Garden Design | Edible Landscaping Made Easy With Avis Licht

An Edible Landscape Can Take Many Forms

Container planting, Garden Design, Garden Reflections, Native Plants, Ornamental/edible plants, Pest control organically No Responses »

May 212013

by Avis Licht

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For a front yard, make sure your structures are ornamental as well as useful.

Edible landscaping has become more popular than I ever thought it would or could. Every day we hear about some new project in cities all over the world. We’re seeing gardens that are both beautiful and have delicious, healthy produce. I mean, it only makes sense.

In Marin County the municipal water district has been encouraging people to conserve water by planting low water use plants as well as food gardens. In May they have a tour of the best gardens that use principals that they call “Bay Friendly”: organic, drought resistant, permeable surfaces, habitat friendly for beneficial birds and insects, and lovely to look at.

On the tour last weekend I took some photos from a few of the gardens that incorporated some good edible landscaping ideas. See if anything inspires you for your garden. (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)

Raised vegetable boxes define an area and let you put good growing soil into a small area. It’s also easy to maintain.

These California native plants look good, are low maintenance, provide flowers and habitat. They go beautifully in an edible landscape.

Another view of the same yard. This shows that the native plants create a small patio area and the vegetables are at the far end of the yard near the fence.

Be sure to leave a comment or shoot me a question by going to the Ask Avis page.

This suburban backyard is all raised beds and container plantings. Easy to maintain and very productive.

This tiny chicken coop in an unused side yard provides fresh eggs for the owners.

Looking the other direction you can see how close the neighbors are. Trees along the fence provide fruit and privacy.

I’ve never seen this many fruit trees in containers. Lots of varieties but also a smaller harvest from the containers. When growing in pots, be sure to give plenty of water and nutrients. It is easier to find the right growing conditions when you can move the pots to the right micro climate. Since they will be dwarf simply by being in pots you can grow more trees in a smaller area.

To find out more about growing in containers read my post on self watering planters.

This huge cauliflower was in a raised planter. You can get huge results when you have the best soil and perfect growing conditions.

This tower of strawberry pots is fun to look at and certainly easier to harvest the strawberries.

To find out more about growing strawberries read this post.

Path, flowers and bird bath highlight the backyard garden. This yard has many fruits and vegetables, yet is entirely enchanting. At least I think so.

Entering the garden, you are led by a curving path, under fruit trees, by flowers, herbs and native plants.

I love that this vegetable garden looks like a garden garden. It’s not just utilitarian.

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Ask Avis Your Gardening Questions!

Garden Design, Garden Reflections, Native Plants, Pest control organically, Plant information, Soil and Amendments, Tools 11 Responses »

May 032013

Mixed lettuce varieties

by Avis Licht

I’m starting a new feature on my blog as a result of popular demand. Whatever your reason, it’s going to be easy to send me your gardening questions and get a quick answer. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll direct you to a good source.

ASK TODAY!

Honey bee in the borage.

Here’s chance for all of you far flung fans to ask me questions about gardening. No question is too simple. Gardening is a wonderful, yet perplexing activity. Why something works once and then the next time it’s a total bust can be frustrating.

Nature will have her way, but there are methods that work to ensure success in the garden. After 40 years with my hands in the dirt, I’ve probably made as many mistakes as you could imagine, but trust me, I haven’t given up yet. And you can be the beneficiary of my experience.

Ask a question in the comment section below and I’ll get back to you pronto.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours in the joy of gardening,

Avis

Self Watering Planters -How to grow healthy plants easily

Garden Design, Ornamental/edible plants, Plant information No Responses »

Jun 062012

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Plants thrive with good moisture in planters

by Avis Licht – When I gave a talk recently on edible landscaping, many people had questions about container planting. For gardeners with decks, small gardens, or special climate conditions, containers are a simple and easy solution. However, there are a few tips for helping you grow your plants more successfully. People don’t realize how fast pots dry out and how hard it is to get them moist again. Once soil has dried out, if you water the pot with a hose, it just runs on through.

