The Art and Science of Planting, Gardening and Harvesting Your Yard
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Gardening is ultimately a meditative experience.
It also serves as a way to grow and harvest food and flowers.
A place to teach children.
A space to lie down and watch the sky.
A window into the natural world if we care to take the time to stop and look closely at all the small wonders that inhabit our cultivated patches of earth.
~ John Lyons ~
A gardener by trade, John Lyons designs, installs and maintains edible landscapes, California Native gardens, orchards and wild hedgerows. In addition he teaches gardening at Descanso Gardens, the LA Arboretum and the Theodore Payne Foundation.
Originally from Ireland, John has had gardens in Galway, London, Zurich, New York and Los Angeles.
John will inspire, cajole and inform fellow gardeners to try new things, keep doing what they are doing, and dream new landscapes and plant-combo conspiracies.
The traditional American front yard is under the best kind of attack one might say. Some gardeners have decided that the expanse of uniform green, called the lawn, has simply got to go. A new edible landscape concept has taken hold in suburbia. If you chose to embrace this change it can be a really fun ride. Keep in mind that some of the tried and true principles of design need not go by the wayside but applied to this new space and applied in its ongoing development.
Thinking of an overall structure as a place to start and also a way to anchor an idea or theme for you yard is the first step. A singular or grouping of specimen fruit trees can serve many purposes at one fell swoop. A Weeping Santa Rosa plum (Prunus salinica) for example can do the trick. It provides an eye catching floral display in spring with a beautiful weeping habit followed by a decent crop of juicy plums. Easily maintained at 10-12 ft it looks terrific year round and could be a place from where you start your overall design. Another option is the use of a hedgerow incorporating boysenberries, raspberries and a Goji Berry (Lycium barbarum) shrub. A little on the wild side perhaps but what a joy it can be to pick berries from your own little hedgerow! It will also serve as a refuge a nesting habitat for small birds.
The Goji Berry is a fruiting shrub of medium height and its dark red berries are a very rich source of antioxidants. The Artichoke (Cynara scolymus) a medium sized plant can be used in a repeated pattern throughout the landscape providing a crop in the late winter early spring. It adds drama and architectural heft with its grey blue foliage and when allowed to flower looks stunning.
A structure of sorts can be provided by the passing seasons. Leaving areas to be cropped seasonally makes for fun in designing assemblages of season plants such as winter lettuces, greens and root vegetables. A red cabbage sitting merrily in a grouping of perennial flowers will get the neighbors talking as well as keeping one step ahead of the bugs. When possible leave a few weeks between fall and early summer plantings to grow a green cover crop to replenish nitrogen and micro-nutrients in the soil. Austrian Field peas and vetch are possibilities and must be dug in just before they set seed. You can plant your summer crops directly into the freshly “tilled in” cover crop.
When summer beckons do not overlook peppers that come in every shape, taste and hue. Bell Peppers are a must and in California we can enjoy the large variety of hot peppers available, chili, Serrano and hot wax to name a few. Whole plants can be pulled up in the fall and hung out to dry au natural in the yard. Another possibility is the remarkable Rocoto pepper (Capsicum pubescens). A native of Peru and Bolivia it enjoys our climate and can be grown as a perennial reaching a height of 6ft at times. The thick walled fruit is somewhat hot and is usually red with some and yellow varieties also available. Pruned back annually it can become a nice mainstay in the landscape.
Whimsy and humor is a must in your edible landscape. How about using an old chair, chaise lounge, or bench as both a planter and decorative feature. Succulents can easily grow in a rich tapestry on the seat modified to hold a little soil. Use as many varieties as you think will work to form a color combo to your liking. All they need is a spray with a hose every now and then and a very light liquid feed twice a year. You have recycled something and given it a new life in your yard.
The beauty of the edible landscape is truly in the eyes of the individual gardener and those who come to visit. It affords you the unique opportunity to combine unconventional plant pairings and enjoy the sometimes unexpected color and textural results. Each season you eat some of your design and get to re-create a new vista all over again.
How can one not like that?
Labyrinth at the
LA Arbortetum
Click photo to enlarge
Media and News Articles featuring Mr. Lyons
March 20th 1 pm eastern time HGTV
- Zestor Daily - John’s Online Articles
- Sunset Magazine Online - May 9th, 2009
- The Daily News - April 21, 2009
- Los Angeles Times - June 19, 2008
