RSS
Home
Using flowers to beautify the vegetable garden
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Red and green lettuce varieties combine with 'Sorbet
Yellow Frost' violas to make a lively pattern in
the vegetable patch.
I applaud the renewed interest people seem to have in home vegetable gardening due to the current economy and the inspiration of Michelle Obama’s White House garden. But as I drive around my rural county looking at the new vegetable gardens, it strikes me that the problem with the current efforts is that we have forgotten how to make our vegetable gardens as attractive as they are useful.
Looking around, I see that today’s home vegetable garden most often resemble miniature industrial farms, with rows of produce but little in the way of beauty or ornamentation.
Because they are so unwelcoming (Heck, there's nowhere to sit!), they are consigned to the far reaches of our yards, out of the way of our neighbors’ eyes. Since they are out of sight, they are out of mind and quickly become neglected and weed-ridden. People lose enthusiasm for the gardening project and consider themselves gardening failures. Homeowners' associations feel the need to ban such unsightly gardens. Many novice gardeners abandon the idea of growing their own produce because it is so unrewarding and, well, ugly.
It doesn’t have to be this way!
Vegetables, herbs and fruits can be attractively and productively grown. Our Colonial ancestors understood this as they integrated flowers, structures and seating into their home gardens. Have you seen the gardens of Williamsburg, Mount Vernon or other historic houses? There is much to be learned from how our forefathers and foremothers gardened.
One way to liven up the garden--and make it a place of beauty where you want to linger--is to add pattern with crops and integrate flowers.
In the photo 'Sorbet Yellow Frost' violas mix beautifully with red and green lettuces. Other winning flower and vegetable combinations include cabbages and stock, tomatoes and marigolds, cone flowers and peppers. The possibilities are limitless.
To make successful combinations:
- Favor annuals over perennials that will require a longer-term home.
- Explore the many varieties of edible flowers to extend the usefulness of the flowers.
- Ensure that the soil and water requirements for the vegetables and flowers are similar.
- Provide enough room for plants as they mature.
- Take into consideration the colors of the flowers and the colors of the produce to make pleasing combinations.
- Don't be afraid to pull out spent plants and replace them with new annuals from your local nursery.
You might also enjoy these:
Thank you for reading! You can reach me at gardeningexaminer@gmail.com and can follow me on Twitter at @RobinRipley.
Did you also know I write about fresh foods? You can read my food columns at the D.C. Fresh Foods Examiner.
Click SUBSCRIBE below to receive notifications of new National Gardening Examiner columns.
Related Articles:
Comments
.jpg)
