Foodscaping: Practical And Innovative Ways To Create An Edible Landscape

Foodscaping: Practical And Innovative Ways To Create An Edible Landscape

Keep your lawn and eat it too - Foodscaping will show you how to grow food without giving up your view.Foodscaping is what it sounds like - a combination of landscaping and food. This gardening resource is chock-full of real-world examples, photos, and advice so that even an "average Joe" homeowner and gardener can grow food without sacrificing either their lawn or their home's appearance to do so.While "edible" and "ornamental" aren't always synonymous, they can be combined, with the right plants, placement, and advice from author and edible gardening expert Charlie Nardozzi. Charlie's ideas allow you to add food plants wherever you like. Incorporating food-bearing plants as hedgerows and barriers or in small spaces, containers, window boxes and many more ideas allow you to expand the types of plants you can use and even extend your growing season!For example, blueberry bushes provide not just fruit, but also wonderful fall color. Arbors and pergolas are perfect supports for edible plants and even simplify harvest. Squash and cabbage have attractive, interesting leaf textures, so they can be a part of the ornamental garden.Foodscaping also goes beyond mere plant selection. The basics of gardening, planting, pruning, dealing with pests, watering, feeding, and harvesting are all covered in detail, ensuring your success in creating a beautiful, edible landscape for your home.Review"Food surety concerns fuel grow-it-yourself efforts, from windowsill herb gardens to single-acre minifarms including chickens and rabbits raised for protein. Projects such as these plus landscaping equals foodscaping--integrating edibles as borders in around traditional beds and replacing ornamentals. A feast for the eyes and spirit, Nardozzi's how-to emphasizes practicality and creative ideas as he discusses planning, starting small, planting the right plants in the right places, and growing what you enjoy eating. Edible berry shrubs visually anchor gardens. Dwarf fruit trees "define the space," providing shade for sunwary annuals like begonias. Tomatoes and cucumbers, trellised vertically, function as foundation plants hiding concrete foundations and, with edible shrubs like rosemary, soften the hard angles of houses that protect plants from wind and cold and capture heat so they mature faster. Hedgerow plantings, animal habitats, windbreaks, and screens complement Foodscaping 101 basics of proportion, balance, focal points, color, and hard- and soft-scape features, and Nardozzi profiles his favorite edibles. A comprehensive guide with step-by-step instructions and a wealth of information regarding hardiness zones and supplies." - Booklist?-"Nardozzi's book will help you create an edible landscape that tastes as good as it looks." - Anderson Independent-Mail?-"The book is a great way to introduce the topic of planting edibles in a typical, modern garden, to see the intrinsic beauty in vegetables and herbs, and to encourage people by making small changes at a time." - GardeningProductsReview.com?-About the AuthorCharlie Nardozzi is a nationally recognized garden writer, speaker, and radio and television personality. He brings expert gardening information to home gardeners through radio, television, lectures, the Internet, and the printed page. Charlie delights in making gardening information simple, easy, fun, and accessible to everyone. Charlie has his own radio and television shows, is a well-known public speaker, and is the author of Cool Springs Press's