Native and Edible Landscape Design – No Lawn?

What no lawn? Yes! This landscape design for a client in Arlington is full of native and edible plants instead of a lawn!

The front contains a large vegetable garden surrounded by two layers of 4′ deer fencing with asparagus in between and native meadow plants as a backdrop.

Flagstone steps take you to a terraced plateau filled with Asian pears, blueberries, persimmons, sour cherries, cornelian dogwoods, a fig and a plethora of native flowers that attract beneficial insects.

The shady back slope is held together by serviceberries, paw paws, hazelnuts, elderberries, fragrant sumac and various native ground covers and spreading perennials.

Viburnums, wax myrtles, and a few hollies surround the property to provide privacy and bird habitat.

A couple of black gum trees (Nyssa sylvatica) provide shade for an open forest floor of edible ostrich fern and other woodland natives.

Edible Landscape in Sun and Shade

Copyright 2014 Organic Edible Gardens LLC

Edible Landscape in Sun and Shade

An edible and medicinal understory and pond designed for a shady back yard full of mature hardwoods. A small sunny patch in the front gave way to edible ground covers, perennials, berries and fruit trees. The front downspouts are piped into two rain gardens, one in the shade the other in the sun. The rain garden in the shade is full of moisture loving woodland medicinals, while the rain garden in the sun contains native insect attracting perennial flowers. Species include: Pawpaw, Fig, Peach, Aronia, Spicebush, Clove Currant, Elderberry, Blueberry, Yarrow, Anise Hyssop, Wild Ginger, Asparagus, Black Cohosh, Strawberry, Goldenseal, Ostrich Fern, American Lotus, May Apple, Giant Solomon’s Seal among multiple other soil building, insectary, and native plants.