Keeping your soil moist is a trick that requires some practice. Using drip irrigation in your pots, for 3 or 4 minutes 2 or 3 times a day often works. If you don’t have your pots on an irrigation system try these self watering planters. They really work!

1. Make sure there’s enough room in the container for root growth of your plants.

Here are some suggestions for what plants to grow in different size pots.

6″ depth is the minimum – chives, lettuce, radishes, other salad greens, basil, coriander, Asian greens, mint, thyme

12″ for larger veggies - pole beans, carrots, chard, cucumber, eggplant, fennel, leeks, peppers, spinach, parsley, rosemary,beets, broccoli, okra, potatoes, sweet corn, summer squash, dill, lemongrass, bush beans, garlic, kohlrabi, onions, peas,

18″ -24″ for miniature trees like lemons or limes.

From your local nursery or online, find organic fertilizers

2. Use the right soil mix. For self watering planters I suggest you use the mix from Gardener’s Supply formulated just for that. You’ll need to add nutrition in the form of compost, aged manure, blood meal and other organic fertilizers. The plants rely on you 100% for their nutrition. Be sure to feed them. Read up on what your plants need and add it to the potting soil. Using foliar feeding or a liquid fertilizer like seaweed solution works well.Don’t just put soil from the garden into your pots. It will be too heavy and dry out easily.

3. Place the planters where they will get the best light and be protected from wind or blasting hot sun. Gardener’s Supply even has self watering planters that have castors on them so you can move them around to catch the changing light and heat conditions.

Pots can look good and be easy to move

Urban Farms – A Really Productive Edible Landscape

Garden Design, Plant information No Responses »

May 212012

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Take out the lawn and put in fruit trees, vegetables, flowers, bees and rabbits and you may just have the garden of eden.

By Avis Licht – What do you imagine when you hear the term “urban farm” ? To me it sounds big with rows of vegetables and possibly a barn with animals. But that’s not the reality of urban farms that I visited in Berkeley, California last week. Over the next few weeks I’ll be high lighting a variety of gardens/farms in the city. Some are backyards, some are vacant properties on loan to non profit organizations and some are community gardens.

Today I want to show you how one woman, Ruby Blume turned her backyard into a fully functioning mini farm, providing her with most of her food needs, including meat, honey, fruits and vegetables, mushrooms and plenty of beauty.

She co wrote the book Urban Homesteading with Rachel Kaplan and runs the Institute of Urban Homesteading in Oakland, California. They offer many classes in gardening, animal husbandry, kitchen skills, food preparation, handcrafts, permaculture and much more.

On Saturday, June 9th, 2012, they will be hosting an Urban Farm Tour from 11am – 5 pm in Oakland and Berkeley. Details and descriptions at iuhoakland.com

A small backyard can produce a lot of food. Grow what you love to eat.

When you raise your own animals, you know how they've been treated

Rabbits are ready to eat after 8 weeks

A few hives can be safely put in a backyard for honey and pollination

Quails -They don't take up much room, are beautiful to look at and apparently lay good eggs for eating. Lovely quail house.

You can grow mushrooms at home by buying spores and inserting them into the logs

Ruby had her logs at the side of the house where nothing else would grow

Edible flowers add to the diversity and beauty of the garden

Bay Friendly Garden Tour – May 19, 2012- Edible Landscaping Made Easy

Garden Design, Plant information No Responses »

May 162012

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A peek at the edible front yard

by Avis Licht – Saturday, May 19th, 2012 is a day to tour beautiful Bay friendly Gardens in Marin County, California. The host gardens represent diverse microclimates and demonstrate the many different styles of Bay-Friendly gardens. You will find urban homesteads with orchards, chickens and bees, greywater installations and drought tolerant replacements for water thirsty lawns. Touring existing gardens is a great way to get new ideas for your own garden.

I’ll be giving a talk on Edible Landscaping Made Easy at 11 am in Larkspur at one of the gardens we’ve transformed from ornamental to beautifully edible. I’ll talk about design ideas, existing conditions, setting priorities and answering questions.

