Foodscaping is a modern term for integrating edible plants into ornamental landscapes. It is also referred to as edible landscaping and has been described as a crossbreed between

landscaping Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following: # Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal ...

and

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

.Waterford, Douglas. ''21st Century Homestead: Urban Agriculture''. Lulu, 2015. As an ideology, foodscaping aims to show that edible plants are not only consumable but can also be appreciated for their

aesthetic Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,'' , acces ...

qualities. Foodscaping spaces are seen as multi-functional landscapes that are visually attractive and also provide edible returns.Brown, Sydney P. "Edible Landscaping". ''The'' ''Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences'', 2016, edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/EP/EP14600.pdf. Accessed 12 April 2020. Foodscaping is a method of providing fresh food affordably and sustainably. Differing from conventional vegetable gardening, where fruits and vegetables are typically grown in separate, enclosed areas, foodscaping incorporates edible plants as a major element of a pre-existing landscaping space. This may involve adding edible plantations to an existing ornamental garden or replacing traditional, non-edible plants with food-yielding species. The designs can incorporate various kinds of vegetables, fruit trees, berry bushes, edible flowers, herbs, and purely ornamental species. The design strategy of foodscaping has many benefits, including increasing

food security Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy Human food, food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Simila ...

, improving the growth of nutritious food, and promoting

sustainable living Sustainable living describes a lifestyle (sociology), lifestyle that attempts to reduce the use of Earth's natural resources by an individual or society. Its practitioners often attempt to reduce their ecological footprint (including their carbo ...

. Edible landscaping practices may be implemented on both public and private premises. Foodscaping can be practiced by individuals, community groups, businesses, or educational institutions. There is a lot of misconceptions about what constitutes Foodscaping and it is often confused or equated with urban agriculture. However they are not to be confused as they have different purposes Urban Agriculture can happen anywhere parking lots, rooftops, and inside buildings. “Yet the purpose of Foodscaping is to grow edible plants in urban landscapes that are designed to be aesthetic and functional for the purpose of the community that is typically in parks, roadsides, or community gardens.” Foodscaping is believed to have gained popularity in the 21st century for several reasons. Some accounts claim that the rise of foodscaping is due to the volatility of global

food prices Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices affect producers and consumers of food. Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing and food di ...

and the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. However, other accounts suggest that the spike in foodscaping popularity is linked to urbanization and increasing concerns for

environmental sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

Origins

Overview

It is unknown who first coined the expression foodscaping. The term and ideology of foodscaping have been around since the late 20th century, yet have only come into popular use during the 21st century. Despite the modernity of foodscaping, integrating edible plants into

spaces is not a new concept. Similar practices date back to ancient and medieval gardening and agricultural techniques.Çelik, Filiz D. "The Importance of Edible Landscape in the Cities". ''Turkish Journal of Agriculture – Food Science and Technology,'' vol. 5, no. 2, 2017, pp.118–24, Accessed 19 March 2020. Foodscaping as a contemporary theory presents "a modern take on the way that past generations utilized land". Unlike most historical horticultural practices, foodscaping explicitly supports the idea that edible landscapes can be just as aesthetically pleasing as purely decorative landscapes. Foodscaping advocates attempt to subvert the conventional perception of

vegetable gardens Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including flowers, fruits, ...

as unattractive and instead view edible crops as design features in and of themselves. It is sometimes believed that this ideology emerged from increasingly experimental approaches to gardening and

in the

modern era The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500 ...

Historical precedents of foodscaping

Edible landscaping techniques practiced in different historical cultures and periods can be seen as ancestors of foodscaping. In

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, Roman villa gardens were often both productive and ornamental, though

agricultural production Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food ...

was the primary purpose of earlier villa gardens.

Archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

research suggests that these

Roman gardens Roman gardens and ornamental horticulture became highly developed under Roman civilization, and thrived from 150 BC to 350 AD. The Gardens of Lucullus (''Horti Lucullani''), on the Pincian Hill in Rome, introduced the Persian garden to Europ ...

took on various forms such as large

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

landscapes or small

herb gardens The traditional kitchen garden, vegetable garden, also known as a potager (from the French ) or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden – the ornamental plants and lawn areas. It is used for grow ...

