I’ve been seeing a lot about edible gardening and landscaping this spring, and I thought I’d do a little more research on how we can take advantage of this in our own gardens.

Many people feel a strong connection to their flower garden, carefully selecting and planting annuals each year and nurturing their perennials. The same passion can be found in people cultivating their vegetable patch in the back yard. But there’s no reason why you have to choose between a beautiful landscape and a fruitful one. There are many varieties of fruit trees, berry bushes, herbs, and vegetables that are as aesthetically pleasing as they are delicious.

Edible landscaping is the practical integration of food plants within an ornamental or decorative setting. The same design principles are used, while substituting food bearing shrubs and trees for otherwise unproductive plant material. Edible landscaping is a mixture of beauty and utility. This is not to say that every element in your landscape should be edible, but those that are can be a healthy and economical bonus.

Almost any climate can play host to a lush edible landscape. Only the most shady and soggy soil areas are not suitable. The sunniest spaces with the best soil should be reserved for fruit trees and annual vegetables, while rocky areas with poor soil are prime for culinary herbs.

Combining edible elements with ornamental specimens can be particularly eye-catching. A colorful border of seasonal lettuce can be paired with dwarf nasturtiums, peppers coordinate well with dwarf marigolds, and strawberries and curly parsley compliment currants. Also try bordering your specimen trees with culinary herbs or plant them along your walking path or driveway. The key is to design your edible landscaping just like you would your aesthetic plants.

Edible landscaping isn’t just for the home. Many restaurants take advantage of rooftop gardens, specially growing herbs and vegetables that are then used in culinary dishes.

And don’t forget: your edible plants need proper watering, mulching, feeding, and pruning, just like your ornamental landscaping. Start small with what is simple and right for you. Choose dwarf trees and select fruit varieties that spread their bounty over several months. Just a few great edible selections to consider:

Edible ornamental berry bushes Highbush Blueberry, Clove Currant, Nanking Cherry, Elderberry, Oregon Grapeholly

Edible ornamental fruit trees Juneberry, Cornelian Cherry, Medlar, Paw Paw, Asian Pear

Vegetables Sugar snap peas, lettuces, marrow, root vegetables (carrots, radishes, onions, leeks), runner beans

Herbs Mint, sage, rosemary, basil, thyme

Keep in mind, whatever edible plants you choose, they need to end up on the table. The main goal with edible landscaping is to produce food. If you don’t use everything you grow, neighbors, friends, and family will be sure to take the rest off your hands!

The most ever-present feature of modern suburban and city landscape of California are dominated by beautiful, green lawns. Lawn helps unify the entire landscape. It’s like the canvas a painter uses. But in recent years, our lawns have evolved into complicated demanding growing responsibilities.

Now homeowners and landscapers are concerned about the long-term effects of chemicals on our children, pets, and environment. Everyone wants a beautiful lawn and is one element in the landscape that you can easily walk on without causing damage. It can be used as playing ground for the kids and your pets.

But in reality lawn care is very difficult task. To have and maintain it consumes a lot of your time, labor, and money. Nowadays due to work pressure people don’t have much time and if you hire someone it will definitely be very costly.

Most lawns need to be fertilized several times a year and requires regular mowing. They need to have invasive weeds killed. Some lawns can become infested with grubs, which need to be treated. Lawns need deep watering and also creates water runoff problem. For lawns you need good irrigation and drainage system which can be a costly for your pockets.

However, front yard landscaping is an excellent way to boost the appearance of your home. Creating an inviting front yard can be a challenge, but with careful design, a front yard can be beautiful as well as saving your time and money. Follow these tips to create a low-maintenance front yard:

• Keep it simple.
• Plan it for low maintenance – replacing lawns with low-maintenance, water-wise plants; or ground covers.
• Replace the lawn with resilient grasses like perennial rye and dwarf tall fescue. The garden requires little care. Weeding is minimal.
• A great alternative is to plant groundcover herbs like creeping thyme and oregano, which are easy to care for and will thicken with mowing. The herbal lawns are soft, fragrant, and non-toxic.
• Use decomposed granite (DG), pavers, and crushed rocks instead of lawn.
• Use evergreen shrubs leaf texture and color for interest, rather than flowers.
• Plant evergreen trees. They require low maintenance and eye catching.
• Use of decorative paving.
• Use fountain or water feature to create grand entrance or a pond with benches, statues, stones can be added to enhance the appearance.

