Eating the front lawn

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Over the weekend I was spinning yarn in the afternoon, and my husband asked for my help outside.  “I went a little crazy,” he said “and I need your help cleaning up.”

Nothing could have prepared me for he did: half of our front lawn was completely bare.  He ripped up everything.

We do not have a traditional front lawn, all flat with a lovely expanse of green grass.  Rather, we have a steep front yard covered in ivy and other ground cover.  It often looks messy and sort of overgrown.  There’s a 6 feet by 5 feet section to the left of our front steps, and a 15 feet by 5 feet section to the right of our front steps.  My husband decimated the smaller section.

As we threw the detritus into lawn bags, we talked about what to do to the plot.  My husband wanted to put in some nice, flowering ground cover.  Vinca perhaps.  Or maybe Phlox.  The more I think about it, though, this might be the perfect time to introduce some edible ground cover.  It makes perfect sense - I’ve been trying to convert more and more of our lawn into garden space.

And as it turns out, there are a lot of options available.

Perennial herbs are readily available - oregano, chives, mint, thyme, bay, lavender, lemongrass, rosemary, just to name a few.  And there are also edible ground covers to choose from.  Lingonberry is viable option.  This low growing, spreading, evergreen ground cover produces edible berries in late Summer.  Cranberries are another interesting option.  Cranberries are a low-growing, spreading ground cover that, New Jersey being the cranberry capital, does very well in our area...and a bog is unnecessary.

Alternatively, lowbush blueberries are another option.  Lowbush blueberry bushes, also known as Maine blueberries, only get about a foot high at maximum.  They are also native to Pennsylvania and tend to spread like crazy.

Coincidentally, I recently discovered three local nurseries that specialize in native plants: Edge of the Woods, Red Bud, and Yellow Springs.  All three are a rich source of native edible landscaping!.

What are your suggestions for plants to include in an edible landscape?