Many garden centers sell plants for ornamental purposes in our landscapes.  But we really need to take the  time to investigate whether the plant we are considering may in fact be invasive in our area.  I read just read an article in Fine Gardening which has some very excellent points.  Just because these plants are being sold does not necessarily mean we should plant them.  If indeed the plant is invasive in our area we will contributing to the demise of our valuable native flora.  Which in turn effects insects, birds and mammals who depend on native species for their survival.   Thus ultimately harming ourselves.  Suppose their are no insects to pollinate our food crops?  We need to be give very serious thought to our choice of plants.  Please read the article:

http://www.finegardening.com/plants/articles/invasive-plants.aspx

If we make wise choices we’ll have beautiful landscapes and be preserving all living creatures.

When making choices for edible landscaping we need to be aware of invasive plants as well.  True we can eat the plants but do we allow it go to seed and birds, insects or mammals spread the plant?  These seeds may grow somewhere that people will not eat them, thus contributing to the spread of the plant.  Please consider your plant choices responsibly.

October 2009

On a post I put in pictures of the work My husband Carl did to fix a drainage problem on the north side of the house.  The project was done earlier this summer.  I have since landscaped with more edibles in the beds.

There is a large overhang on the roof.  About 10 inches closest to the house does not receive water when it rains. Unless of course the wind should drive it in.

The chameleon plants (Houttuynia cordata ‘Chameleon‘) grew a bit this summer.  They are in the middle so get rain.  We did not have a lot of rain at the beginning of the summer but the weather made up for that later on.

I transferred my two wood millets and wild ginger here from the front beds as these plants tend to like more shade.  I figured I would try them in the beds.  As summer progressed the sun shifted more southward making this bed in total shade for a good part of the day.  The soil is shallow here and roots have nowhere to go but sideways after they hit the sidewalk.  It will be interesting to see if the plants will survive winter.  I plan on adding more composted manure and topping it with a nice layer of straw to conserve moisture and help insulate the plants.

The biggest surprises were the volunteer tomato plants that started to grow in the bed shortly after we finished the project.  I let them grow to see what they would do.  They stayed quite small for a while as it had not really rained.  Finally we had some rain and it seemed like within a couple of weeks they had really started to spring up.  This was  around mid to late July I believe.

The vegetative growth really impressed me considering they were in the shade except late afternoon when the sun past the house. They actually produced some fruit.  Not large but still impressive for the struggle they had to endure to grow here.  The plants themselves were very strong and not too leggy.  It got me thinking.  The clay soil we used had all been broken up to fill the area.  I had added some compost to the clay.  Actually I took a picture the other day of our  clay soil compared to the composted manure I add to the soil.  Here it is :

The clay is the lighter colored CHUNKS of soil.

Now I presume that breaking up the clay to fill the area allowed air pockets, good for plant roots.  The small amount of composted manure added could only help.  And here we have a few tomato plants that actually produced fruit.  Not bad.  Now think if I had actually given these plants ANY attention, some fertilizer and water,  maybe they would have produced a lot better!  And this in the shade for the better part of the day. Interesting!

I took this picture  a couple of days ago when I finally pulled them out of the bed. I had already pulled one out when I thought  ” I should take a picture!”  You can see a red tomato in front.

Also interesting… we have had a couple of light frosts, maybe the overhang helps a bit.

In the basket are the last of the tomato harvest for this year.  The two larger tomatoes are not from the side bed plants. The rest came from the volunteer plants.

I found this great basket at a yard sale for one dollar last week.  I love it!

Back to the subject.

Other edibles that I planted in the beds this fall are as follows:

Primroses:                                                                                                                                Primula veris -   flowers , young leaves  edible    Evergreen                           Primula vulgaris (English Primrose) flowers and leaves

Creeping Bramble:                                                                                                                     Rubus pentalobus it’s rated for Zone 6 so I hope it will survive (another reason for a nice thick mulch for winter). Also evergreen  [Depending on which zone map you consult my zone is 5 to 6]

Creeping Juniper:                                                                                                                    Juniperis horizontalis. I’ll have to find the purchase slip to tell you the cultivar.  Evergreen (seeing a theme here?)

