Create a Food Forest – Ideas for Your Edimental Garden Design

Why is mixing your edible and ornamental plants together beneficial?

🪴 well, it looks gorgeous. There are so many beautiful, edible plants that shouldn’t be relegated to forgotten back corners but celebrated front and center.

🌸 Attract pollinators! Increase your fruit production by mixing flowers and edibles together to get the maximum pollination.

🌼 Companion planting – there are many happy relationships built underground in a diverse ecosystem. These plants can help each other like how the Peach tree provides shade for the lettuce in the hot summer months extending your salad season.

🪴 control what you put in your soil and your body – growing your own food means you can control what fertilizers and pest control methods you want.

🍓Foraging fun – there is something magical about finding your own snacks out in the garden like lifting strawberry leaves in search for delicious, sweet berries. It’s something the whole family can enjoy.

What other beautiful edible plants would you add to your ornamental landscape? 🌿Let us know in the comments!

#foodforest #ediblegarden #urbanharvest #growyourownfood #veggiegarden #permaculture #urbangardening #zone10

Stone fruits are an obvious choice for your edental garden as they have beautiful flowers in the spring that turn into delicious fruits in the summer and here’s an idea plant your lettuce or other leafy greens below the canopy so that in the winter they can have all the sun they need and in the summer they’re shielded from all that hot sun one of my favorite ornamental shrubs is actually a blueberry they create these beautiful pinkish white flowers and they’re a great swap for a boxwood because they have a mounding round shape and they take well to hedging back and the best part of course are these little delicious nutritious berries this is an artichoke a perennial favorite you actually eat the bud but if you let it flour it produces a beautiful purple thistle like flour pomegranates while small right now can be quite large trees and they are great for screening shrubs they also produce beautiful Jewel tone fruits in the winter and they are high in antioxidants and great for juicing you may not recognize this shrub and that’s because it’s not a shrub it’s actually a collared tree prized for its foliage that you can use culinarily usually they are put into a skillet and cooked with butter and garlic D you know you need it for your pickles and your fish dishes but did you also know that the swallow Tales need it for their life cycle it’s a tall growing herb that can add movement and texture to your garden now let’s talk Ground Covers you can have beautiful fragrant and edible ground cover all all year around this is variegated oregano and original Green oregano both great for cooking and have a great spreading low habit and we have creeping thyme which produces a beautiful pinkish purple flower in the spring and summer this is chamomile your favorite sleepy time tea but also a beautiful cut flower for your arrangements and a wispy lovely Leaf all year round strawberries are a great taller ground cover that you can weave in between all of your other plants and the best part is looking around and foraging for your delicious fruits in the summer look at these gorgeous cabbage Dusty blue leaves with bright purple veins and the best part is when it finally makes a head this is a red cabbage so it’s going to have a huge Ruby in the middle the stately Rosemary these large drought tolerant shrubs provide structure and fragrance and they produce a pretty Periwinkle blue flower all in the spring and summer so what do you think are you going to try adental gardening in your space