Edible Landscape in Your Front Yard

Imagine walking outside your front door here in Aliso Viejo and picking some tomatoes, green beans and corn, then going inside to cook some dinner.  

The idea is not really that far fetched — it's called edible landscaping.

It's a trend that has been growing ever since the economy started shrinking. Not everyone appreciates it though. A Michigan woman faced 93 days in jail for planting a vegetable garden in her front yard. I'm sure some here in Aliso Viejo would find those raised garden beds unsightly. To me, they look good enough to eat. The vegetables, that is. 

As part of Aliso Viejo's Green City Initiative Workshop for Land Use we even discussed having organic gardens planted in places where one might not usually see one.  

"The City should permit Organic Gardens anywhere they are feasible."  

I, for one, think a front yard is a perfect place where a vegetable garden is feasible.

Granted there should be standards just as there are for ornamental landscape design. Plans are be drawn up and approved, go through your Home Owner's Association and the yard is expected to be kept up. The same would be true with an edible landscape.

Imagine raised beds of varying size, color and height with different vegetables that you and your family have chosen mixed in with colorful companion plants offering natural pest control, such as marigolds, white geraniums, tansies, delphimiums and four o'clocks.

Another added texture to your front yard garden design could be trellises with grapes, tomatoes, beans and peas.  

And what about fruit trees? They are always available for sale at local hardware stores like Lowe's in Aliso Viejo and many varities are suitable for the temperate weather in the city.

Rethinking the front yard can not only change the face of your neighborhood but it can change how we think about where our food comes from. It means local, it means sharing your bounty with neighbors and friends and it means opening up a whole new world of science and fun for your family.

Raised beds alone might not be the most exciting alternative but you can do so much more with edible landscaping to make it exciting and new.

As Aliso Viejo moves forward with the Green Initiative it could give people more flexibility with their own front yards to choose what they put in the dirt beneath their feet.

For some examples of what kinds of gardens you can plant, Better Homes and Gardens has a variety of free Garden Plans.