Edible Sedums:   Dragon’s Blood

Carl wanted evergreen coverage in the beds.  I’m trying to appease him because he wanted to put  the ivy (hedera species )or grass in the bed so it would be green all year. We have hedera ivy that grows up the side of the  porch(it was here when we moved in). Yuck!  besides they are not edible. So my quest for edible evergreen coverage began.

Our side yard sloped towards the house and rainwater entered into the foundation.  My husband Carl came up with an idea to try and divert the water away from the house.

Below are pictures:

Side Yard - The beginning

This sidewalk is obsolete.  I suppose originally the steps into the front side door must have run the direction of the sidewalk.

Carl took pressure treated lumber to make a frame. Then we stapled plastic (4ml) to the back of the frame against the house and began adding dirt (clay) to hold it in place.  The plastic was rolled out and dug into the highest point so the water would drain into the driveway and away from the house.

work progresses

Almost finished

Unfortunately Carl did not take progressive pictures during the project.  So these photos show pretty much the finished project.

planted chameleon plants

After the intial dirt was put into the space I did put a layer of composted manure onto the nasty clay soil we used for fill.

We figured there would be settling, so I waited until after a rain and added a bit more manure.  I had some Chameleon plants struggling in the sun so decided to put them in the shade – this side of the house is facing north.  It gets some sun earlier in the spring.  I know a lot of people don’t like this plant because if given good moist soil  it will go crazy but it is after all edible.  Here it can’t really go crazy because its contained.  If  it decides to try and take over the bed I can eat it!  Actually I needed something to grow in this soil to stop erosion.  I figured with it’s reputation maybe it would help with that.

Carl made a nice entry platform also using pressure treated boards.

Now I have more area for edible landscaping. Yippee!

Ta-Dah!

I have not been online for a number of months as we have had a lot of painting jobs.  Also I have had spam issues with the blog and removed some articles being hit 95 spams a day! – until I could figure out how to stop them. I’ve tried something so we”ll see what happens.  My husband has been online a tremendous amount of time so the computer has also  not been available .   By the time he finishes it is very late in the evening and I’m ready for bed!  We are looking into purchasing a second computer.

This garden season was very successful.  My garlic was gargantuan!  I had one friend who asked about the “corn”.  It was over three feet tall.

The garden area  was new this year so the tomatoes did not produce as well as I would have liked but we had a good amount.  I grew ten tomato plants. Recently my husband and I got a couple of nice loads of composted manure from a friends house .  The garden will really be good next year!

I continue to add edible plants to the landscape.  I love to wait until fall when nurseries have  sales, this way I can get more plants for my money.

I bought plants from Santa Rosa Gardens (www.santarosagardens.com) at their $2.99  each sale.  Also bought from SpringHill Nursery from their one cent sale.  I bought edible sedums,  Monarda (beebalm), Ivory Peach Bellflower (Campanula sp), Primroses (Primula spp).  I also purchased some grasses for the birds.

The new front flower bed really blossomed.  I had put in a pastel mix of petunia hybrids to fill in space and they really did nice.  Flowers are edible.  Not much taste to them but  pretty on a salad.  They were beautiful in the bed!  In the bed I planted a small serviceberry, Amelanchier alnifolia ‘ Regent‘ (4-6′  X  same), which I want to train to three or four feet.  I purchased it from  Edible landscaping (www. eat-it.com). They have real good sale in the fall.  I also bought Amelanchier canadensis ‘Prince William‘ (8′ X 6′) for the back yard and Thai Ginger (Alpinia galanga) which will of course have to be indoors in winter.

Well have to go second coat the clawfoot tub.  So I’ll sign off.

Cat

Making a new garden bed in the front lawn is very easy.  I took a spade and cut through the sod along the outline of the proposed bed. Then I cut the sod in manageable pieces and turned them over to compost into the bed.  Since it is in the front lawn  I covered the bed with wood chips  so it  looks nicer.  In two or three  weeks I am going to mix in composted manure to the entire bed.  Waiting a few more weeks I’ll begin planting.

