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Blue Hill Country Garden Home Page Landscape Landscape Design Ideas Edible Trees in the Landscape Edible Berrys Fruit trees are not the only plants in the edible landscape category. Small and bramble fruits can be used quite effectively in the backyard landscape. Grape Vines trailing along the top of a fence or over an arbor add interest to the view. Grapes fresh or made into wine and jelly are a wonderful taste treat. Ask your local nursery for a variety that is zoned for where you live so that the grapes have time to ripen in the fall. Strawberries are especially nice grown in upright containers so the runners can trail over the edge and the berries are kept up off the ground. Choose ever bearing cultivars of Strawberries and you will be picking fruits every 45 - 60 days during the season. While not really in the attractive landscape category Raspberries and Blackberries are so delicious they are worth a little spot in the backyard. There is nothing yummier than just picked berries on your cereal in the morning. Even a small patch of well cared for Raspberries or Blackberries will produce a substantial amount of fruit for fresh or frozen use. Just a ten-foot row could give you five to seven quarts of berries. The high bush Blueberry can be used as a foundation planting, a specimen or accent group or as a hedge. high bush types reach four to six feet in height. Autumn leaf color is orange to red. Blueberries vary in taste and berry size but most high bush Blueberries at maturity will yield four to eight quarts { eight to sixteen pounds } of berries. Blueberries produce best when there are three or more different cultivars in the yard. In a sunny location with good soil Rhubarb becomes a large and exotic looking plant. Just two or three of these tart delicacies in the backyard will quickly make plenty of stalks for pies and jam. There are several newer varieties of Rhubarb available that have been bred to be a little sweeter, more flavorful and/or more tender. Caution the leaves of all Rhubarbs are poisonous. Use only the stalks! The plants listed above are all relatively easy to care for not requiring a lot of hands on time. There will be some pruning with the Raspberries and Blackberries and all plants should be mulched with the appropriate materials. It is recommended that additional information as to the particulars of growing each of these edible landscape plants be investigated previous to planting. © Blue Hill Country Garden 2005 Blue Hill Country Garden Blue Hill, Maine |