Eat up

Serviceberry is already an established landscape plant, but it also offers sweet, blue-black berries in June.
Photo courtesy of Cleveland Botanical GardenThe trend to incorporate more edibles in the landscape has not lost any steam this year.

L.E. Cooke Co. in Visalia, Calif., specializes in fruit trees. While the nursery’s primary customer is the independent garden center, future plans call for more direct marketing to landscape designers, said Ron Ludekens, company president.

“We noticed during the last year and a half that a lot more designers were coming by our trade show booth and asking for plant descriptions and tree guides,” he said.

The company also is creating a list of the best fruit trees for the 45 Sunset Climate Zones. The list will soon be housed on the company’s website.

“We’re using the Sunset Zones because the USDA Hardiness Zones only tell you when a tree will die from freeze,” he said. “Hardiness Zones won’t tell you when a tree will thrive and fruit or flower well. The Sunset Zones take into account the whole climate, including the humidity, length of season, fog belts, summer heat, etc.”

Some of the important things to understand about including fruit trees in landscapes are required chilling hours and when the homeowner wants the tree to produce fruit.

Dave Wilson Nursery in Hickman, Calif., sells several varieties of ornamental plants that double as edibles.
“Spice Zee nectaplum is a nectarine and plum cross. The tree has red leaves like a flowering plum and pink to white flowers in spring. Fruit color is red blush or almost burgundy,” said Chris Tarry, wholesale division manager at Dave Wilson Nursery.

It’s a standard-sized fruit tree and can be used as an accent or an angular shade tree.

Genetic dwarf peaches work well as edible ornamentals. They can be planted in a 25-gallon tub on a patio, Tarry said.

“They’re good for about five years, then knock them out of the tub and root prune them. They have a dense canopy, profuse flowers and most have lots of nice fruit.”

Crimson Pointe is a columnar flowering plum that bears “a lot of really nice fruit” on the West Coast, he said. Crimson Pointe is an LCN Selections tree from Lake County Nursery.

Edible alternatives
There are several edible alternatives for basic landscape plants, said Barbara Bates, horticulture educator at the University of Illinois Extension.

Apple trees have pink flowers much like those on a dogwood and black elderberry features lacy, blackish leaves that resemble a Japanese maple. Blueberries offer bright red fall color like the burning bush and rhubarb plants add drama to a sunny landscape when shade is scarce and hostas won’t grow.

Other edibles
Several popular landscape plants also double as edibles, but may not be marketed that way, Bates said.

Serviceberry is an understory tree or large multi-stem shrub with showy white flowers and color, but it also offers sweet, blue-black berries in June. Viburnums feature showy flowers, attractive fruits and colorful fall foliage. For eating, Bates recommends V. prunifolium. If edible flowers are of interest, rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) yields masses of nutty-flavored blooms in late summer. 

 

For more: L.E. Cooke Co., www.lecooke.com; Dave Wilson Nursery, www.davewilson.com.