Maximize your garden with
FOODSCAPING
Brie Arthur promotes foodscaping, the idea of incorporating edibles with ornamental plantings. At right, a garden bed is edged with arugula.
[PHOTOS COURTESY BRIE ARTHUR]
By Melissa Erickson
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B
rie Arthur sees growing
potential in the landscaped
pathway that leads from home
to yard, in the fl oral beds, in
the space around a fi repit, and almost
everywhere else she looks. Arthur
is a foodscaping advocate, propos-
ing the benefi ts of mixing garden
edibles with garden beautifuls.
Foodscaping is not a new idea, and
simply refers to incorporating edible
plants in with your favorite ornamental
trees, shrubs, perennials and contain-
ers that you are already growing in
your home landscape, said Arthur,
author of “Th e Foodscape Revolution”
and vice president of horticulture for
Gardenuity, a Dallas-based e-com-
merce startup and plant-kit service.
“It is an important idea to raise aware-
ness of several key things, namely how
and where food can be grown and the
endless opportunities that all of our
existing landscapes off er,” she said. “We
have more than 180 million acres of
land developed in the United States, and
within the borders of all the common
landscapes we could be producing food
to help reduce the food miles crisis and
eliminate food deserts in every commu-
nity.” Food miles refers to the distance
8 • Spring Vermont Home, Garden & Auto 2019
food is transported between where it is
produced and where it is consumed.
One goal of foodscaping is
maximizing planting space.
“Th e key with foodscaping is simple:
Pair plants based off their cultural
requirements. What does that mean?
First, consider how much sun a plant
needs to thrive and then think about
water requirements,” Arthur said.
Most sun-loving vegetables like
tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and basil
will thrive when planted with fl ower-
ing perennials such as phlox, milkweed,
salvia, echinacea and black-eyed Susans,
Arthur said. In shady areas edibles such
as lettuce, kale, chard, arugula and spin-
ach grow well alongside plants like hos-
tas, hellebores and coral bells, she said.
Th e idea of a revolution came to
Arthur aft er giving a program at an
elementary school in New Jersey.
“Aft er spending a day with these bril-
liant kids, it occurred to me that growing
your own food in the 21st century actu-
ally is a revolutionary idea,” said Arthur.
Getting people to see beyond the
boxed garden bed and really identify
the opportunities within their land-
scape borders has been a process.
“I’m not sure why everyone thinks
that segregating their vegetables into
wooden boxes is the solution, but I can
tell you fi rsthand it isn’t,” she said.
Any homeowner has the potential
to be a foodscaper even if he only has
a patio and a container, Arthur said.
“Having access to healthy food should
not be a luxury, and foodscaping is a
way to help connect people to their own
health and wellness through the act of
growing some of your own,” Arthur said.
To discover the joy of food-
scaping, Arthur recommends
planting your bed edges.
“You will be shocked by how
much available square footage
lies in the most convenient loca-
tion in your landscape,” she said.
Her go-to list for bed-edge plants takes
into consideration practicality (plants to
eaten on a regular basis) while provid-
ing an insurance policy against those
animals that wreak havoc on the garden:
arugula, micrette dwarf basil, garlic,
onion, peppers, potatoes and radishes.
“Foodscaping is a fun way to engage
with your family and neighbors and
really take advantage of the land you have
without ever having to tear out turf or
invest in lumber,” Arthur said. “I prom-
ise you will be amazed by how much
you can grow within your landscape
boundaries, and a 99-cent seed pack will
open your eyes to the possibilities of this
revolutionary way to grow your own.”
Arthur’s second book, “Gardening
with Grains,” will be available in 2019.