and practically in terms of a staging-place for the gardening work.  So we started with the paved patio area up near the house - where a potting table, garden bench or small table and chairs could sit - and worked from there.   

Likewise, we saw our goal as trying to provide as much food-producing space as possible.  So on the front and one side, a fence became either growing frames or an arbour incorporating another growing frame - for grapes, beans, peas, tomatoes, squashes, even melons, kiwi vines or espaliered fruit trees.  Similarly, we replaced a proposed wooden fence on the other side with an edible, living fence of raspberries and blueberries.  

This is the most basic plan we devised, our client not wanting to get too adventurous with odd shapes and sizes of beds (though within the limits of what can be effectively gardened, the sky's the limit in this regard!).  We also agreed that an overall east-west layout for the beds was aesthetically the best choice for this yard. 

Included in the estimate was the installation of a well-designed, inconspicuous drip watering system, all running back to a single tap with a programmable timer to make it as little work as possible.

We should add: we have yet to get to design a garden for someone with particular physical needs - but it's a challenge we can't wait to take on!  Wheelchair friendly paths, extra high raised beds, friendly composting or watering systems, vertical gardening strategies, and so on: these can all be adapted for each person's particular needs.

Either way, the result: the transformation of an unused front lawn well past its prime, into a vibrant, rich, beautiful foodscape, producing healthy, fresh food year-round!  And no more mowing the lawn!

 

 

Comments

[Ruby]

I am attempting a garden for the first time, and am unsure of the best spot to plan it. Our house blocks much of the sun in our yard, so the best spot is at the bottom of a small slope where the water runoff passes, leaving the ground almost always saturated and soft. I planned on building a bit of a raised bed. Is this a good spot to plan my garden? I watched a few videos online and one said it would be a good spot, but I wanted to be sure.Thanks in advance!

[Darach Seaton]

Hi, Ruby - Good question. Yes, the best option is to build a raised garden bed in the sunny area - the raising of the bed allowing for good drainage in spite of the general wetness of the area. Many food crops need a fair bit of sun - 4-8 hours per day, depending on the particular kind. Tomatoes, tomatillos, artichokes, squashes and cucumbers, beans, various root crops, and so on - all need pretty full sun. For the plants that need less sun - lettuces, kale, parsley, onions, peas, chard, spinach, bok choi, etc. - you can either build a separate bed for them in a somewhat shadier area (though they still need a few hours of sun), or you can plant them on the shady side of the more sun-tolerant plants. Lettuce grows well in the shade of tomatoes, for instance.

Besides providing good drainage, raised beds provide other benefits, including: isolating the bed from pests in the surrounding area (especially soil-borne pests), encouraging more intensive planting to produce more food per square foot, demarcating the raised area as separate from where dogs and children might otherwise walk, conserving moisture, and extending the planting season.