* I visited my friend’s home yesterday on a suburban street surrounded by pristine lawns and 2-car garages.  As she showed me around her property, however, I realized something way different was going on here.  She has two plum trees, a cherry tree, a fig tree already laden with figs, two pomegranate trees,  a lemon tree, and numerous blueberry and blackberry bushes.  With organic fruit costing a fortune, and a wide variety hard to find, this seems like a very, shall we say, fruitful idea.  What’s more, with folks staying in their homes longer, partially thanks to that ole’ sluggish housing market, planting a fruit tree is a positive way to embrace the fact that you may be staying there awhile.  If you’re doing some landscaping this spring, why not make sure those trees you’re planting will be able to provide for you?  Already have fruit trees?  Hire the pros to help you prune them correctly, or even train them into espaliers.  How cool is this for the side of your house?  Find out how to do it at a blog named The Walden Effect.

* Edible landscaping includes veggie gardens, of course.  If you don’t have room for something big or maybe don’t want to make too much of a commitment just yet (or you want to test a location), then I have the perfect solution for you.  Smart Pots!  I’m testing them right now, and I already harvested potatoes from them this year, a whole month earlier than usual.

* If you’re tucking new plants in around your landscape, think herbs.  In fact, you can even create a whole low-growing hedge or border with herbs.  I rotated sage, lavender and rosemary in a border I planted last year.  The sage is in full bloom right now (photo from this blog) and is already huge, and the other plants are right behind.  I am so happy with it that I recently extended it even farther.  Now, I just need to find more sage recipes.

* Looking for a natural canopy for your patio?  Again, think food!  Build a grape arbor and plant a variety that grows well where you live (for me, that would be muscadines).  This will fill out during the summer, when you need the cover, and die out during the winter, when that winter sun would feel good.  How smart is that?  The photo is from the site of a landscape company that can make this dream a reality for you.

Need help sourcing fruit trees, designing and planting a garden, or building a grape arbor (or any other landscaping needs)?  Check out Kudzu for service companies that can help.