. Kitchen gardens, vineyards, and

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

played an important role in the lives of ancient Romans, whose diets were largely based on

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

and vegetables.Jashemski, Wilhelmina F., et al., editors. ''Gardens of the Roman Empire''. Cambridge University Press, 2017, doi: doi.org/10.1017/9781139033022. Accessed 18 March 2020. In

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

n culture, elaborate gardens and horticultural gardens were a pleasure of

Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

elites. Flowering, fragrant and medicinal plants were believed to be "perquisites of the lords". According to historical letters written by Aztec nobles, impressive gardens often included bright flower beds,

fruit tree A fruit tree is a tree which bears fruit that is consumed or used by animals and humans. All trees that are flowering plants produce fruit, which are the ripened ovaries of flowers containing one or more seeds. In horticultural usage, the te ...

s, herbs, and sweet-smelling

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s. Groves, orchards, and

water garden Water garden or aquatic garden, is a term sometimes used for gardens, or parts of gardens, where any type of water feature (particularly garden ponds) is a principal or dominant element. The primary focus is on plants, but they will sometimes ...

s were sometimes incorporated into the designs of the more elaborate gardens.Evans, Susan Toby. "Aztec Royal Pleasure Parks: Conspicuous Consumption and Elite Status Rivalry.” ''Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes'', vol. 20, no. 3, Taylor & Francis Group, Sept. 2000, pp. 206–28, Accessed 1 June 2020. Another ancient precedent to foodscaping can be found in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

Babylonia Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...

ns and

Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...

created gardens throughout cities and in palace courtyards that were a representation of Paradise. These featured fragrant trees and edible fruits. Archaeological evidence suggests that, in roughly 1000 BCE, Assyrian Kings developed a naturalistic landscape style in which streams of water ran through gardens that grew plants such as junipers, almonds, dates, rosewood, quince, fir pomegranate, and oak.Dalley, Stephanie. "Ancient Mesopotamian Gardens and the Identification of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon Resolved." ''Garden History'', vol. 21, no. 1, Garden History Society, July 1993, pp. 1–13, Accessed 1 June 2020. During the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

era, villa and chateau gardens in Europe often yielded fruit and vegetables to sell locally. The profits were used to support the villa's or chateau's maintenance costs. Some of the common kinds of plants integrated into the elaborate

Renaissance garden A Renaissance garden is a garden or park created in the era and style of the Renaissance. Because the first such gardens originated in Italy, they are sometimes called Italian gardens. However, gardens made later in Germany, France, or England mig ...

designs included

figs The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, together with western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and i ...

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit is appreciated f ...

cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.& ...

leek A leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of Leaf sheath, leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a "s ...

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

s, and

pea Pea (''pisum'' in Latin) is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name ''Pisum sativum' ...

s. It is believed that village workers created English

cottage garden The cottage garden is a distinct garden style that uses informal design, traditional materials, dense plantings, and a mixture of ornamental plants, ornamental and edible plants. English in origin, it depends on grace and charm rather than grandeu ...

s during Elizabethan times as a personal source of vegetables.

Flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s were also planted within these gardens for ornamental purposes.Scott-James, Anne. ''The Cottage Garden''. Allen Lane, 1981.

Recent trends

Urban growth

As a result of rapid urbanization seen in recent decades, methods of

food production The food industry is a complex, global network of diverse businesses that supplies most of the food consumed by the World population, world's population. The food industry today has become highly diversified, with manufacturing ranging from sm ...

have undergone significant change.Karaca, Elif. "Edible Landscapes as a Solution to Food Security Problem". ''Theory and Practice in Social Sciences'', edited by Viliyan Krystev, et al., St. Kliment Ohridski University Press, 2019, pp. 227–36. According to

the United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among ...

, the Earth's

urban population An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

has "grown rapidly from 746 million in 1950 to 3.9 billion in 2014". These accelerated trends in urbanization and population density during the late 20th and 21st century have placed stress on the availability of agricultural land and contributed to growing

food insecurity Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Similarly, househo ...

. As a result, there has been an increased desire to re-introduce food growth into

urban environments An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

. The ongoing rise in the

human population In world demographics, the world population is the total number of humans currently alive. It was estimated by the United Nations to have exceeded eight billion in mid-November 2022. It took around 300,000 years of human prehistory and histor ...

, as well as international goals to reduce hunger and

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

, have further escalated the demand for food nutrients. It is believed that these factors have increased the number of people adopting foodscaping strategies.

Sustainability

Food security

Foodscaping is widely accepted to increase

, availability, and accessibility. The instability of supermarket prices can affect food availability. As "self-sufficient food systems", edible landscapes can help decrease a household's dependence on imported food. Foodscaping provides these households with access to a sustainable food source, even when faced with unpredictable circumstances such as the inability to procure food from commercial stores or periods of low financial income. Depending on the premise's size and scale, significant financial costs can be involved in the initial design and creation of edible landscaping.Conway, Tenley M. "Home-based Edible Gardening: Urban Residents' Motivations and Barriers". ''Cities and the Environment'', vol. 9, no. 1, 2016, article 3, pp. 1–21. ''Digital Commons'', digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cate/vol9/iss1/3/. Accessed 4 April 2020. However, it is still generally accepted that foodscaping can help to lower food costs once the products of the edible plants have been

harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

ed. In increasing the quantity of locally grown and consumed produce, foodscaping also promotes local food sustainability.Arthur, