landscaping with veggies?

NCpaint1

Has anyone done this?

This will be our first spring in our new home, and the landscaping is almost nonexistent. The home is only 2 yeas old and has a few plants here and there. Last summer when we moved in, there was nothing but weeds in the nice flower bed in the front. I was thinking of instead of planting countless flats of flowers, maybe some kind of fruit or veggie...strawberries perhaps? I'm not a huge gardener by any means, but this area is watered by automatic misters, so I think it would be easy for me.

This is a fairly upscale neighborhood, so if I do this, I can't have anything huge growing( corn, sunflowers, etc.) The more inconspicuous the better but still look planned, not like a jumbled mess.

Am I crazy for contemplating this, or is this the "new thing"?

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Benjamin Moore, Sikkens, TWP, PPG, Airless sales and service

NCpaint1

Thanks, is this something that people are doing these days? Or am I a total nut?

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Benjamin Moore, Sikkens, TWP, PPG, Airless sales and service

DexterII

Our situation is a bit different, in that we live a fair distance out in the sticks, and have a large dedicated vegetable garden, as well as quite a few wandering areas for flowers, etc., but yes, we usually enhance the flower gardens and other areas around the house with vegetables, typically in pots, in order to minimize maintenance in those areas. Typically we use tomatoes, green pepers, and assorted herbs for this purpose, as well as a few stalks of corn, and some sunflowers. A couple of things to keep in mind are that vegetables have an X number of days growing cycle, and once they are done, keeping the area neat and clean requires a fair amount of effort. With a dedicated garden, this can be as simple cleaning up the vines, etc., rototilling, and perhaps laying down some straw, but around the house, it requires extra care, in order to avoid damage to flowers, lawn, etc., which is the reason that we try to use pots for vegetables in those areas. You also need to consider the fact that without some careful planning, vegetable areas are going to appear barren for relatively long periods of time, which may or may not be out of place in your neighborhood. Lastly, depending on the environment, wildlife can raise havek with flowers, plants, and young trees, but much more so with vegetable gardens. Sure, it's fun to watch the nuthatches and other birds hanging on the sunflowers, but it is a bit defeating to go out in the morning to find your tomatoes, corn, or whatever trampled to death by deer, raccoons, or woodchucks.

chrisn

I don't think being self sufficient and growing you're own vegetables is nuts at all. Growing nut trees might be nuts, but not for the squirrels.I have had a vegetable garden for years and nothing tastes better than something you have grown and harvested. Just remember that squash, melons, cucumbers are on vines and take up a WHOLE lot of space.

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NCpaint1

Thats way more advanced than what I planned on starting with. I was thinking of things that looked nice mixed in with my regular landscaping. I have an area around my well ( in the front, just off of the driveway ) thats setup nicely for flowers. Instead of flowers I was thinking of planting something there, maybe strawberries? Or something big and leafy that would blend in well.

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Benjamin Moore, Sikkens, TWP, PPG, Airless sales and service

concretemasonry

There are many vegetables that offer a variety of shapes, colors and sizes. Spinch is early, low and a dark green. Red cabbage is colorful and has a totally different shape. Kale is dark green. These are just a few of the possibilities, but the trick will be planning for the height and the timing (early maturing or late maturing, short growing cycles, planting time, etc.). Don't forget the ornamental winter cabbages that can be almost year-around in some climates.

There is nothing wrong with combining vegetables with flowers.

As an extreme example, multiple crops can be grown in the same plot and even an entire yard can be a garden. A few years ago a SE Asian family (Hmong) bought an older home on a 40' wide city lot. They planted corn on the 8' wide boulevard between the street and sidewalk. They also put in temporary bamboo stakes in to support the climbing beans and then the corn filled in. They also planted pumpkins and cucumbers between the rows for a late season crop. It was hoed, weeded and water daily and a weed could not be found.It was amazing and people would drive by and take pictures.

The rest of the yard (side yard and back yard) was more amazing since they removed the straight sidewalk and replaced it with a curved path that allowed a real park atmosphere and it contained more valuable vegetables everywhere. There they turned it into a landscape masterpiece of plantings. They just used vegetables instead of flowers as artistic tools. - A year later, they bought the 8 unit, two story apartment next door and did the same thing with every square inch of the land, which was precious to them.

Dick

hyunelan2

Strawberries would be a nice choice - a lot of people plant strawberries just to be a groundcover and not necessarily to use the fruit.

There are also "ornamental" lettuce plants, and many herbs that can be decorative. You may find some ideas here: http://www.vegetable-gardening-onlin...le-garden.html

chrisn

Try some assorted pepper plants( hot, sweet), they need little maintance and taste good.

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Bondo

Ayuh,.... Horseradish,....

In the Spring, it comes up early, greening up, 'n growin' 'bout 2' tall....
It'll flower out with big white flowers that smell Beautifully...
Then it's 2' tall, big broard leafs, 'n green til Winter hits, hits Hard...

Mine, beside the backdoor is no doubt still green, even under that big ole snowbank....
As soon as snowmelt, ya rake off the dead tops, 'n it starts All over again....

The Big Plus for Me is it's fruit,...
I'll dig a sq. yard every year or 2 to harvest the roots,...

Good eats, HOT stuff....