Renovating Your Landscaping to be Elegant and Edible

*By Shaun Mayfield

Often times people’s traditional views of growing food, whether gardening or farming, is separated from their views of their beautiful landscape. Most people separate these not in just their mind but also in application. These different perspectives play out when they are designing their property, getting approval with their HOA for tree and plant varieties, and installing their landscape. It is not uncommon to see many properties that include edible food and an elegant landscape to have two separate and exclusive spaces serving both needs.

Perhaps your landscape is managed by a landscape crew and your garden may consist of an isolated area apart from any meaningful flow on your property. Agriscaping is the blending of these two realms; elegance and edible food into one cohesive space that tricks the eye into seeing the beauty, but fulfills the taste buds in amazing, healthy, nutrient-dense food. Agriscaping always begins with the end in mind; creating a design/vision of what the property will become. Stephen Covey, a modern thought leader, says to always ‘begin with the end in mind’. If you need help seeing what your property is capable of, we can help! Agriscaping brings the best practices of soil sciences, fertilization, weed, and pest control in organic ways. Agriscaping also helps people in an area where most fail, just like in real estate... location, location, location. Often times people may fail in the garden landscape because they don’t understand the plant’s specific sun & shade needs and tolerances. Agriscaping uses microclimate sciences to overcome this challenge and help people have the confidence to grow a beautifully elegant, yet deliciously edible foodscape in their own outdoor living paradise! Have you failed in the past providing food for your family from your garden or you’ve managed to grow a $60 tomato? Be empowered with the right tools for success!

Often times when someone begins the journey of Agriscaping they realize how easy and beneficial growing better-than-organic food really is! This practice usually leads to growing more food than one family can utilize in a given week. Now, this excess food can then be redirected into the local food economy, creating a hyper-local food opportunity to participate in. Whether your food travels 15 feet to your kitchen or 15 miles to a local food bank, farmers market, CSA, or the local chef at the downtown posh restaurant, the demand for localized, healthy, better-than-organic food is growing and is not slowing down anytime soon!

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* Shaun is an Agriscaping Certified Educator (ACE) in Denton, TX. Find himhere.