The Beautiful Edible Garden - Excerpt

7/30/2019 The Beautiful Edible Garden - Excerpt

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iii

leslie bennett d stefani bittner

Photography by David Fenton and Jill Rizzo

Floral Arrangements by Studio Choo

Design a Stylish Outdoor Space

Using Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs

TEN SPEED PRESS

Berkeley

The Beautiful

Edible Garden


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ConTenTs

Introduction vi

ONE Principles for Successful Edible Garden Design 1

TwO Creating Your Beautiful Edible Garden 35

ThREE The Beautiful Edible Front Yard 67

FOuR The Beautiful Edible Backyard 103

FivE Beautiful Edible Containers, Window Boxes,

Side Yards, and Other Small Spaces 149

Six Planting and Maintaining Your Beautiful Edible Garden 173

Resources 200

Acknowledgments 205

About the Authors and Contributors 207

Index 208


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48 The Beautiful Edible Garden

In general, edible gardens are not low-water endeavors. Even so, you

can still be waterwise. In many parts o the country, water is a limited

resource. Even in regions where there is typically plenty o water it makes

sense to plan or a uture in which we are all being more careul with our

shared resources. Well talk about efcient watering systems and practices

more in chapter six, but or now, know that one o the more important

things you can do to be waterwise as you design your garden is to install an

irrigation system that has the capacity to direct dierent amounts o water

to dierent types o plants. Then you can group plants with similar water

needs on the same water station or valve on your irrigation system. This

way you are not over- or under-watering individual plants and, ultimately,

wasting resources, time, and energy.

Lower-water edible plants do exist and are great additions to yourgarden. Many o the edible lower-water plants that you can use in the

landscape are native to the Mediterranean, Caliornia, Australia, South

Arica, and the Middle East.

here are a ew o our avorite lower-water edible:apricot artichoke culinary sweet bay caper cardoon fg grapes lavender loquat olive oregano pineapple guava pomegranate rosemary sage thyme

Five Steps or Creating a Beautiul Edible Garden

Ater youve assessed soil, ood saety, light, and water conditions, youre

ready to start creating your garden. To achieve a space that is both beautiul

and productive, plan your garden layout methodically. This way you can add

elements to your garden purposeully and meet your goal o creating a gar-

den that really works or you. The step-by-step process that ollows is meantto be an introduction to the planning process; in later chapters, well explain

how to apply these steps to specic garden spaces.


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Step One: Arrange Permanent Elements

The location o permanent garden elements such as patios, sitting areas,

pathways, encing, planting beds, and lawns should be decided rst. Once

you have determined how you want to arrange them, they will be the con-

stant, unchanging parts o your

garden space and the oundation

o your gardens utility and style.

These permanent elements

will dene the space and how you

move around in it. They are also

usually heavy and more expensive

than plants, and, i you move themaround ater plants are already

growing in your garden, youll risk

damaging or killing your plants.

For all these reasons, its important

to place everything in the right

spot rom the start, so make sure

you are pleased with how they t

into and support your overall gar-den style and ood-growing goals

beore moving on to other steps in

your garden design process.

PLaNTiNg BEDS

These are the garden spaces where your plants will grow. Planting beds are

dened and contained by hardscaping materials and pathways. We reer

to planting beds as ornamental, mixed ornamental and edible, and annual

vegetable, with each describing the type o planting ound within the plant-

ing bed. I you have the luxury o starting rom scratch, the rst permanent

elements to place are your planting beds. I you are working with an exist-

ing layout, make any decisions about adding or modiying planting beds

your rst step.

Garden gate with mature olive tree andpollinator-attracting nepeta.


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Creating Your Beautiul Edible Garden 51

Left: This annual-vegetable bed, planted with chard and kale, is built of locally quarriedstone with similarly warm-toned decomposed granite pathways surrounding it.

Right: This charming, rustic pathway leads to a tucked-away blueberry grove. Nasturtium,groundcover chamomile, golden marjoram, Tricolor and Berggarten sage, mint, andlavender provide fragrance and easy harvesting along the way.

Patios and Pathways

Patios and pathways dene the garden, creating diferent destinations

and leading you to them. I you are starting rom scratch, think about

how many people may be using the patios and pathways, what purpose

they each serve, and what material youd like to use. A patio can be a com-

munal gathering space or secluded destination. A pathway can take you to

a patio, garden bench, or garden gateor can even just be a circular path

with a dened start and nish. Choose one pathway material through-

out, then either continue it as a basis or your patio or select a diferent


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material that complements the rst. This will give your garden an overall

cohesive look.

