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Simone Fary lives just 3 blocks from the newly-bustling downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, with its shops, night life and subway station to greater DC. So, a great location. Plus plenty of sun, y'all! But like every other front yard in the neighborhood, hers was devoted to the care and feeding of turfgrass and some foundation shrubs. That bit of conformity ended when Simone got the urge to grow some food, dammit, but to grow it in a gorgeous, gardeny way. No need to go whole-farm and get the neighbors all nervous about property values. No need to deny herself a beautiful garden. The gardener with sun can have everything!
There's no real plan or formula for mixing edibles with ornamentals, just lots of experimentation. Lots of gardening. (Get that? It's not what you'd call low-maintenance, and it isn't intended to be.) Here are the plants that have done well for Simone in her sunny city lot.
Fruits and vegetables
Highbush blueberry, Egyptian walking onions, Calendula, Egyptian spinach (self-seeding), Peas, Purple bush and pole beans against the fence, Chard, 'Hard neck' garlic she plants in October, Collonade apple (of which the squirrels eat ALL), Red currents (very pretty in the spring), Pepper, Pawpaws (which are fly-pollinated, so Simone does that by hand with a paintbrush, Asian persimmons.
Herbs
Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano, Pineapple sage, Chives (blossoms are great on salads), Bronze fennel, Sorrel, and Dill (gorgeous the day I visited in late summer).
Strictly ornamen
tal or for wildlife
Sunflower, Purple sage (or its looks, not for cooking), Creeping phlox, Sedum, Asters, Dayliles (though you can eat daylily flowers), Mums, Lamb's ear, Ajuga, Liatris, Monarda (though flower petals can be used in salads), Hydrangea, Sunberries (for foliage only – because the bugs eat the fruit).
What she does not recommend
- Passionflower or purple coneflower because they seed too freely.
- Strawberry also reseeded too freely, and they're great in jellies and syrup. So, maybe in hanging baskets.
- Nanking bush cherry – little red lines, tart. Simone says it takes up too much space for what it yields.
{ 13 comments }
Strawberries re-seeding? Sometimes the runners can get a bit wild, but those are easy enough tp pull and transplant or pot up to give them away.
Three cheers for going for a garden that needs maintenance and your TLC.
I let wild strawberries grow in my lawn. The white flowers are pretty, but not too many berries survive being mowed. They provide ground cover in some of my flower beds.
This is inspiring, thanks for sharing! We're trying to take on a similar grass-replacement plan, little by little, so it's always nice to hear about folks who have done it successfully.
Looks interesting…would love to see more photos.
I'm with your neighbor. I advocate edible landscapes as much as possible over vegetable plots- if you have the space and want to get extended (double duty use) of your yard.
Of course if your intention is to grow as much food as possible the plot wins out!
Shirley Bovshow
Garden World Report Show
Great post – very inspiring. I have a small vegetable garden in my backyard, but I love the idea of interplanting more veggies in traditional flower beds. I will have to give it a try.
I've been thinking about and envisioning something like this is my own Virginia suburban lawn/garden. I love gardening but don't necessarily want to add more labor, but I would like to add some edibles. I have so many deer, rabbits and squirrels that it's hard to believe I could have any success in my front yard, which is where we get the sun. The back yard is fenced but it's so darn shady. I manage to attract butterflies, birds and bees, which make me happy–but need to work harder on including plants I can actually eat. If you would be interested in visiting my 'garden bloggers sustainable living' project, I'd love you to participate…it includes a giveaway, not that you yourself would be interested–but perhaps some other garden bloggers you know. It's in recognition of Earth Day, which will be coming up in April. Jan
I love growing veggies… in a box/pot, in the garden… where ever. They are so rewarding, especially blue berries! I love planting blueberries in the landscape.
Love this and thanks for sharing. I'm always encouraging my landscape design clients to tuck veggies, herbs in their borders. Will share this with them!
I've been fascinated with edible landscaping for years. In the past I've grown annual vegetables but these days I don't have time so mainly I'm growing tree fruit. I have grapefruit, calamondin, mulberry, chaste berry, jujube, Valencia orange and a Celeste fig.
The only thing I still have that doesn't grow on a tree is a few pineapple plants which I'm not sure will make it after the bitter cold week we recently had.
Hey, I think anything that encourages growing edibles is great, but…
I think that as a society we need to change our sense of aesthetics when it comes to veggie gardens. A few beautiful raised beds, or rows of veggies really is a thing of beauty and interest to me. A lawn with some standard shrubs behind it is so boring that it holds no beauty at all for me, and I think for most others, they just blend into the background as well, but are safe because they don't stand out.
If you walked around your neighborhood checking out what veggies are growing in your neighbors front veggie plot, you'd be more likely to stop and see how the harvest is coming, talk to them about their crop, trade excess cukes for rainbow bell peppers, etc.
Reseeding strawberries reminded me of something I saw last June in NYC.
I was walking down gritty 14th St., past a vacant lot. The property was bordered on either side by older brick buildings and fenced and razor-wired at both ends. Inaccessible. But this lot was filled with wild strawberries, from end to end! Mother nature always has the last word!
I am Simone’s husband. Someone asked for more photographs. here is a short video of the garden: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8sVTL-zWKk
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