ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 2, 1997 TAG: 9701020030
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: hoein' & growin
SOURCE: DIANE RELF
If limits on your garden space or time challenge you to decide between your ornamental landscape and a vegetable garden, it may be time for you to look at both areas from a new perspective.
One of the reasons to grow a vegetable garden is because the plants are so attractive. The crisp, bright green of new lettuce is a highlight in the spring. The rich, dark green of the summer tomato foliage sets off the red fruit that provides not only culinary, but also significant visual rewards.
The sunniest spot in the landscape with a bed of marigolds and a patch of grass may be the handiest to the kitchen or along the way from the car to the house. A great place for a garden, you've thought more than once, but who wants those straight rows in front of the house?
Gardeners have created landscape designs that combined their love of planting an attractive area around their homes with their enjoyment of fresh vegetables. Here are some of the principles to use.
* Food crops give their best yield with eight to 10 hours of full sun a day. If you must plant vegetables in partial shade, stick to fast-growing, cool-season crops, such as lettuce and spinach.
* Always use pesticides specifically labeled for food crops on or around any of your edibles. If you are spraying an ornamental plant in the same bed, it is too easy for drift or misdirected spray to contaminate your edibles.
* Plan for replacement plants as the season progresses and the spring vegetables are removed from the beds. You may rotate to other vegetables or to flowers for the remainder of the season, but an empty spot is more noticeable in mixed planting than in a traditional garden plot.
* If you plan to include permanent edibles, such as fruit trees, be sure their maintenance will be compatible with the location. Apples dropping on the driveway and rotting are not a landscape asset.
* Start with just a few vegetable crops and learn to integrate them into your landscape; then build a plan that gradually adds others in an effective, attractive and easily maintained fashion.
Don't forget that many of the ornamentals in your garden have tasty flowers or foliage. Be sure no chemicals have been used on them before you eat them. The foliage of several of the scented geraniums create a taste delight when added to an ordinary pound cake. Nasturtiums add a sharp, peppery taste to your soup or salad. Try either the flower or foliage, or pickle the seed pod as a substitute for capers.
Candied violets are elegant. Fragrant rose petals may be used in salads or to make wines, while the hips are high in vitamin C and can be used in teas. Make sure you know a flower is safe to eat before trying it, and don't trust everything you read. Reports can have errors and there are many
misinterpretations in the literature.
Combining edibles and ornamentals can be a richly rewarding way of gardening and can allow you to pursue those plants you are most interested in growing. Don't let traditional locations and separations of plants put a limit on what you use in your landscape. Experiment and see what works for you.
Diane Relf is a horticulture specialist with Virginia Cooperative Extension and is a member of the faculty of Virginia Tech.
LENGTH: Medium: 61 linesby CNB