Patios and pathways can be made out o a variety o materials, but it is

best to use permeable suraces in the garden so that rain and other watercan inltrate through the surace to the soil below. This way, you can keep

water on-site instead o having it run o into storm drains. Your ruit trees

and other deep-rooted plants can access this groundwater, reducing your

need or irrigation. For these reasons, permeable options such as gravel,

decomposed granite, and pavers with unmortared spaces between them are

usually better choices than concrete. Use gravel or pavers or main access

pathways because they drain more quickly and will not get mucky during

winter rains. Groundcover herbs are oten grown in the spaces between

pathway pavers. Although this looks great and we encourage you to plant

LEFT: Line simple pathways with groundcover chamomile, variegated lemon thyme, andcreeping thyme.

RighT: Pathways between annual-vegetable beds provide the space to maintain andharvest rom your garden.


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them here, its best to cook with herbs harvested rom your plantings beds,

which are less likely to be contaminated by oot trafc, and reserve the herbs

planted in your pathway or decorative and pollinator-attracting purposes.

You need a way to get rom point A to point B in your garden withouttromping all over your reshly turned soil and delicate plants. Ideally, main

pathways should be about three eet wide, a comortable size or a wheel

barrel and strolling side by side with a riend. A secondary pathway through

a planting bed can be as simple as a piece o stone or brick to step on. Make

secondary paths a minimum o eighteen inches wide. In a perennial planting

area, youll be using the secondary pathway to pick owers, ruits, and ber-

ries, and also to ertilize and mulch. Annual-vegetable planting beds require

more requent access to harvest, plant, ertilize, and turn your soil. So, while

an eighteen-inch pathway is ne between your vegetable beds, youll need to

have a wider main pathway nearby so that you can use your wheelbarrow to

bring resh compost to your beds a couple o times each year.

LawNS

Deciding whether or not to grow a lawn in your garden is an important

decision. Lawns take up a lot o sunny space that could otherwise be used

or growing ood; most traditional lawn grasses are water-thirsty, and many

require a lot o ertilizer and herbicide to stay green and lush.There are ways to reconceptualize your lawn as a more productive space.

First, consider how large your lawn really needs to be. A straightorward

option or gaining more edible space is to simply reduce the size o your lawn.

I you expand the planting beds that border it, you can cultivate them with

edibles and pollinator-attracting perennials. When growing edibles along-

side a lawn area, it is important to switch your lawn care to organic methods

so as not to introduce toxic chemicals into the ood you will be eating.

There are also alternatives to a traditional lawn that still provide an

open look and space or amily recreation. New eco and no-mow lawn

options require less water, less gas-powered mowing energy, and ewer er-

tilizers. Or, consider a lawn o low-growing herbs, such as Roman chamo-

mile, groundcover yarrow, or thyme. All o these attract pollinators such as

bees, so they are not good choices or a recreational lawn, especially i you


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have young kids running around bareoot. However, i the lawn is more

or visual impact, these herb alternatives are a great way to achieve an openlook while also creating more habitat or benecial insects and increasing

the productivity o your garden.

Step Two: Establish Focal Points

Once you have arranged the permanent elements o your garden, the next

step is to establish your ocal points. Focal points are where the eye comes

to rest in a garden. They help give a garden direction and energy. You havemany options to choose rom: a place to sit, a ountain, a piece o garden

art, a single special specimen plant or tree, a central planting bedor

even a vegetable garden. The key, however, is that your ocal point must be

something permanent that is special or beautiul. When deciding on your

gardens ocal point, think about what you love and then arrange the rest


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This persimmon tree, covered with chartreuse-colored spring leaves, stands out amongthe evergreen Tuscan Blue rosemary hedging. The tree is a ocal point in this relaxedhillside garden.


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o your design to highlight it. You can do this by making a pathway lead to

your ocal point, encircling it with low-growing plants, or giving it a back-

ground o monochromatic plants so that it stands out. Focal points draw

the eye by being a dierent material, color, or height than their surround-ing environment.

Focal points should be in proportion to the scale o the garden and

reective o your chosen garden style. The larger your garden, the larger your

ocal point or points can be. You can also use ocal points to enhance the

sense o space in your garden. For example, in smaller gardens, a ocal point

toward the end o the gardens longest viewrather than right in the center

o the gardenwill create a more spacious eeling. Whatever you select, a

ocal point denes the character o the space and gives everything else in the

garden a reerence point.

Step Three: PositionAnchor Plants

Along with your permanent hard-

scaping elements, anchor plant-

ings are the structural ramework

upon which the rest o yourgarden is based. These anchors

will dene your garden through

the seasons. Even in winter, when

deciduous plants lose their leaves

and patio urniture is put away,

there should be strong elements in

place that provide visual interest

and that maintain the basic lines

and ow o your garden.

