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"Growing food doesn't have to mean sacrificing style. In his debut book, award-winning landscape designer Christian Douglas showcases the myriad ways to use edibles to elevate the design of your outdoor spaces. Visit chef Tyler Florence's property, whose hillside is transformed into a three-tiered terraced bed filled with an abundance of produce year-round. A family's suburban plot that is a forager's paradise, with hidden edible treasures woven into each space and along every path. Plus gardens in small city backyards, edible plots carved into forests and meadows, even a rooftop vegetable garden. But this is not merely a lookbook. By using his own lush garden in Marin County as a studio/classroom, Douglas introduces readers to the essential tools and techniques they need to successfully plant, grow, and harvest a bounty of vegetables, fruits, berries, and herbs. We learn how to evaluate the best lighting and soil conditions, choose plants that will thrive in our climate, and discover the designer's favorite edible swaps for common landscape plants (a persimmon instead of a dogwood, a fig instead of a maple, a hedge of rosemary instead of yew). The food-forward options are limitless"--
List of contents
Foreword by Tyler Florence
Introduction
The Principles of Food Forward Design
PART I: THE GARDENS
The Forager’s Garden
Spotlight on: Water Features
The Urban Garden
Spotlight on: Container Gardens
The Cottage Garden
Spotlight on: Trellising
The Chef’s Garden
Spotlight on: Hillside Plantings
The Mediterranean Garden
Spotlight on: Raised Beds
The Suburban Garden
Spotlight on: Edible Swaps
The Classical Garden
Spotlight on: Multi-Use Spaces
The Wild Garden
Spotlight on: Local Edibles
PART II: UNEXPECTED SITES FOR EDIBLES
The Edible Meadow
The Edible Rooftop
The Edible Woodland
The Edible Front Yard
PART III: DESIGNING & GROWING YOUR OWN FOOD FORWARD GARDEN 000
Design Guide
Laying out the Space
Creating a Plant “Palette”
Layering
Gardening Guide
Sunlight
Determining Your Climate
Seasons in the Vegetable Garden
Healthy Soil
Irrigation
Troubleshooting Plant Problems
Crop Planning
Setting Up Your Work Zones
Mise en Place
Essential Tools & Equipment
Potting Bench
Pro Tips for Planting Edibles
Harvesting
PART IV: SIXTY TRIED-AND-TRUE EDIBLES
Herbs
Aromatics
Edible Flowers
Pollinator Species
Fruit Trees
Fruiting Vines
Annual Vegetables
Berries
Plant Index
Resources
Acknowledgments
Index
About the author
Christian Douglas is a landscape designer and the founder of Christian Douglas Design, where he creates extraordinary culinary gardens for private clients, and the Backyard Farm Co., where he and his team of urban farmers teach homeowners around the world how to grow food. Christian was awarded the
California Home+Design Award for landscape design and has been featured in the
Wall Street Journal, Architectural Digest, California Home+Design, Sunset Magazine and other major publications. Follow him on Instagram at christian_douglas_design
Summary
Discover a high-style approach to vegetable gardening from award-winning landscape designer Christian Douglas.
What if, instead of relegating our vegetable patch to a remote corner of the backyard, we brought it forward? What if we integrated edibles into our decorative landscapes, letting vegetables, herbs, fruits, and berries share prime real estate alongside our patios, pools, even our front walkways? Equal parts inspiration and instruction, and filled with an abundance of ideas and information, The Food Forward Garden is a lushly illustrated guide to how we can make better use of our outdoor spaces without sacrificing style. In this comprehensive manual, award-winning landscape designer Christian Douglas shows us how the intrinsic beauty and seasonal rhythms of edibles bring a new level of purpose, meaning, and stunning visual pleasure to the home garden.
Foreword
Vegetable gardening reinvented-and elevated-with the high-style approach of award-winning landscape designer Christian Douglas.