If the front yard is beautiful, attractive, and clean it always creates envy for your neighbors, visitors, and passerby. It’s just much like the clothes you wear, which conveys your personality. As beautiful and attractive front yard definitely adds or enhances the monetary value of your home. If wisely designed it can save a lot of your time, money, labor and at the same time provide fresh look to your home environment. Therefore it’s wise to get rid of lawns and use various other landscaping ideas to make your front yard really beautiful.

Introduction

Chokeberry plants are very good plants for growing as part of your landscape. The black chokeberry (or Aronia berry plant) was introduced to western gardens as a landscape plant around 1700, and that its value is reflected by its receipt of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Merit in 1972.

Landscape

The ornamental attributes of chokeberry plants include three seasons of interest: white flowers in spring, lustrous green foliage in summer and black bluish fruits in late summer, and bright yellow-orange-red foliage in autumn. There is growing interest in this plant as a multi-season native shrub for landscapes. Its adaptability to a wide range of soil conditions and freedom from major problems makes it a good candidate for wetland reclamation projects, roadside and highway plantings, parking lots and use in your garden and landscape.

The chokeberry or Aronia plant is a native North American plant. However recently this cultivar has been developed in Europe as an orchard fruit, but its attractive value was rapidly realized (as it began obtaining awards for its decorative value.). It is now a favorite ornamental fruiting plant grown the world over. It grows in zones 3-8.it is one of the most ornamental fruiting bushes you can grow.

In spring the Aronia bush is covered with clusters of white, sweet fragrant flowers. They are cold tolerant and avoid most frosts by blooming in late spring. This is followed by gleaming green Aronia berries that turn a dark bluish black in summer into early fall, and fire-red fall foliage. The round, pea-sized fruit can be eaten fresh although it has a distinct taste. It is known for making good and healthful juice that also blends nicely with other fruit juices. Aronia is NOT bothered by pests or diseases. Once established the Aronia bush is highly drought tolerant. It’s very hardy, and the pea sized fruit can be eaten fresh. Fresh chokeberries right from the bush are not particularly tasty raw because of their astringency, some people like them when they are completely ripe. Aronia berries have a unique, satisfying flavor. Their astringency is the awareness that most people first notice. They will make your mouth pucker. The dry, puckering taste comes from being high in tannins. The secret is to freeze the berries before using them to break down the tannins. You must wait until September when they are fully ripe before you pick them. The berries can be used to make jam, syrup, juice, soft spreads, and tea.

One person described it as one of the most attractive fruiting bushes I have ever grown. It is a delight in the garden the whole year. Fragrant flowers, attractive fall foliage, and healthy berries make it an essential plant for astute gardeners.

In the spring clusters of sweet-scented white blooms develop among the shiny green to dark green leaves covering this 3- to 5-foot-tall, 5- to 6-foot-wide bush. The flowers attract bees and butterflies. The long-lasting flowers are enjoyably, and are followed by small berries that steadily mature to dark bluish black. The dark bluish black berries of chokeberry hang in groups of up to 12 berries. They do not require trellising, spraying, or bird netting.

The three most popular varieties are Viking, Nero and Autumn Magic. Viking and Nero were developed in Europe as an orchard fruit and recently shipped back to the United States here they are becoming popular. They are also sold as a favorite ornamental fruiting plant. Autumn Magic was developed in the United States from a seedling in the eastern part of the U.S. The Autumn Magic plant is a commonly sold ornamental cultivar. It was selected for its ornamental characteristic white flowers, glossy green leaves, red-orange fall foliage, and purplish black berries. It does not grow as tall as Viking and Nero. Viking grows to a height at maturity of 5 to 8 ft. Nero grows to a height of 3 to 5 ft.

Health benefits

Aronia melanocarpa is commonly known as chokeberry and has a very nice-looking purplish black color. Interest in Aronia berries has been growing because of its health benefits and as a natural organic food coloring. It has a very stable dark pigment.

Chokeberries belong to that group of purple berries that are in today’s news concerning health and nutrition. It fights cancer and heart disease.

The plant produces dark pigmented berries that are extremely high in antioxidants, even higher than blueberries, higher than pomegranates, and higher than cranberries. Its juice has been reported to help people with heart conditions. Chokeberries have been a significant and important part of the Native American Indian diet since before Europeans came to America. It is high in antioxidants, anthocyanins, phenolic acid, flavonoids, vitamin C and trace minerals.

Summary

Chokeberry plants are very good plants for growing as part of your landscape. The plant produces dark pigmented berries that are extremely high in antioxidants. It has award-winning its decorative value. They are higher than blueberries, higher than cranberries, higher, even, than pomegranates! Its juice has been reported to help people with heart conditions.