Edible plants for a beautiful foodscape!

While I personally think we Americans put the look of tidy green (boring) turfgrass lawns on an undeserved pedestal, aesthetics are still important to me. When most people think of growing food in their yard, they might picture lots of raised beds and trellises, or even long uniform rows of crops. Some people might picture something a little… messy, or unsightly? But I firmly believe your kitchen garden CAN and absolutely SHOULD look beautiful, because that likely means you planted densely (which will help with weed suppression and moisture retention), intermixed flowers with your veggies (which supports pollinators and helps with crop yield), and most importantly it likely means you will actually go out there and tend to your amazing garden because it’s nice to look at!

While I do love the look of my raised bed kitchen garden, in some areas, like the front yard, I prefer planting a layered landscape with a curated mix of trees, shrubs, flowers, and groundcovers. This is where there is tremendous opportunity to combine the function of edible plants with the look of ornamental plants—AKA foodscaping! Luckily, there are LOTS of beautiful edible plants that you can incorporate into your landscape without making your front yard look like a veggie patch (unless that’s your style, no judgement here!). Here are just a few of my favorites, all for full sun:

Pineapple Guava

An evergreen tropical tree/shrub for Zones 8-11 (some varieties go down to Zone 7!). Pineapple Guava can grow up to 20 ft tall but they are usually pruned to around 6-8ft. The taste is sometimes described as a mix of pineapple, strawberry, banana, and kiwi. The flowers are absolutely stunning and also taste delicious on their own. The trees can produce more than 55 POUNDS of fruit per year when mature! They are sometimes self-fertile but will produce better with another variety planted nearby. Deer largely ignore them.

Artichoke (Plant after last frost)

Artichokes are a gorgeous ornamental plant, and they are actually a great bang for your buck, since artichokes tend to be pretty expensive at the store! You can expect around 10 artichokes per plant. They have striking purple flowers, are perennials in Zones 7-11, and can be grown as annuals elsewhere. They are deer resistant.

Pawpaw

Pawpaws are one of the South’s best-kept treasures (Zones 5-9). These native trees prefer part shade when they are young, but can handle full sun with moisture. The fruits are described as custardlike— with a taste between a mango and a banana. They don’t transport well and must be eaten fresh, so we are unfamiliar with seeing them at grocery stores. The trees grow up to around 20ft tall and are not self-fertile, so you need at least two different plants (get them from different nurseries to be sure) in order to produce fruit. They are zebra swallowtail butterfly host plants. Wildlife is likely to eat some of your crop.

Photo: Agnieszka Kwiecień, Nova, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Serviceberry

A deciduous, underutilized native shrub (or small tree) for Zones 4-9 that blooms in Spring, produces berries in Summer, and has fantastic fall color. Some describe the taste as a blueberry crossed with strawberry, with a hint of almond! It can get large, up to 25ft, but usually pruned much smaller. They are self-fertile so you only need one. Birds and squirrels like the berries, but deer tend to leave it alone.

Potatoes
(Plant a few weeks before last frost)

Potatoes just look like a sprawling groundcover— you would never know there are root veggies hiding underneath! They produce nice flowers shortly before harvest and they are also deer resistant.

Strawberry (Plant in late winter)

Strawberries make a cute little groundcover, and look great sprawling near a rock border. They have small white (or pink) flowers and will spread to make new plants at nodes along the ground. They are perennial in Zones 3-9. Strawberries are very, very attractive to deer, as well as squirrels, birds, and rabbits.

Okra (Plant after last frost)

Okra can grow very tall (over 6ft by Fall) so it’s a good option for the back of a mixed border with smaller flowers in front. It can even provide shade for smaller perennials who might appreciate the respite in the middle of the summer. It has beautiful, hibiscus-like flowers, and it’s deer resistant!

Photo: Chunumunu/Gettyimages

Blueberry

There are a few main types of blueberry bushes— Lowbush, Northern Highbush, Southern Highbush, and Rabbiteye. There are many pros and cons of each, but the main things you want to ask before picking a variety are 1. Is it self-pollinating? (Even if they are, you’ll likely have better yield with multiple plants). If not self-pollinating, you specifically need to plant a compatible pollinator blueberry bush. 2. What is the chill requirement? If you are up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, you’ll have many more chill hours than Savannah does, and different varieties need varying amounts of chilly winter temps to produce fruit in Spring and Summer. I like “Pink Lemonade” and “Bountiful Blue” (which are both Rabbiteye) for Atlanta. They have beautiful Spring blossoms and fiery Fall color. Deer, rabbits, squirrels, birds (and toddlers) all LOVE blueberries.

