We are used to having vegetables, fruits and herbs in our gardens to provide us with the pleasure of producing our own food, and also to assist us in managing our food costs. However, we often have specific places to grow food producing plants: the vegetable patch for vegetables, the orchard for fruit trees, and the herb garden for growing herbs. It doesn't have to be like this, making edible, food producing plants part of your overall garden design is a great way to get the best of both worlds.
Foliage and Form
Some of the plants that we eat have their own claims to make for being beautiful and having useful forms. Common Sage (Salvia officinalis) is endowed with not only very fragrant and flavoursome leaves, but it can also can be kept clipped into a rounded form; the soft, grey foliage a perfect contrast to many plants with glossy, green leaves. Take care to avoid letting it grow straggly by keeping the bush clipped back hard after flowering; this will help to make this plant a useful addition to any area of shrubbery. Sage can also be planted to form a hedge to mark boundaries or to emphasize lines in your garden design.
Flowers and Fragrance
The tall, cane-like stems of the Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) can add an annual structural element to any garden, their heads of bright yellow, daisy shaped flowers bobbing in the breeze at the back of the borders have similarities to the ethereal Tree Dahlia (Dahlia imperialis), with the added bonus of having edible tubers. The difficulty with this plant is that if the conditions are right, they can become invasive and new plants will sprout where you're sure you didn't even plant them.
The scented foliage of many low-growing herbs such as Common Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and Oregano (Origanum vulgare) will release a delicious aroma if they happen to be brushed against or walked upon. Planted along a pathway or at the front edge of a garden bed, they will not only look pretty and delicate, with their heads of tiny pink or blue flowers, but also add another sensory element to your garden design with their fragrance.
Fruit
Fruit, citrus and nut trees can all be placed in our gardens as feature plants instead of being put at the back of the yard, crammed into an orchard area down by the back fence. Apple Trees (Malus pumila), Cherry Trees (Prunus sp.), and Citrus Trees (Citrus sp.) all have their claims to beauty and form. Flowering and fruiting periods can add to the beauty of your garden as a whole if these trees are planted to make the most of the features additional to their food producing abilities.
Frances Cameron - I live on the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne, Australia. I work for myself as a gardener and am currently building an edible ...
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