Designing a Theme Garden Good Enough to Eat!!!
by: Matthew Ross TBG Horticulturist
“Theme Gardening”
The concept of theme gardening is the unification of your
landscape with a commonality of plant or design
elements.
Considerations for determining the design intent or theme
can relate to:
Foliage or Flower Color
Intended use of the Fruit or Vegetable
g
Specific Recipes
Interesting Architectural or Structural Elements
(Hardscapes)
Origin of Plant Materials
Gaultheria procumbensprocumbensWintergreen is one of the
original flavorings of mint
gum and is also an
overlooked groundcover for
use in shady areas.
Picking Out the Perfect Plant Materials
When designing a theme garden plant material is the
pinnacle of your success. Determining the right plants for
your concept requires a little bit of research before you
run off to the local greenhouse to select from a wide
assortment of crops
crops….
Elements to consider include but are not limited to:
Juglans sp.sp.- Everybody could
use a g
good walnut integrated
g
into a salad or encrusting a
split chicken breast. However
species selection and site
location could deter even the
most avid gardeners from
even thinking about including
these beautiful trees in their
landscape
Site Adaptability
Overall Size and Shape of the Plant Material
Harvest Time
Disease and Insect Susceptibility
Flavor of Fruit, Veggie, or other Edible Plant Parts
Fertility Needs
Sun Moon: Nourishing Gifts from the Garden Lecture Series February 21st, 2010
Transitioning From Traditional Choices to
Multifunctional Plant Material
A
B
G
I H
F
F
G
E
J
C
D
M
H
K
Q
H
P
K
N
O
H
H
L
K
F
O
O
Mama Mia That’s a Spicy Garden!!!
Pizza gardening is a fun way to design a space that integrates
veggies and other plants into a cool and unique element that can
even spice up a residential backyard, a local community garden, or
even a rooftop container garden.
Creating Your Own Trail Mix
Hikers, outdoorsmen, and kids of all ages can’t resist the tempting taste of
this staple, healthy snack food. Trail mix gardening integrates nuts and
berries to be harvested dried and mixed together for a fantastic snack
snack.
Although you may not be growing all of your ingredients (i.e. chocolate chips,
coconuts, papaya, or mango) you may want to look into growing a fruiting
banana plant as an indoor compliment to this gem of a garden
ROY--G-BIV and a Pot of Gold
ROY
Hikers, outdoorsmen, and kids of all ages can’t resist the tempting taste of
this staple, healthy snack food. Trail mix gardening integrates nuts and
berries to be harvested dried and mixed together for a fantastic snack
snack.
Although you may not be growing all of your ingredients (i.e. chocolate chips,
coconuts, papaya, or mango) you may want to look into growing a fruiting
banana plant as an indoor compliment to this gem of a garden