I want to keep the height in the bed low- one or two  feet at most. I’m considering the following plants:

Bellis perinnis (English Daisy) flower buds and petals, young leaves edible 6″ x6″ (0.15m x 0.15m) long bloomer, evergreen perennial

Potentilla nepalensis 24″ x 24″ (0.6m x0.6m)   edible root.  Maybe one at each end or perhaps as hedge? Perennial

Juniperus horizontalis(Carpet Juniper) along the front next to the sidewalk I think.  12″ x 36″ (0.3m x 0.9m) evergreen perennial.  Roasted fruits used for coffee like drink(need male and female plants), young growth used for tea

These plants do have edible parts but this bed is fairly close to the road so I probably will only eat them sparingly if at all.

I reshaped and expanded the new bed.  This shape is easier to mow around. It also gives more space for more plants!

Spring 2009                                                      Summer

new bed on right

expanded new bed

GARDEN JOURNAL

November 2009

Sunday Nov. 1:                                                                                                               Planted 106 hardneck garlic cloves and 46 softneck cloves. Planted them 3 inches apart, around 2 inches deep. Covered them with a layer of composted manure and layered around 6 inches of mulch on top of the bed.

I then made the birds yearly winter brush pile over the bed. When I find my camera, I’ll take a picture and post it.

Thurs. Nov   12                                                                                                                      Was just getting ready to sit down after a long day of painting when  Mike (my young gardening assistant from next door) knocked on the door and asked, ” got any work to do?”.    I really needed to plant my heirloom spring bulbs, so I said, ” as a matter of fact I do”.  So out I went.  We got all the bulbs planted and layered compost on top of the beds in the front yard.  I was actually glad he came over and the task was accomplished.  It has been a warm November so hopefully the bulbs will have a chance to root before the ground freezes.  I usually plant bulbs in October but we had been so busy painting I had been  too tired out after work to do the job.

Sunday Nov 29                                                                                                                       Finished hauling the bark mulch pile from next door onto the area in the backyard I want to make into new bed next year.  [ Earlier this spring we hired someone to mulch last winters birds brush pile.  He had almost a full load on his truck already and I asked him what he was going to do with the load.  He said I could have it if I wanted to.  Of course I said YES!  So he dumped the entire load on the driveway of the empty house next door. The pile was HUGE.  One of the neighbors asked if he could use some for his rose bushes. Then another neighbor asked to use some. I told them, help yourselves! Over the summer between me and the neighbors the pile dwindled down some.  By the time I got to taking what was left it had composted quite well.] Here are a couple of pictures

My yard on left inside fence

This is what he dumped on the driveway

December 2009

Thurs Dec 3

Ordered some heirloom spring bulbs from Old House Gardens.  Ordered some Dahlias- edible bulbs, flower petals and Cannas- one species Canna indica  ( aka Indian shot) is edible -fruit and bulb. I have never grown either because you have to dig up and store the bulbs indoors over the winter.  Too much work!!  But I have a plan! I’m going to plant them in containers so I can just bring the containers inside for winter. That’s easy enough.

Fri Dec 4                                                                                                                                After work mulched the new side bed with composting straw mulch.  Most of the plants have not shown much growth in the bed except the primroses. Even the chameleon plants did not grow too much(certainly haven’t taken over).  It will be interesting next spring to see what plants survive (if any),  remember, there is not much soil over the sidewalk.

Mon  Dec 7                                                                                                                             First snowfall,  just dusting more or less.

Wed Dec 9                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Last night is snowed a small amount,  by morning it had turned to rain. The temperature dropped and now it snows lightly off and on. The wind is really whipping as this storm is coming through.  I think maybe all my plants will be totally frost killed with this storm.  I had some annuals that were still green with blooms on them. Tough little plants. These plants are in the front of the house so they are protected from the west, which is the direction most of our weather comes from. That’s why I like to have a brush pile for the birds. I feed them out back and they get the full brunt of the storms.