If you’re in the area be sure to come by. The garden tour is $10 for all the gardens. To find out more visit http://bayfriendlycoalition.org/GardenTour.shtml.

Just getting started on the spring garden

Set out beds and paths and start planting!

A small front yard turning into and edible landscape

Design Elements for an Edible Landscape

Garden Design 1 Response »

May 042012

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Save 10% on Grafted Heirloom Tomato Plants with code AFFMAY until midnight 5/7 at Burpee.com!

by Avis Licht – Designing your edible landscape can seem formidable. Here are a few ideas to help you move forward on your own yard.

1. Simplify your garden. Remove any unwanted fences, structures, and unhealthy plants. Open up your yard before you decide what you want to add.

Apple tree as the centerpiece of new landscaping

3.Here is the yard, fully landscaped. You can see the beautiful apple tree and you can stroll up the garden path.

1.This is the side yard before we cleaned it up. You can't see the apple tree behind the fence and old shrubs.

2. Notice the fence is gone and so are the old shrubs. You can see the apple tree (without leaves)

After removing the fence and old shrubs, we realized there was an open view to the old apple tree. It was previously hidden, and now is the centerpiece of the garden. By clearing out the old, it will help you see what you want to keep and open up new vistas.

2. Once you’ve cleaned the place up, you can decide where to put your paths, retaining walls and any structures.Next decision: where to put paths. It is important to be able to walk through the garden, to enjoy it and also to take care of it. The path on the right side of the house existed and we left it as is to access the house. The path through the garden is a winding, informal path that encourages you to slow down and enjoy the view.

siting paths, sitting area and retaining walls

Lay out your paths, retaining walls and sitting area

Sitting under the gazebo you have a fine view of the yard.

Structures create outdoor rooms for eating, reading and relaxing in the garden

3. Finally, you can choose what plants you want to use. In this yard, there are a lot of low maintenance plants like herbs and California native plants. You can see lavender, rosemary, Salvia, penstemon, thyme, oregano and California poppies. Along the fence and for ground covers we used Manzanita, Ceanothus, Osmanthus and cotoneaster. At the top of the garden is a small vegetable and herb garden near the kitchen, where it is easily accessible.

An open fence invites you into the garden

An open deer fence lets you look into the garden.

I’m available by phone, skype or in person for hourly consultations. Send me a note via this blog and we can arrange it.

Outside the kitchen are the herbs and vegetables

Looking down the garden towards the carport

From the vegetable garden you can look down the garden to the sitting area.

Use these three simple ideas to help you get started. You’ll be surprised how they can open up your eyes to new possibilities.

To help you get started on your vegetable garden there is plenty of information in my ebook, The Spring Garden Made Easy. It’s on sale for $4.99

Spring Garden Made Easy

Container Planting for the Edible Landscape

Garden Design, Ornamental/edible plants, Plant information, Uncategorized 1 Response »

Apr 302012

by Avis Licht – Growing food in containers is easy and straightforward. Here are some tips that will give you greater success.

Ornamental containers can grow herbs and food.

Colorful pots mixed with herbs, lettuce and flowers are easy to harvest

1. Site your pots so they get enough sun for the type of plant you are growing. Lettuce doesn’t need to be in full sun, but most of your herbs prefer it sunny. If you’re planting on a deck with an overhang be sure to watch what the sun does during the day. If you have a choice, morning sun is better for plants than afternoon sun, which can be really hot.

2. Choose plants that you like to eat and will be sure to harvest. Herbs are a great choice for containers, as you can cut a little bit off regularly and the plant still looks good and grows well. Herbs suitable for containers are: Rosemary, parsley, thyme, chives, basil, cilantro, lemon verbena, oregano, lavender, tarragon, sage and mint.

These violas have been blooming for 5 months

3. Edible flowers, of course are a great plant for containers. They are ornamental as well as edible. You can decorate your meals with them. Some of the easiest to grow include, nasturtiums, dianthus, calendula, Lemon Gem marigold, Citrus Mixed marigold and Tangerine Gem marigold. Scented geraniums have leaves and flowers that you can use to garnish food. Pansies are well known, can grow in shade and are easy to find. Pansy and violet leaves and flowers are edible and nutritious.

