Add Fruit to Your Landscape This Spring

Spring is this time when people think about what they'd like to add to their yard and garden this year.

Homeowners tend to think of their landscaping in suburban traditional terms: ornamental. Well, I'm going to drag you kicking and screaming into 2011, where the latest thing in yard and garden design is edible landscaping. 

You might be looking to spruce up the original foundation plantings or maybe you'd like to fill an area where a plant died off during the winter. Maybe you'd like some updated curb appeal for your home. Change is good ... and possibly delicious.

This year, go for plants and shrubs that pull double-duty in the yard as both ornamental and as a food source for your family.

The first fruit I want to share with you are columnar apple trees. These are dwarf fruit trees with a twist; they're created to grow straight up and don't have the side branch spread of their standard counterparts. In fact, they grow to maybe 2 feet wide and reach about 8-10 feet tall. My columnar apple trees have been in the ground for about six years and they're about 8 feet.

While the apple tree breeders did some heavy alterations to the branches, they left the apples alone. These little gems produce the same sized apples as the big guys. Due to their slender stature, these micro-trees add a touch of elegance and look particularly lovely lining a wall or defining a property line. They also make themselves right at home planted in large containers.

If you plant columnar apples, remember to plant two apple trees of different varieties so they can cross-pollinate in order to give you fruit. Also, some dwarf apple trees are self-pollinating and some are not - so ask about it when you're purchasing. If apples aren't your thing, consider a dwarf plum, cherry, apricot, or pear tree.

If you're interested in adding shrubs, why not blueberries? They're great as single specimens, but you can always plant blueberry bushes in a row and they'll grow together as a hedge. In a suburban yard, you'll usually want to look for the dwarf varieties that grow to 1 1/2 to 3 feet high once they mature. They have the same, handsome shape as any other ornamental shrub.

Small flowers show up on blueberries in late winter to spring when most other shrubs are being stingy with their blooms. You'll be picking berries all summer and when fall arrives, these ever-changing shrubs will show off some brilliant red or yellow foliage. Another type of blueberry that has a taller habit is called "highbush" and they can reach to 5 to 6 feet tall.

You have to be wondering about the drawback, right? Well, here it is: most blueberry bushes are deciduous. Which means that they'll lose all of their leaves for the winter. Never fear, there are some varieties on the market such as 'Sunshine' that's actually an evergreen.

For something different keep an eye out for maple-leafed gooseberries. And grapevines can be extremely handy for climbing up walls, trellises, or cyclone fencing. Instead of climbing roses, plant grapes at the base of a secure arbor. Edible strawberries (as opposed to the ornamental type) can be grown as a groundcover and enjoyed all summer.