The hardest part of any project is starting. I have been putting this blog off for a while, but I thought it might be beneficial for potential edible landscape designers to share in a start to finish edible landscape. My husband, James, and I moved from Austin to Fort Worth last September. We were thrilled to find a house we both loved that included a large yard with native post oaks and a pool in the Meadowbrook area. Now… where to start with the landscape!

Starting with Experience

Our yard in Austin had extensive bed area planted in fruit trees and vegetables, as well as a coop and yard for our chicken flock. As a landscape designer, I knew we would have to start with a plan. It is so important to the success of a landscape project to have a master plan to know where you are starting and where you hope to end up. The reasons will become apparent as we continue through this series of blogs.

Creating the Master Plan

I devised a landscape plan that would recreate this little Eden in our new place and address the issues:

  • Screening the neighbor’s view
  • Working with the existing grade and materials (some not terribly attractive Windsor stone retaining walls)
  • Our desire to remove lawn and replace it with planting bed whenever possible

What’s Next

I hope to keep these blogs short and sweet as we go through the design and implementation process. In future blogs, we will use this plan as an example of how specific problems and solutions will be handled. Of course, each site will be unique, but there are definitely universal lessons to be shared.

This is Part One of our Edible Landscape Series. Stay tuned for Part Two where we’ll tackle the challenging but crucial task of clearing and bed preparation.