Edible landscaping or foodscaping both are the same thing in the yard. Foodscaping or edible landscaping method uses when you want to replace decorated non-edible plants with edible ones. Edible landscaping has multiple benefits and it is better than ordinary landscaping that is used only for decoration purposes in a certain manner.
You can fulfill the food requirements and the right selection of plants will give you a better look in the yard. Although it is time-consuming and more maintenance is required still, it is a better option if you have an empty yard and you're considering changing it into flower landscaping.
Edible landscaping or foodscaping
For beginners, foodscaping can be slightly difficult and may consume time while choosing the right plants and designing the landscape for edible plants.
Let's understand it in more detail and then, I'll share step by step guide to making foodscaping in your yard at the beginner level.
Who should start foodscaping?
One can have various reasons for starting foodscaping in his/her backyard or front yard. The main purpose of foodscaping are the following-
- For one who wants to fulfill the requirement of organic food according to a particular season, foodscaping is a very good option he/she has. It means he can get variety with the freshness of food in his own yard.
- This is one of the best ways to utilize the empty wasted space of the backyard even if the soil is less fertile.
- For yearly food sustainability, foodscaping is the best method.
- If you want to save money on daily buying vegetables and fruits, you can grow them in your own yard by following the right guide according to season and climate. The implementation cost is very low as well as the maintenance cost.
- Apart from growing food, if you are a garden lover, then it may be a very good choice for you to have a foodscaping yard.
Requirements for yard foodscaping
Tools required
- Inch Tape
- Hammer
- Nails
- Woodcutter
Materials required
- Flat wood for platforms
- Edible plants seeds(according to climate and season)
- Various sized containers
- Garden soil
- Compost
- Sand
- Coco-peat
A step-by-step guide to starting a foodscaping yard
Step 1- Choose edible plants according to climate and season
List all the complementary growing edible plants including fruits and vegetables. These plants should be climate native and should be according to the current running season.
The reason for choosing complementary growing plants is the less space and its management. You're going to utilize the small space to get better output. So remember all that while choosing the edible plant seeds.
Step 2- Landscape design and vertical platforms
If you have a small-sized lawn, you can increase the space by adding vertical platforms. I've suggested you tools and materials required above. So start building vertical ladder platforms to increase the space and for a better layout of the yard.
Once you are all done and set up the platforms, you should've left some space for fruit plants.
You can't grow fruit plants in small containers. So remember that.
Step 3- Choosing containers for particular edible plants
The selection of the containers depends on the edible plant you've chosen earlier. Suppose you've chosen herb seeds, you need wide containers(3:2 long and wide) but not with much depth(more than 8 inches).
For leafy vegetables, you need medium-sized containers either for a bunch of the same plant or small containers for every single plant.
Thus, you need to list all the plants sized according to their root growth and their maximum size. You can get it easily and also I've discussed that many times as you can read it in my gardening tag.
Don't forget to make drainage holes in all the containers so that edible plant containers can lose excessive water.
Step 4- Prepare a potting soil mixture and ready your containers
You need a huge amount of potting soil for all the containers. Let me give you a sample ratio and then you can easily decide what to do and what not to do.
As I suggested above, you need compatible plants so potting soil can't be much different for a pair of plants. So remember that thing in mind. For different compatible plants, you need different potting soil.
But the soil that can work ok with each plant should be generalized with all the plant requirement elements and minerals. So you need to prepare a common mixture for potting soil by mixing 2:2:1:1 of garden soil, compost, sand, and coco-peat respectively. But remember, you can't use it in every climate. For cool and hot climates, it can be different but most commonly, people can use this mixture in their yard.
Step 5- Seed sowing according to their compatibility and germination
After filling the potting soil in all the containers, you need to start sowing seeds according to their compatibility and competitive nature. Just before sowing seeds, it'll be better if you maintain the moisture in the soil.
Grow vegetable seeds in different containers and fruit seeds on the ground or in containers if they are going to be short in size in matured stages. Again remember to sow seeds according to their matured size in later stages.
Most of the seasonal seeds will start sprouting within a week but some fruit seeds may take longer to get germinated.
Step 6- Further care of foodscaping plants
From here, you need to behave gently and carefully with every single plant till their harvesting. You can follow all the basic practices of regular irrigation, fertilization, weeding, and mulching when it'll be required.
Step 7- Harvesting vegetables and fruits
I hope the above steps will help you to manage your foodscaping yard. Also, if you will follow all the basics then soon you'll get good harvesting within the season like leafy vegetables and beans. In the following growing season, you need to replace the plants with other seasonal plants by preparing new potting soil.
Thus throughout the year, you can harvest various vegetables. Within a few years, you can also get various fruits like avocado, berries, strawberries, cantaloupe, etc.