National Gardening Association
"When You Garden, You Grow"
Charlie's 10 Favorite Organic Pest Controls
No matter how good a gardener you are, at some point or another animals, insects, and diseases will attack your plants. Organic gardeners know this is a fact of nature and will tolerate some damage to their fruit trees, berry bushes, vegetables, and herbs. A perfect plant doesn't mean ... more »
Edible of the Month: Tomato
Tomatoes are the most popular vegetable grown by American gardeners for good reason. There is nothing like munching on a juicy, sun-warmed, vine-ripened tomato picked fresh off the plant. Whether you like tomatoes fresh, dried, grilled, juiced, or frozen, fresh-picked tomatoes are ... more »
Much Ado About Mulch
If there is one technique that will make your gardening easier this summer it is proper mulching. Whether it's mulching the vegetable garden, around fruit trees, amongst berry bushes, or in the herb garden ... more »
Scalloped Tomatoes
If you have lots of extra tomatoes there are many recipes that will help deplete the reserves. This one features tomatoes, onions, peppers, and cheese. I also toss in a little ... more »
Send Your Ideas!
Do you have any tips to share? Are there topics you'd like me to address? E-mail me at ediblelandscaping@garden.org
Q & A
Question: In July each year a yellow insect eats my bush bean leaves. My neighbor says they are Mexican bean beetles. What can I do about them?
Answer: The Mexican bean beetle is one of the few harmful members of the lady beetle family. The adults overwinter in plant debris and hedgerows. They look like lady beetles, but have copper-colored shells and eight black dots on their backs. In spring they emerge and begin feeding at the same time your bean seedlings are sprouting. The beetles lay eggs on the undersides of the leaves and the yellow larvae that hatch continue feeding, doing most of the damage.
Question: I recently removed the foundation plants along the front and side of my house and want to replace them with fruiting shrubs. The area gets full sun most of the day. I don't want anything that gets too "wild." I'm in Virginia and new to edible landscaping. Can you suggest some plants?
Answer: Congratulations on going edible! Since you get full sun in your yard you have many options for shrubs. The first task is to map out the major house features, such as doors and windows. Measure their dimensions and how far off the ground they are. That will help you choose a shrub to fit in each location. The second task is a fun one. Start browsing catalogs, Web sites, and local nurseries. Examples of some "well-behaved" edible shrubs are blueberries, gooseberries,currants, filberts, American cranberry viburnum, and Nanking cherry. Look at the mature height and width of each and decide which best fits the location and your taste. A small fruiting tree or two might work, too. Consider dwarf cherries, weeping mulberry, and elderberry. How about a fig tree! If you want a hedge along the side yard consider black raspberries. These grow from a clump form and are less likely to spread and become "wild" like red raspberries or blackberries.