Summer 2011
celebratedliving.com
34
R
HOMEANDGARDEN
Good Enough to Eat
rosalindCreasy’snewneighborwasa littlebitcuriouswhenhe
sawherclearingaplot inher frontyard foranewgarden.When
Creasy informedhim that itwasgoing tobeavegetablegarden,
shecould tellhewasworried.Vegetables in the frontyard?real-
ly?But thosewhoknowCreasywell, asmostofherneighborsdo,
knew that thisgardeningexpertandauthorwouldmake thearea
asbeautifulas itwas functional.Theywereright.
Creasy’s front-yardgarden isbreathtaking,with itsmixof
vegetables, herbs, andflowers.Andafteryearsof proselytizing
about thebenefitsandbeautyof edible landscapes, it seemsas
thoughCreasy’smessageof creatingsustainable landscapes is
catchingonwithgardenerseverywhere.
“Itused tobeverydifficult to talkclients into [plantingedi-
bles],”saysCreasy, authorof
EdibleLandscaping
,whichwasfirst
published in1982. “Icouldoften talk them intoa fewherbs, but
thatwas it.”Now, clientsareopen toplantingmore than just the
usualgrassandshrubs—gardens thatCreasysays“don’tgiveus
anythingback.”Andatgardeningseminarsacross thecountry
whereCreasyespousesediblegardening, it’sstandingroomonly.
Yes, itappears thatkalehasbecomethenewhydrangea.Thanks
to theenormouspopularityofgrowingone’sown food,edibleplants
— includingvegetables, fruits,andherbs—aresharingsoilwith
eventhemostuppityflowers.And far from lookingunsightly, these
edible landscapesarebeautiful.even front-yardworthy.
“At somepoint inhistory, theplants inourgardensbecame
segregated,”notes celebratedgardenerand landscapedesigner
P.AllenSmithonhisGardenHomewebsite, pallensmith.com.
Flowersandgrassesonone sideand, somewhereout back
where they couldn’t be seen toomuch, vegetables in theirown
raisedplot of soil.
Also, asSmithpointsout, ediblesandfloweringplantshavea
symbiotic relationship. Floweringplantsattractpollinatingand
otherbeneficial insects, sohaving themclose to fruitsandvege-
tablesprovesadvantageous. Someplantsdriveawaycreatures
that coulddestroyyourediblecrop. Petunias, forexample, repel
tomatoworms, asparagusbeetles, andahostof otherpests.
Walking through thebackyardgardenof the“DirtDoctor,”
HowardGarrett, aDallas-basedmastergardenerwhohas long
preachedabout thebenefitsoforganicgardening, it’shard to tell
howediblesfit intohis landscapingplan. (In fact, atfirst, thiswrit-
erwondered if she’dentered thewrongyard.)Butatnearlyevery
stepof thewayonhis tourof thegarden,Garrettpointsoutedible
afteredible. “That’spomegranate,”henotes. “And that’sbay”—as
in the tree thatproduces thebay leavesmostofuspurchasewhole
butdried in thespicesection.Witchhazelandonionshideamong
thegroundcover.evenrosebushes fall intoGarrett’sedibledo-
main. “mostpeopledon’tknow thatrosesareanedibleplant,”he
says. “Therosepetalsareedible; soare therosehips.”The latter
