How to Incorporate Vegetables into Your Landscape Design

A tomato is a thing of beauty and it just seems wrong to not consider that when designing your landscape. Vegetables can be combined with ornamental and edible flowers, as well as herbs to create magnificent gardens that appeal to all the senses, sight, sound, touch, smell and yes, taste.

The original English Cottage garden did just that and this is the primary reason why it is among my favourite designs.

There are however, other alternative arrangements that consider the elements of design, for example, a circular or oval garden with cherry tomatoes and green peppers as the main plants and borage and basil running between them. This could be a standalone garden in the front yard, not dead centre but just off to the side.

Picture strawberries, the everlasting variety, which under the right conditions can fruit throughout the season, lining your sidewalk or path leading to the front door. On your way in after a day a work you bend down and pick a few ripe fruit for a quick snack after a hard day’s work or you gather more for that night’s desert.

Vegetables do well when grown in containers and containers can be placed anywhere on yoru property where the plan gets the right amount of light for it to thrive. Choose decorative containers that complement your home and select the vegetables you want to grow in them. Place them on or beside the front steps, on the lawn or on the deck.

The squash flower is one of the more beautiful vegetable flowers and squash leaves themselves can be quite attractive. Why not put your squash garden on the front lawn?

Squash plants do not grow that high but they do spread out. The fruit itself is quite eye appealing so when the flower disappears it is replaced by a different but still pleasing form.

This would reduce the work you presently do to cut and maintain the lawn which provides you with nothing useful, with a vegetable that has a number of uses.

Trellises and arbors can be very attractive and if you choose one that enhances your house you can grow peas or beans along it. The scarlet runner bean, for example, produces a flower that is striking and attracts hummingbirds.

Bean pods come in different colours and lengths and could work well on a wrought iron trellis.

Pea flowers are small, delicate and the pods themselves are works of natural art. It is time to embrace vegetables as being more than simply good to eat but to appreciate them for their beauty as well.