Edible landscaping

[firelily99]

I have friends who have dwarf fruit trees and they swear by them. Our climate zone would be too cold in winter for citrus trees but apples, pears, cherry and peaches do quite well. They find that the dwarf trees are easier to maintain and prune and they get an amazingly good yield.

 

[cmckinney01]

I like the idea of an edible garden made up of perennials. I also like the suggestion of keeping it in the backyard and away from neighborhood pets. Last year, I planted some apple trees in my backyard. I hope to enjoy my own apples in a few years.

 

[katyb]

I am gradually digging up my front lawn and replacing it with raised beds and borders full of fruit and vegetables. I've read a lot about permaculture and try to follow some of the principles in my small garden, so I'm growing lots of fruit and perennials. This year we had a lot of apples from 2 small trees I planted out the front a few years ago.
Our front garden is enclosed by a large hedge and it is a very quiet street so I don't worry about fumes. I do still have a problem with the neighbourhood cats!

 

[ChanellG]

I am gradually digging up my front lawn and replacing it with raised beds...
Our front garden is enclosed by a large hedge and it is a very quiet street so I don't worry about fumes. I do still have a problem with the neighbourhood cats!

My most recent problem was with neighborhood spraying, grrrr! You try to be healthy and other people cold care less about what they do and how it affects you or anyone else. Had to scramble to move my plants, and that was what I knew about being sprayed! Heaven only knows what goes on that I didn't see!

 

[ChanellG]

I have been amazed at some of the yield and beauty of dwarf trees. I had a dwarf mandarin orange outside my kitchen window and along with the fruit, the smell of the blossoms was incredible.

I love the smell of orange blossoms! All citrus trees have lovely scented flowers; I am hoping my Meyer lemon will start to produce flowers this year. It's just leafed out again after being stripped by giant swallowtail caterpillars last fall. I need to get some rue to give them something else to munch on!

 

[Lostvalleyguy]

I like this idea. Unfortunately watering restrictions in our area would prevent me from trying something like this. I can let my lawn go brown, but it would hurt too much to let something like the garden in the picture to die because of a lack of water.

 

[ChanellG]

I like this idea. Unfortunately watering restrictions in our area would prevent me from trying something like this. I can let my lawn go brown, but it would hurt too much to let something like the garden in the picture to die because of a lack of water.

How often does it rain? If you were able to store a significant amount of rainwater you might be able to still do some edible landscaping in spite of the watering restrictions. Maybe you could even find plant varieties that don't require a large amount of water. Not sure what those would be in edibles, but there have to be a few things you could try.

 

[JGPangi]

Stray cats are an issue here in the Philippines too, since spaying and neutering have yet to catch on, and we live by a heavy traffic area. Not the best place to grow a vegetable garden, but we do the best we can.

Happily, when it comes to our gardens, we can plant whatever we want. Many people in our subdivision have little plots where they grow eggplants, squash and okra. We also have a lot of fruit trees; papayas, guavas and custard apples, to name a few. I'm trying to grow a few citrus plants as well, but they don't really make it past sprouting.

 

[ChanellG]

Stray cats are an issue here in the Philippines too, since spaying and neutering have yet to catch on...

... We also have a lot of fruit trees; papayas, guavas and custard apples, to name a few. I'm trying to grow a few citrus plants as well, but they don't really make it past sprouting.

Some people here collect donations and create non-profits to rescue or spay and release the stray cats. They are good to have around for rodent control as long as there are not too many roaming the neighborhood.

I found a sprouted avocado seed in my compost yesterday. If I can get the worms to give it up (they won't leave the space between the split halves and I am worried they will eat what's left or the plant itself before it has a chance to grow). This is the first sprouted seed I've found in the bin that has had so much growth on it. I'm hoping it survives because I LOVE avocado!

 

[JGPangi]

Urgh, worms. I found a fallen guava a few days ago, perfectly ripe so the seeds are good for planting. Worms were already making a lunch of it though so I split it open and exposed it under sunlight. Looks good now though, no more worms!

Some people here collect donations and create non-profits to rescue or spay and release the stray cats. They are good to have around for rodent control as long as there are not too many roaming the neighborhood.

I found a sprouted avocado seed in my compost yesterday. If I can get the worms to give it up (they won't leave the space between the split halves and I am worried they will eat what's left or the plant itself before it has a chance to grow). This is the first sprouted seed I've found in the bin that has had so much growth on it. I'm hoping it survives because I LOVE avocado!

 

[ChanellG]

Urgh, worms. I found a fallen guava a few days ago, perfectly ripe so the seeds are good for planting. Worms were already making a lunch of it though so I split it open and exposed it under sunlight. Looks good now though, no more worms!

I got tired of battling with the worms so I just potted up the seed. I eat a lot of avocado so I could always just start another one indoors with toothpicks and water. Thinking of doing that soon with a sweet potato so I can add some more color to the patio with the vines.

 

[JGPangi]

I don't think they'll actually eat the pit itself. Starting avocados is pretty easy in any case, though I haven't heard of doing it with the water-dangling trick. I thought that only worked for root vegetables?

 

[ChanellG]

Sprouting with toothpicks and water is the only way I've ever known to start an avocado plant. The one I salvaged from the compost bin doesn't seem like it's going to make it. I guess its current environment just isn't moist enough.

Here's a sprouted seed with the toothpicks:

This is the blog it came from: http://casalunademiel.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/avocado-tree/

 

[Faye Brown]

I got tired of battling with the worms so I just potted up the seed. I eat a lot of avocado so I could always just start another one indoors with toothpicks and water. Thinking of doing that soon with a sweet potato so I can add some more color to the patio with the vines.

Huge fan of the sweet potatos. The vines are gorgeous but they are high yield and prolific. In a small plot (4x3?) we harvested about 70lbs last year. We sold a third of the crop at a local market and ate potatoes for months.

 

[Faye Brown]

Just started a thread about my edible garden in the project forum. We are trying a bunch of different plants this year and really enjoying the process. We are lucky that even though our plot is located downtown in a major city we are elevated from the street and a decent distance away. Our patio cat is pretty diligent keeping the other neighborhood cats, squirrels, skinks, and all small critters that move out of the beds. The garden largely takes care of itself with minimal work and the yeild is great. It takes a hearty chunk out of grocery bill each month and we are eager to learn and grow more. Check out the link for some pictures

https://www.gardening-forums.com/th...arden-the-almost-entirely-edible-garden.2591/