I want to start a windbreak with some tall narrow evergreens behind the fence.  There are some junipers that might fill the bill.

Please feel free to share tips, solutions or ideas that have helped you. Thanks

Just read a really neat article about a green roof that was planted with edibles for Tabard’s Inn in Washington. Find the article here:  

http://www.sustainablegardeningblog.com/archives/1654

It is extremely important to research any plant, edible or not, that you are considering putting into your landscape.  Many plants found labeled as  “native plants” or wildflowers for your area may in fact be considered an invasive pest.  How would you find out?  Research.  Governmental agencies and universities have databases that you can consult.  Check your State and local agencies for invasive lists pertinent to the area in which you live.

Here are a few links:

http://www.invasivespecies.net/

This is a Global Invasive Database on all Species: plants, animals, insects etc..

http://plants.usda.gov/java/noxComposite

Has list of  State noxious weeds

http://www.invasive.org/

Has invasive and exotic weed list

Please search for your local Country, State, County, etc. lists to prevent introducing a plant that is considered a noxious invasive in your area. Native flora populations are put at great risk when a vigorous introduction out competes them for light, nutrients and space.

An excellent example of this is Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)- it is an edible plant but it is so aggressive in its growth habits that is totally takes over an area. No local flora can repopulate and survive its onslaught. A very serious invasive pest indeed. Please take the time to protect your local environments from plants that become noxious weeds. Please watch the following video: http://www.sustainablegardeningblog.com/archives/1586

I was researching a site and the list of plants considered invasive pests were ones they stated were native plants to the State! Shows the importance of checking local area lists.

Have questions about edible landscaping?  Need to find a plants, seeds, supplies?  No time to research what you are looking for?  Ask me and I’ll search for you.  I  love to research and solve dilemmas.     Thank you.   Cat

I am working on some quick reference lists to make it easier to identify edible plants I want to incorporate into my postage stamp size landscape. The internet is definitely the information highway.  I can find anything I’m looking for -  eventually -  but sometimes it takes a lot of time and energy.

First I  googled the category of interest, then went from site to site checking to see if they contained information I  needed.  Once I found information – I read it,  followed links, scanned, searched, jumped back, rechecked, looked for pictures of the plant and recorded all the basic information ( growing zones,  sizes, tree- shrub-vine-herb-, annual-perennial–biennial,  soil and sun requirements;  edibility- culinary and/or medicinal, etc…)  comparing it with information on every other plant I  discovered by repeating the same process.  It was a time consuming, tedious task to compile a list of a handful of plants that I felt fit my requirements. Then I would chance onto another site – find another plant that sounded wonderful (you need to know that I would have every edible plant imaginable – IF I had the space).

This is where the idea of a handy reference guide popped into my head.  I do love to research but I was getting very frustrated.  The list of plants  I wanted kept growing.  If I put  basic information of each plant in an easy to read comparable list I could quickly compile a list of  edible plants for my yard without exhausting myself.

The ability to narrow down my plant search quickly appealed to me.  WHY?  As I stated I have a postage stamp size area that I want to landscape with edibles.  I want the most uses out of every single plant in my landscape.  My goals are to locate plants native to the area,  enrich and beautify the environment, provide food and shelter for birds, beneficial insects and my family.

There are many choices of edible plants. My yard may not provide the requirements needed by certain ones. Neighboring houses are very close and sunlight is an issue in some areas and at certain times of the year.  So a quick glance down a column regarding sun requirements would guide me to plants suitable for the area.  From there I could compare the plants other attributes to my goal and see if it makes it onto the list.

Living in the city I also have to  be cognizant of  the rules.  I would have a meadow in the front yard but the weed police would put a sign in the yard stating I must mow it to the ground and keep it that way.  If I did not comply, the city would mow it and send me a bill.  So the landscaping in the front yard has to be aesthetically pleasing.  Another goal is to encourage others around me to follow suit.  Supplying food for themselves and wildlife while at the same time enriching the environment.  Allowing the earth to continue sustaining life.        Cat