Nasturtiums

Pansy and lavender combine nicely in pots

4. IMPORTANT TIP! Plants in containers dry out quickly. Sun on the pots heats up the sides and causes them to dry out. It is important to keep them moist. When soil dries out water goes through the soil without being absorbed. People think they’re watering when they put the hose to the pots, but in fact, if the soil is dry, the water goes through the pot and out the bottom.

There are a couple of ways to deal with this. If you have a drip system, put the pots on their own schedule and water them 5 minutes, 2 or 3 times a day. This allows the water to soak in and not drip out the bottom.

One of the best solutions to container planting that I’ve found are self watering pots. They have a reservoir at the bottom and the moisture wicks up into the soil. Some of these pots only need watering once a week or even once every two weeks and your plants stay healthy and strong. It is a great solution.

I’ve been using these containers for years with huge success. You can get them from Gardener’s Supply along with a light weight soil medium for growing your plants. They have a special container and mix just for tomatoes

Self watering containers keep plants from drying out.

Keep plants moist and healthy with self watering containers

Let me know what are your favorite plants to grow in containers.

April in the Edible Garden- Planting a Theme Garden

Garden Design, Native Plants, Plant information No Responses »

Apr 092012

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Eggplant with basil and tofu anyone?

by Avis Licht

When deciding what to plant in your garden, in addition to the obvious parameters of site and climate, you can have fun with ideas based on what kind of food you like to eat. Are you Italian/pizza lovers? Is your favorite dinner a Mexican style salsa/burrito/tomale? Why not plant a theme garden based on your favorite meals? To make that homemade pizza sauce you could plant different heirloom varieties of paste tomatoes, with 3 different types of peppers and quantities of flavorful herbs.

When deciding on the vegetables for your style of garden, you can also look up recipes and find out the best herbs for your dishes. Instead of going from store to store trying to find the right herb, you could just go out and pick it fresh.

Asian herbs include: Chinese chives, coriander, cilantro, ginger, Thai basil, lemongrass, peppermint, sorrel and dill. Asian cuisine is vast and covers many countries, but there are some herbs like the lemongrass that have a very particular flavor which can be hard to find in stores. Although it is a tropical herb and doesn’t live in climates below 30 deg F. you can treat it as an annual and it will give you plenty of leaves.

Beautiful in the edible landscape, Lemongrass is an unusual and wonderful herb for Thai food.

Herbs that are common to many types of cuisine and easy to grow include: onions, cilantro, garlic and basil. Mediterranean herbs like rosemary, marjoram, oregano, parsley, sage, thyme and bay leaves are easy to grow and should be in everyone’s garden. It’s hard to describe the difference between fresh and dried herbs to those who don’t use fresh herbs. I guess it’s like the difference between breathing in the fresh air at the ocean and using an oxygen tank with tubes up your nose. Well, that may be a little extreme, but you get my drift.

Thai Basil has a unique flavor- grown with beans in this photo

Some unusual vegetables that you would use in Chinese and Japanese cuisines include bok choy, Napa cabbage, daikon radish, green onions, snow peas and soybeans. You can find seeds for these plants in any of the catalogs in my Resource page.

For a Mediterranean garden you would plant all of the following: tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers,asparagus, Tuscan kale, Savoy cabbage, radicchio, endive, artichokes, zucchini, fennel, bell peppers.

For Mexican cooking, legumes (black beans, pinto beans), corn, and a variety of peppers (poblano, jalapeno, ancho, serrano) are key. And don’t forget the squashes. They’re easy to grow, taste great and keep well, (that would be winter squash).

Themed gardens are beautiful as well as productive

Stay tuned for landscape plans for theme gardens. Subscribe to my blog and you won’t miss any of the information you need to keep your garden healthy, beautiful and bountiful.