Evergreen pineapple guava, blueberry,and ornamental blue oat grass worktogether to anchor this traditional rontyard border planting.


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Use perennial plants as your anchors. They should be evergreen or, i

they are deciduous, they should provide another element like height or strong

branch structure. Many ruit trees work well or this purpose. Screening

and hedging plants are oten used or privacy, but their evergreen oliagecan also serve as an anchor in your overall garden design.

Step Four: Add Plants or Beauty and Production

Ater you have nished placing the permanent elements and anchor plants

in your garden, you are ready to choose additional plants that are beautiul

and productive. These plants include perennial edibles (like rhubarb, arti-

choke, asparagus, lemongrass, and berries), annual vegetables (like peppers,

eggplants, chard, onions, and celery), herbs, and owers that you will add to

the remaining spaces in your planting beds.

Just as your edible plants work or you, pollinator-attracting plants

work or your edibles by providing a habitat or the pollinators and ben-

ecial insects that your edible garden needs. Pollination is what happens

when pollen is transerred rom a plants male parts to its emale parts.

Without it, the development o new seeds and ruit wouldnt happen. The

most eective way or pollen to move around rom ower to ower is when

it is carried by insects, also called pollinators. Pollinators include bees, but-teries, beetles, ants, and sometimes also birds. Even plants that can rely on

the wind to distribute pollen will increase production signicantly when

they have support rom visiting pollinators.

A healthy garden also needs a whole host o benecial insects to help

ght o unwanted garden pests. Benecial insect is a general term that

includes the above pollinators and also insects that prey on garden pests

like aphids or mites. These pest-killers include ladybugs, green lacewings,

praying mantis, assassin bugs, and some ies and wasps. Because this rangeo insects help keep each others populations in check, you cannot have a

healthy garden ecosystem without them.

Happily, the plants that are attractive to your local benecial insects

and help lure them to your garden are also attractive to uswe all like

owers! There are so many pollinator-attracting blooms to choose rom,


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This beautiul garden produces a rich harvest o vegetables, ruits, herbs, and cut ow-ers. Stone and decomposed granite materials are used or the permanent elements,including pathways and bed borders. Concentric, circular vegetable beds are the ocal

point o this space. Compact lavender hedging encircles the vegetable area, providingstructure and screening through the year. Peach and apple trees urther anchor thespace. Globe artichokes and verbena attract pollinators and benefcial insects to thegarden and are a great source or cut owers. Edible lime thyme flls out the bed andadds vibrant color.


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Let your garlic chives go to ower.

such as yarrow. Yarrow is the real workhorse o the garden. A beautiul,

perennial, low-water plant, it is available in a wide range o colors and

attracts ladybugs, lacewing bugs, hover ies, bees, and more. In addition to

traditional perennial owers to attract pollinators, you can cultivate herbsthroughout the garden and let them ower.


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A bees avorite fowers are some o our avorites, too. Yarrow has a wonderul

sweet scent and comes in a wide variety o colors. Yarrows texture is an excel-

lent addition to your garden and lasts a long time in a fower arrangement.

Mix yarrow with other pollinator fowers, especially fowering herbs. To make

a small bouquet, pick a ew stems o mint, sage, and chive fowers, scented

geranium, yarrow, and the fowers o any other herbs in your garden. Hold the

bouquet in one hand while adding in a ew stems at a time. Once you have a

bouquet in the size you want, choose an appropriate vase or small glass, give

the stems a resh cut, and place in the water.

Pollinator

Arrangements


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Dont orget to include some o the owers you really loveeven i

they are not pollinators avorite owers. Dahlias, hydrangeas, daodils, and

tulips all have a place in your garden i you like them. Mix them in with

owers that pollinators love too or a beautiul, productive, and healthygarden. Its easy to do regardless o your chosen garden design style,

because there are so many owers to choose rom.

here are a ew o our avorite pollinator and benefcialinect-attracting plant:

agastache anise hyssop blue throatwort ceanothus coreopsis cosmos crassula echinacea echium erigeron euphorbia owering culinary herbs oxglove germander grevillea helenium lavender nepeta penstemon rudbeckia Russian

sage salvias scabiosa sedum stonecrops sunower sweetalyssum verbena yarrow zinnia

LEFT: Apple blossom yarrow; RighT: White-owering yarrow.

TOP ROw, LEFT TO RighT: Nepeta, salvia.

miDDLE ROw, LEFT TO RighT: Lavender, owering dill, echinacea.

