Here are eight groups of edible landscaping plants to add to your garden. Most animals won’t want to munch on the prickly leaves. And as long as the flowers are a few feet off the ground, nothing should touch them. Also, trellising pole beans is an easy way to add height to your garden. They grow faster than most annual flowering vines, and bean flowers are just as lovely. If you want more ornamental value, grow a colorful variety, such as Long Red Noodle beans or Dragon Tongue. Most four-footed animals avoid eggplants. But the plants are susceptible to some insect pests that are common to other plants in the nightshade family, such as tomatoes. So aim to plant your eggplants away from other nightshade plants to help prevent the spread of these pests. Most of these species grow fairly low to the ground. But they can be a nice way to fill in space with their bright green foliage. And they can help to protect neighboring plants by repelling hungry critters. Growing peppers in the landscape poses the same problem as growing beans: The leaves are more attractive to animals than the fruits. Young transplants seem to be especially vulnerable. But once the stems toughen up, the damage becomes minimal. Knowing that, wait until plants are about 6 inches tall before planting them in the open. These herbs can provide interesting textures in the garden, as well as add visual interest with their blooms. Many work well as ground cover plants. And they will send wafts of their aromatic foliage your way. Some excellent options include begonias, borage, chamomile, elderflowers, lavender, and lilacs. Make sure to mark your edible flowers in the garden, so you’re able to identify them from flowers that are just ornamental. The real advantage of using them as edible landscaping plants is they generally require minimal care—just some pruning and feeding—and they look good for multiple seasons. Consider the visual impact of a blueberry bush that covers itself with white flowers in the spring, dusky purple berries in the summer, and radiant red leaves in the fall. Some edible weeds include dandelions, red clover, lamb’s quarters, and wild violets. Some uses include adding them fresh to salads, steeping them for tea, tossing them in soups, or using them to decorate baked goods.
Caution: Animal Magnets
Some edible plants are just too tempting for a hungry animal to resist. Avoid edible landscaping with vegetables from these three groups:
Greens
If you want to attract every hungry animal in the woods, try planting any Brassica species in the open. Leafy salad greens don’t fare much better. Oddly, it’s not usually the rabbits that gravitate toward the lettuce. It’s the deer and groundhogs.
Corn
Corn can be an unconventional ornamental grass. Unfortunately, squirrels and raccoons love nothing more than to climb the corn stalks and chomp on the cobs. They’ll even bend them to the ground. Corn is also a plant that does best planted in multiple rows, which doesn’t typically work well in a backyard landscape.
Peas
The young tendrils and the pods of peas tend to attract all kinds of wildlife. You can try to hide your peas by interplanting them with some of the more animal-repellent plants, such as lavender and onions. This might work if there are other good things in the area for the wildlife to eat, but it’s no guarantee.
If You Plan to Eat It, Don’t Treat It
If you plan to grow edibles alongside ornamentals in your yard, avoid commercial pesticides and herbicides. They typically use chemicals that humans shouldn’t ingest. Likewise, use organic fertilizer that’s marked safe for edible plants. And avoid compost made with plants that were treated with chemicals.