Here’s a great recipe I found for Homegrown Pizza Sauce – all ingredients from the garden:

How to make Homegrown Pizza Sauce

Ingredients

“I’ve always made pizza sauce based on my mother’s recipe, starting with a can of tomato sauce. This year, I started with paste tomatoes from my garden with great success. You’ll notice that the amounts in the ingredient table below are rough; please add veggies and herbs according to your taste

3 pounds very ripe tomatoes, washed, stemmed, quartered, and seeded
1 yellow onion, very small dice
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbl. dried oregano
1 tbl dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tbl. olive oil
sea salt, black pepper, and sugar to taste.

Place quartered tomatoes in large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently. The tomatoes will let go of a surprising amount of juice.
Remove from heat and strain off solids. Set solids aside and return juice to the stove.
Simmer juices, uncovered, until reduced.
Add tomato solids back into the saucepan and stir in all remaining ingredients except sugar.
Bring sauce back to a simmer and cook, stirring regularly, until the onions are translucent and the sauce has reduced to the desired consistency.
Taste.
Add a small amount of sugar, mix thoroughly, and taste again. Repeat until you achieve an acidity that tastes good to you.
Sauce should keep in the refrigerator for about a week, in the freezer for a few months, or may be canned.” From www.opensourcefood.com.

Don’t forget, it’s not too late to start your Spring Garden. To help you I’ve put together a handbook on the steps you can take to be successful in your garden. Included is information on soil, sites, annuals, perennials, fruits and much more. This is a 20 page guide to get you started on your edible landscape. Forty years of gardening has given me plenty to share. If you have enjoyed my blog, be sure to get my booklet.

Spring Garden Made Easy

Plants for the Bees – Bring health and happiness to your garden

Garden Design, Plant information No Responses »

Mar 282012

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Borage blooms early and long - the bees love it (click to enlarge)

by Avis Licht

Often, when I design a garden people ask me if it will bring bees. Usually, it’s because they are afraid of having bees in the garden. Bees, who are gentle creatures, are more interested in finding nectar and pollen than stinging you. Often people mistake yellow jackets, who come in late summer to eat your sweet fruit or meat at the outdoor barbeque, for bees. They are not the same at all.

Bees are absolutely necessary to the health and productivity of your garden. We need them to pollinate our fruits and vegetables. 35% of our food worldwide is pollinated by bees. Imagine a world without honey. Well, please don’t do that.

Recently there has been a disappearance of bees called Colony Collapse Disorder. Entire hives die without apparent cause. By planting bee friendly plants you can personally aid in their resurgence.

The best plants are ones that are native to your locale or grow well in your climate. Herbs, flowers, and flowering trees all contribute to their food source.

Using only organic controls in the garden is another way of protecting your bees.

Don’t forget to buy my ebook on The Spring Garden Made Easy

There are many wonderful bee plants. These are a few of my favorites.

Lavender can be planted in the ground or in containers. Beautiful everywhere.

1. Lavender: For millenium lavender has been used in soaps, balms and sachets as well as medicinally for its calming effect. My local ice cream shop makes the best honey lavender ice cream. Grow it in full sun, well drained soil, in climates that don’t go below 20 deg F.

2. Salvias: In the sage family there are many herbal and ornamental varieties of Salvias. Bees and hummingbirds love them and they come in many colors.

This bi colored Salvia, Hot Lips, is just one of many varieties. (click to enlarge)

3. Lemon Balm, Melissa officinale – In the mint family, Lemon Balm has a wonderfully lemony flavor for tea. It is considered one of the premier bee plants. Melissa is a Greek word meaning honeybee.

In the mint family, Lemon Balm has a wonderful lemon flavor and is easy to grow

4. Ceanothus- California lilac (many varieties). Many native plants are helpful to the bees. The California Lilac grows on the hills in California and as its name suggests is wonderfully fragrant. It flowers in the blue, purple and whites and can be a very low growing shrub or up to 15 ft. Well drained, sunny sites are what it needs to thrive. It requires very little care.

This rosemary is planted next to my Apple tree. It brings the bees to pollinate the tree.

