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Fresh fruit and vegetable prices are increasing almost daily! What can you do about it? I’ll tell you… you can grow as many you can in your own edible garden! A lot of people are already choosing to create more natural landscapes, even landscapes which contain plants that are useful, or can be eaten. Many vegetable plants are very attractive, and a lot of edible plants have ornamental varieties.

Give your wallet a break and lower your spending on these items by growing a great looking edible garden. It doesn’t matter if you only have a small garden area, they can be easily grown in containers and you’ll have fresh fruits, vegetables and even herbs for years.

By making a point of selecting mostly perennial vegetables simply because they return each year, there’s less replanting. Add to that the fact that your garden will not only look beautiful but be practical at the same time and you’re on a winner.

A little watering and feeding is all most of them need, aside from the occasional weeding, pruning, or insect control. And because you’ve selected the types that regrow every season, you’ll enjoy your harvest year after year.

These perennials will die down during the colder months, but come springtime they’ll shoot again and produce another great crop. So by being selective with your planting you’ll ensure that you get fresh produce every year.

You can use many different types of edible plants to replace various aspects of traditional landscaping. You can use fruit trees in place of standard trees or if space is limited there are some wonderful dwarf fruit trees that produce abundant crops. Many perennial herbs can be used to replace ground covers and shrubs. And ornamental vegetables can be used in place of flowers, borders, or other accents.

Don’t be afraid to mix up your planting, you can have some wonderful combinations with a little imagination. Edible plants can look at home in a flower bed and many herbs will give your garden an individual appearance.

Oregano and sage are extremely pretty and can make a fantastic low hedge around some of your larger bushes. If you have any strawberries, pansies, dianthus or lobelia try planting some curly parsley amongst them for a sensational effect.

Have you noticed the staggering varieties of lettuce lately? They come in some fantastic colors, with very pretty leaves. They would make great accent plants around your garden, you could even use them as edging.

Also there are a lot of plants with edible flowers, leaves, stalks and tubers. One that springs to mind is the humble sugar snap pea… beautiful pink, white or purple flowers and then the delicious peas. They will brighten up any landscape when they’re in bloom.

Fava beans produce white and red flowers. Chives have amazing purple globe-shaped flowers. Dill has lovely yellowish blossoms. Nasturtium blossoms are edible, and some in red, yellow, and orange. Sage has blue and purple blossoms. And salvia also has blue and purple blooms.

Going back to the perennial vegetables and herbs mentioned earlier, you have a good variety to choose from including ginger, dandelions, asparagus, rhubarb, fennel, broccoli, garlic chives, sorrel, sweet potatoes, artichokes and chives. These and others make wonderful edible gardens and are very easy to maintain.

Last 5 posts by Tom Johnson

• Easy Ways To Plan Your Container Garden - May 10th, 2008
• Raised Beds Make Gardening Easier On Your Knees and Back! - May 3rd, 2008
• The Rewards Of Growing Your Own Herbs - April 30th, 2008
• Start Your Vegetable Garden The Easy Way - April 23rd, 2008
• Organic Compost - The Easy Way - April 15th, 2008

Tags: Gardening Tips