Edible Landscape Ideas For Dallas

For a plant to be considered for inclusion into my garden it needs to be able to earn its keep. As I take care of it, it in turn should take care of me. While I am well on my way to implementing this mantra in the backyard I wanted to look at options to also bring the front yard into the mix. How can you take the beauty of a traditional front yard landscape and replace it with edible items and still have it be accepted in the mainstream? Although this type of thought process was at one time considered somewhat taboo it is definitely gaining in popularity and acceptance. Also I think that there is some kind of a stigma around edible landscaping as being ugly or hard to maintain. This is not necessarily the case by any means. When you sit down and consider all the edible options that are available you can usually find some kind of  edible option as a suitable replacement for the traditional landscape item. Also nothing says that 100% of your front yard has to be edible. You can still retain some of your favorites or foundational plantings and just supplement with a few edibles. Keep in mind that the same design principles that apply to traditional landscaping also apply to an edible landscape. You will need a mix of evergreens and deciduous items. The evergreens will help give your garden interest in the Fall/Winter and keep it from looking bare. You will need a few larger foundational plantings with some height in the back with some shrubs in front of them followed by the shorter items like flowers and ground covers. From a design aspect nothing really changes. The only thing that is really changing is inedible plant "A" with edible plant "B". Instead of planting an oak tree plant a peach tree. Instead of planting an azalea bush plant a blueberry bush. Replace the ground cover with a prostrate rosemary. Just like with a traditional landscape the edible plants that you choose need to properly suited to your planting zone and planted at the right time of year.

There are several books that have been written on the subject including:

• Edible Landscaping by Rosalind Creasy
• The Edible Front Yard by Ivette Soler
• Edible Estates by Will Allen, Diana Balmori, and Fritz Haeg

Below are a few links that you might find helpful on the subject:

• Rosalind Creasy Edible Landscaping

• Ohio State University Edible Landscaping

• Texas A&M AgriLife Extension

Although there are several links on the subject of edible landscaping, I was not able to find any complete lists of potential edible plants for the North Central Texas area. The list that I put together below is the culmination of several sources. It is by no means everything but it does represent a good starting point. The other thing that I like about this list is that it is broken down into trees, shrubs, vines, ground covers, and flowers which makes it easier to determine which location to place the edible in your landscape. If you are going to make the transition to an edible landscape I would recommend to start out slow. Replace a few items and see how you like it. If it turns out good for you then slowly start to expand to other areas in the yard. I myself have not made a complete transition yet and have opted for a hybrid approach to start out with.

 The photo below is from the front yard of the house. Originally there were several over grown traditional "do nothing" shrubs that the builder had planted. I pulled all of this out and just left a few foundation pieces of evergreen traditional landscaping. Since I had most everything pulled out I took the opportunity to amend the soil and improve its composition. I brought in some of the "Specialty Planting Mix" and "Premium Native Mulch" from Living Earth. This picture was taken in the Fall of 2012 shortly after completion of the removal of the old landscape and the additions of the soil amendments. You will notice that there is not much going on but in the back are three Pineapple Guava shrubs. These are an evergreen shrub that produce edible fruits that have the flavor similar to a cross between a strawberry and a pineapple. The fruit that it produces is about the size of a chicken egg.

Pineapple Guava Fruit

In front of the Pineapple Guava are three varieties of rabbiteye blueberries. If you purchase blueberries for North Central Texas you will want to make sure that it is one of the rabbiteye varieties. Also make sure you purchase at least two different varieties so they can cross pollinate otherwise you will never have any blueberries. I planted two of these blueberries on the side of the house last year and they were very prolific. I was able to get about a handful of blueberries every day from just two small bushes. Also remember that blueberries like acidic soil so you can supplement them with some type of organic acidifier. Also when you plant them amend the soil with a majority of peat moss. The more peat the better as this will help supplement the acid. I also spread pine needles around the base as a mulch for the same reason. You can read more about blueberries here:

Texas A&M Blueberries

Although it is not exactly the front yard, I did extend the "edible landscape" concept along the side of the house as well. Along this winding path you will find two grape vines, a fig tree, two more blueberry bushes, and an apricot tree. This area is also a work in progress.

Below you will find "THE LIST". I hope that you find this list helpful and I hope it inspires someone to try something different in their yard in the future.

THE LIST

Trees:

Figs
Pecan
Plum
Peach
Walnut
Pear
Persimmon
Apple
Apricot
Mexican Lime (Potted to protect from cold)
Olive (Potted to protect from cold)
Kumquat (Potted to protect from cold)
Lemon (Potted to protect from cold)
Orange (Potted to protect from cold)
Mulberry
Jujube

Shurbs:
Blueberry
Pomegranate
Bay Laurel (evergreen)(may need frost protection when young)
Rosemary (perennial)(evergreen)
Pineapple Guava (evergreen)
Lavender (perennial)
Elderberries (perennial)(edible flowers and berries)
Agarita (Texas Native) (evergreen)
Texas Barberry (Texas Native)
Turks Cap (perennial) (flowers and fruit for tea)(Texas native)
Germander (perennial)

Vines:
Blackberry
Raspberry
Grapes
Muscadine
Kiwi
Malabar spinach (annual)
Beans (annual)(spring planting)
Peas(annual)(fall planting)

Groundcover:
Rosemary -prostrate (perennial)(evergreen)(tea, food)
Creeping Thyme (tea and food flavoring)
Strawberry (perennial)
Mint (perennial)(tea and food flavoring)
Oregano (perennial)(evergreen)(tea and food flavoring)

Herbs:
Lavender (perennial) (teas, food flavoring, insect repellent)
Chives (perennial)(spring planting)(edible foliage and flowers)
Garlic  (perennial)(fall planting)(edible flowers, greens and cloves)
Mexican Mint Marigold (perennial)(spring planting)(leaves used in tea and cooking)
Mexican Oregano (perennial)(evergreen)
Lemon Grass (perennial)
Cilantro (annual)(fall planting)
Dill (annual)(fall planting)
Garlic (annual)(fall planting)
Ginger (annual)(spring planting)
Horseradish (edible foliage and roots)
Mint
Oregano (perennial)(spring planting)(evergreen)
Parsley (annual)(fall planting)(edible foliage)

Flowers:
Borage (annual) (spring planting)(edible flower and leaves)
Calendulas (annual) (fall planting)(edible flower)
Chamomile (German is annual, Roman is perennial)(fall planting)
Lavender (perennial)(teas, food flavoring, insect repellent)
Nasturtium (annual)(fall planting)(edible leaves)
Squash Blooms (annual)(edible flower)
Viola (annual)(fall planting)(edible flower)
Pansies (annual)(fall planting)(edible flower)
Johnny-jump ups (annual)(fall planting)(edible flower)
Begonia (annual)(spring planting April1)(edible flower)
Daylilies (annual)(spring planting)(edible flower)
Dianthus (annual)(fall planting)(edible flower)
Hibiscus (annual)(spring planting)(edible flower)
Purslane (annual)(spring planting)(edible leaves)
Sunflower (annual)(spring planting)(edible seeds and flower petals)
Violets (tea from flowers/leaves and leaves in salads)
Roses (edible petals and hips for tea)
Sweet Marigold (perennial)(spring planting)(food, tea from leaves and flowers)
Turks cap (perennial)(spring planting)(flowers and fruit for tea)(Texas native)

Vegetables:
 Fall:
Collards
Kale
Lettuce
Peas
Spinach
Swiss Chard

Spring:
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Peppers
Eggplant
onions
malabar spinach
beans