BOTTOm ROw, LEFT TO RighT: Scented geranium, anise hyssop, agastache.


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sel-Pollination and Cro-Pollination

Many plants are sel-ertile, which means that pollen rom one ower can successully

ertilize another ower on the same plant. Other plants must be cross-pollinated; theyneed pollen rom another plant o the same or similar type to ertilize their own owers.

As you are laying out your garden, make sure that any edibles planted on their own are

sel-ertile and that any plants that need companionship are planted in groups o two or

more. They dont need to be right next to each other, but the closer they are, the more

likely the pollen rom one will end up on the other instead o being lost in between.

Step Five: Fill It Out with Groundcovers and

Low-Growing PlantsThe last step is to ll in unused spaces with groundcovers and low-growing

plants. Repeated throughout the landscape, they are an eective way to

establish a balanced and cohesive look in your garden. Rather than orna-

mentals, use low-growing perennial herbs and edibles as groundcovers

throughout your garden. Groundcover chamomile under a ruit tree can

be repeated between agstones in a pathway. I you use a variegated yellow-

and-green ornamental grass in one part o the garden, repeat that same

color scheme with a variegated lemon thyme. Remember common sensewhen harvestingdont harvest and eat the ones that are planted in more

pedestrian areas like the edges o driveways and sidewalks; instead, leave

those to ower and attract pollinators to the garden or use as cut owers in

your home.

some avorite edible groundcover and low-growing plant include:SPREaDiNg FRuiTS: blueberries (low bush varieties) cranberries strawberries (alpine, ever-bearing, and June-bearing)

hERBS: chamomile (Roman variety) Corsican mint other mints(use only in contained areas and pull back rom around bases o trees andshrubs) oregano (try variegated White Anniversary oregano) rose-mary (prostrate varieties) sage (try La Crema, Tricolor, and goldenvarieties) sweet woodru thyme (try Caraway, creeping, SpicyOrange, lime, variegated lemon, and silver varieties) winter savory


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Underplant your ornamentals with groundcover herbs. Here, Greek oregano sotens aplanting o succulents and euphorbia, and cascades beautiully over a stone wall.

Now that we have walked you through the design principles o a

beautiul edible garden and the ve steps or planning a garden, you are

ready to apply these ideas to your ront yard, backyard, and other smaller

garden spaces.


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For our mothers, Christine and Garna, our partners, Linval and Jay,and the next generation, Ana and Lauren.

pHOtO OppOsite title page: Edible salad burnet with ornamental succulents and euphorbia.

pHOtO OppOsite table OF cOntents: La Crema sage.

Copyright 2013 by Leslie Bennett andStefani Bittner

All photographs copyright 2013 by DavidFenton, except as noted below.

Photographs copyright 2013 by Jill Rizzo:pages i, 9, 10, 11 (right), 16, 18, 19 (bottom right),20, 21, 23 (top left and bottom), 26, 27, 30 (center),31 (far left and far right), 34, 38, 47, 56, 61, 62(right), 63 (top left; middle row left and center;bottom left, center, and right), 65, 73 (top), 77(top left and right, bottom left), 78, 79, 82, 83 (topright, middle row right, bottom right), 85, 86,88, 89, 91, 95, 96, 99 (top left and right, bottomright), 100 (top, second from left), 105, 114, 115,118, 119 (top), 129 (top right and bottom left),130, 133 (top and bottom right), 136 (middle

row center and right; bottom row left, center,and right), 137, 139, 141, 142, 144 (top center), 146(bottom left), 148, 151, 155 (bottom), 156 (far right),158, 159, 161, 162, 164, 165, 167, 177, 182, 185, 194,197, 203, back cover (center)

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States byTen Speed Press, an imprint of theCrown Publishing Group, a divisionof Random House, Inc., New York.

www.crownpublishing.comwww.tenspeed.com

Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Presscolophon are registered trademarks of RandomHouse, Inc.

Library of CongressCataloging-in-Publication Data

Bennett, Leslie, 1978The beautiful edible garden : design a stylish

outdoor space using vegetables, fruits, andherbs / Leslie Bennett and Stefani Bittner. 1st ed.

p. cm.Design a stylish outdoor space using

vegetables, fruits, and herbs1. GardensDesign. 2. Plants, Edible. 3.

Organic gardening. I. Bittner, Stefani, 1969 II.Title. III. Title: Design a stylish outdoor space

using vegetables, fruits, and herbs.SB472.45.B465 2013635.0484dc23

2012030122

ISBN 978-1-60774-233-3eISBN 978-1-60774-234-0

Printed in China

Design by Betsy Stromberg

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First Edition

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The Beautiful Edible Garden - Excerpt