5. Rosemary - One of the most loved herbs for cooking, rosemary is easy to grow and long lived. The bees love it. In my garden it starts to bloom early in Spring and is under the apple trees which are just starting to bloom. This companion planting encourages the bees to pollinate my fruit trees.

In the herb family you can plant Basil, Catnip, Dill, Fennel, Hyssop, Lavender, Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme, and Sage to encourage your friendly bees.

In the ornamental flowers, try Agastache, Salvia, Bachelor Button, Black Eyed Susan, Clematis, Coreopsis, Lantana, Larkspur, Sweet William , Yarrow, and Zinnias.

In shrubs, Ceanothus, Manzanita, Arbutus, Mahonia and Philadelphus are beautiful and useful.

The Crab Apple tree blooms early and is absolutely buzzing with activity.

The buds on this Ceanothus are just getting ready to open. (click to enlarge)

The bees adore this Crab Apple which blooms in early spring

Coming in for a landing

Designing an Edible Front Yard

Garden Design No Responses »

Mar 232012

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A beautiful open fence keeps out the deer and lets in the sunlight

by Avis Licht – Designing a front yard can be a little tricky. Designing it so that it is also a productive food garden makes it even more challenging. What makes an edible landscape work, is that not only does one get food from it, but it must also be lovely to look at in all seasons. Using a few basic design tenants and some good gardening sense will help you get started.

1. Always note your sun/shadow in all seasons. This can change drastically between summer and winter. Be sure to place your shade plants in shady spots, and your sun loving plants where they will find the light. In the garden in these photos, the house casts a large shadow – almost completely in winter, but only partially in summer.

Since this was the only open area for my client’s vegetables, we noted the best sun areas during the main growing season between April and October.

Note your sun/shadow in the main growing season. This photo is the new garden. (click to enlarge)

This is what the front yard looked like before we renewed it. (click to enlarge)

Don’t forget to look at my book on The Spring Garden Made Easy.

2.If you need a fence, be sure it looks good, lets the light into the garden and keeps the deer and other critters out. Wood fences can look good, but can also create shadows that prevent plants from getting enough light.

A simple post and wire fence that looks good

A good looking wire fence lets the light in and keeps the neighbor's dogs out.

We removed the wood fence from this garden, as it cast a heavy shadow in winter when the sun was low in the sky. Because this is California, there is a long growing season and we wanted to make good use of the little space available. Many neighbors stop by to admire the beautiful vegetables and flowers in the front yard. Keeping this garden well tended all year makes it a neighborhood delight. Everyone wants a fresh pea in spring and tomato in summer.There are plenty of flowers to keep it cheerful.

3.Create permanent beds and paths. Permanent beds create pattern and form in a garden even when the beds may be empty. The same is true for paths. They are cleaner, safer and create form in the garden. Paths also keep people from walking on the beds. Here are a few different solutions. Stone paths are more expensive, but last longer and are beautiful. Chipped paths look good and are inexpensive. They also allow the water to seep into the soil for water retention.

Permanent beds give form and interest even without all the plants. Chipped paths are easy to lay and inexpensive.

Stone paths are safe, beautiful, long lasting and also more expensive. Choose a material appropriate for you and your budget.

A winding path leads you through the garden to the front door.

4. Choose plants the grow well in your climate and in your site. Choose appropriate sized plants. Meaning, if you have a small front yard, use dwarf or semi dwarf trees, or small shrubs. Fruit trees, blueberries, currants, strawberries mixed with flowering shrubs all make wonderful front yard plants. They look good in most seasons. Use perennials in your front yard and keep the annuals to a minimum. When growing vegetables in the front yard, keep them well tended if your yard is open to the neighborhood. It’s all part of being a good neighbor. The more you share the bounty, the more your neighbors will want to imitate your garden.

Summer in the edible front yard still looks great. (click to enlarge)

Herbs, flowers and a simple fence for the edible front yard. (click to enlarge)

These are a few ideas to help you plan your edible front yard. There will be more ideas to come. Sign up for my blog and you won’t miss anything.

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Ingredients

There are many wonderful bee plants. These are a few of my favorites.

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