Blackberry & Raspberry

They have nice foliage and flowers, and are pretty easy to care for. Depending on the variety, you will likely have to prune old canes away to make room for new fruiting ones. They can spread and create thickets, so could be a good choice to plant along the edge of your woods. Make sure you get a native variety! You can choose thornless, bush versions to make picking easier. I have Navaho Blackberry and Caroline Raspberry. Deer, squirrels, rabbits, and birds also love blackberry and raspberry bushes.

Trailing Rosemary (and other herbs)

Lots of herbs are great candidates for front yard foodscaping, but trailing rosemary might be the most beautiful of all. It is great for dry, sunny spots, and it is covered in purple-blue blooms in late winter / early spring. Other good ones might be oregano (watch out for spreading), lavender, regular upright rosemary, and lemon balm (cut back blooms to reduce reseeding). Pineapple sage is another fantastic one— it quickly grows into a small bush and has plumes of bright red flowers that attract hummingbirds.

Portulaca, Marigold, Calendula, Zinnia, Borage, Sunflowers, and more!

There are so many edible flowers that can add bright pops of color to your landscape and add value for pollinators. Portulaca is highly nutritious and super drought and heat resistant (great to add to a sunny container), with pretty flowers that usually open in the morning and close at dusk (some varieties actually do the opposite). Borage is a nitrogen-fixer so it can help improve your soil, and it has an almost salty cucumber taste. These are both annuals in GA that can spread, so keep harvesting to reduce reseeding. Zinnias, Marigolds, and Calendulas are all edible but mainly grown as ornamentals because they are all gorgeous!

Persimmon

American Persimmon trees (Zones 4-11) need both a male and female tree to produce fruit, which can be hard to identify unless they are flowering. The fruits have an astringent flavor until they are super ripe (almost mushy). They are beautiful deciduous ornamental trees, providing bright fall color and interesting bark texture over the winter. Asian persimmons (Zones 4-9) are more consistently sweet for fresh eating, even when firm, but many people still prefer the taste of a perfectly ripe American persimmon, which is said to be more complex and better for jams. Asian persimmons are usually self-fertile and produce much more fruit per tree.

Cold-Hardy Fig

“Celeste” and “Chicago” Figs are popular ones in Atlanta (Zones 7-10). They prefer to be kept well watered, but are easy to grow and self-fertile (may produce more with other fig trees planted nearby). They tend to spread. Some people say deer love fig trees, and some say they won’t touch them at all. Mine have not been bothered by deer.

Pomegranate

Look for a cold-hardy variety for Georgia (I have Salavatski, Zones 6-9). It is a deciduous shrub/small tree that can grow to around 10ft tall, but can be pruned much smaller, and produces beautiful orange flowers with large red fruits. Deer might show interest, and squirrels will definitely show interest.

Chickasaw Plum

Absolutely fantastic small native tree for Zones 5-8 providing immense value to songbirds and pollinators including many butterflies. The fruits are tart fresh but very good for preserves and jellies. Abundant white flowers from March to April make it a great alternative to invasive Bradford Pear or non-native cherry trees. They spread by suckers and can grow up to around 15ft tall. Deer, birds, squirrels, and rabbits will likely eat some of your fruit.

Photo: Homer Edward Price, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Are you going to swap out some of your sterile, boring lawn space for a bit of natural foodscaping? Instead of planting something that ONLY has ornamental value, why not plant something to help round out your grocery list with fresh, seasonal, homegrown produce? Or a plant that provides value to wildlife, contributing back to the ecosystem you live in? The world is shifting and so many people are starting to see that nature is not something for us to fight against and try to conform to our will with endless mowing, chemical use, and costly maintenace— in fact, we ARE nature! And it’s time we started planting like it!

If you want personalized help designing the perfect foodscape suited to your unique growing conditions, Unruly Roots offers garden consulting to help you bring your dream kitchen garden, native landscape, or edible foodscape to life! Find out more here or book your consultation here.