North Coast Gardening

Edible Landscaping Ideas at the 2011 San Francisco Garden Show

I was inspired by the copious use of edibles at the San Francisco Garden Show this year. In true garden show style, displays ranged from practical to completely outlandish.

The highlights for me were Johanna Silver’s gorgeous alternatives to raised beds in the Star Apple Edible Garden, and the combining of vertical gardening ideas with edible landscaping seen in a number of the displays. Come along for the virtual tour:

Just look at these little cabbages! Suddenly edibles seem more chic than annuals:

cabbages!
cute cute cabbages

Some of the year-round ornamental plants used in the edible garden for interest:

sweet foliage combos

I had a complete WTF? moment when I saw these lettuces at the show. Are we meant to do this at home? I’m just confused.

lettuce display

I’ll admit that I stood transfixed for about five minutes just staring at it, though. It’s rather otherworldly and soothing:

lettuce display - Copy

Love these walls planted with edibles. I want to try this in purple!

vertical gardening wall

vertical gardening wall close up

The wall idea was also used to define the space in this little yoga nook:

yoga area

A wide range of straw bale gardening ideas ranging from ugly but highly functional:

functional but ugly

Neater, but still functional rather than cute:

straw bale functional

And NOW we’re talkin’. Love how a simple reusable frame contains the soil and makes straw bale gardening look elegant and effortless (design by Johanna Silver of Sunset Magazine):

display by johanna silver - Copy

More raised bed alternatives from Johanna. You can see that if you want a taller straw bale garden setup (for less bending), you can just turn the bale on its side:

display by johanna silver

This adorable bee hex made me want to keep bees:

cute bee hex!

And I adored the way these veggie plantings were patterned in such a modern and fresh way:

patterened but not stuffy

patterened but not stuffy veg arrangement

Want to see more from the SF Garden Show? Check out these posts:

Highlights and Lowlights From the San Francisco Garden Show

Rockin’ it: Odd and Innovative Use of Stone at the SF Garden Show

The SF Garden Show, Contained: Planting Ideas for Balcony Gardens

Genevieve

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9 responses to “Edible Landscaping Ideas at the 2011 San Francisco Garden Show”

    • That’s odd – seems like such a big thing nowadays! Everyone I know is at LEAST growing food gardens, with ornamentals seeming to play second string.

  2. I love these edible gardens. Great ideas! I am not sure about the bee hex specialty with curious kids playing in the backyard.

    Are there any garden shows in Los Angeles?

  3. Yes, I noticed that there were no edibles at the NWFGS too, and thought it was very odd! I found one booth that had edibles, but they were sort of an afterthought.

  4. Edibles are fun…but if you grow cabbage in an annual bed, and pick the cabbage it no longer looks so nice. I’m still a fan of keeping ornamental planting separate from the edibles you grow to actually eat.

    • Well, that’s an excellent point. I think a lot of ornamental/ edible gardeners are planting things a little on the tight side to reduce that issue. I like to mix it up, but I am definitely not getting rid of my raised beds either!

  5. Great photos!

    Is it just me, or did it seem as though there was a lot of emphasis on greens and herbs there? (just from looking at the photos, didn’t make it out from Oklahoma *g*) Were there any areas dedicated to edible flower displays?