You've found the famous Dave's Garden website! Join this friendly global community that shares tips and ideas for home and gardens, along with seeds and plants!
Check out the DG homepage for a brief overview of what you'll find in this gardening mega-site.
Login
If you don't have an account yet, visit the registration page to sign up.
I know that flowers & veggies will grow together just fine.. but here's my dilemma, I have my flower bed already established, and we have a lawn and shrub service spray every month... is it still safe to plant some veggies and herbs among the flowers and plants?? It's in the front yard, so what I plant has to appeal to the eye of the neighbors as well as mine.
This is where I want to add a lil veggies... ((see pix)) I want to spread them out to help fill in between plants, not your typical "veggie garden".
As you see, I have Queen Palms.. shrubs... alot of low growing plants...and to top it off... in this space, is a maze of pipes for the sprinkler system & water lines to the house...so I have to be careful that I don't really plant anything that will "ROOT" the pipes and break them. We live in a deed restricted neighborhood, so I have to be careful what I put and where I put it.
Any ideas? has anyone else done this?? If so..please send me some info. via D-Mail..
Well, before I planted any veggies I would find out what they are spraying on your shrubs each month. I would check to see how long you have to wait before eating veggies sprayed by this substance. This could be a deal killer.
If the sprayed substance is okay on veggies ( go to nursery and check packages for that substance -- probably can be found on line as well), then plant something attractive. I would think that Rainbow chard would look very nice among your plants: See: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53770/ ( note all the different colors portrayed in these photos come in one package of Bright Lights chard")
Another nice one is rhubarb. It looks like a tropical plant -- at least to me -- large shiny leaves. Not sure how well in grows in Florida, though. You would have to check: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1863/
Also you can make borders of lettuce -- red or green or a mix in front of your bushes -- in FL, that would only work in the cool weather, Winter, planted in early spring and fall.
I have seen lovely displays of kale and curly parsley at Bellingrath gardens where it is used extensively as a border. Here is just one of many photographs I took when I was there.
You can do a lot with veggies in your garden if the shrub guys don't poison them.
Bright Lights chard is a wonderful addition to the annual beds. Our neighbors are always asking what it is and then get upset when we harvest it for eating. Another favorite of ours for the cool weather are flowering cabbage and kale. They are great, at least here in Ohio, for decorating platters for Thanksgiving, Christmas and, depending on the winter, New Year's Day. I've never tried cooking the cabbage or kale, my understanding is that they are. I just enjoy their color above the snow after everything else is gone. Don't know how that would work in Florida.
I think it would work well in Florida. They are used extensively in Southern Alabama in cool weather -- the ornamental cabbage and kale and some kale not ordinarily considered ornamental -- red and green winterbor and lacinto. The lacinto kale ( dinosaur kale) is the dark green plant in the flower bed photo, I posted above.
Thanks for making this great point! My husband thought I was one of a kind for mixing my vegggies into the sunny flower gardens, but now he gets it. I especially love that as the summer heats up, my lettuces still thrive under the tall flower plants, allowing us to keep harvesting free salad greens. Visitors don't see the individual tomato, artichoke, eggplant, and pepper plants standing alone in soil... they just see a riot of colorful flowers layered by height from front to back. Rhubarb and vining cukes and squash are great end anchors, with their distinctly different shapes and sizes. I also love keeping my herbs tucked in along the front! The chives are a great visual contrast and the lemon balm (kept pinched back every now and then) has repelled insect pests. It's a constantly changing picture with delicious surprises tucked in!!
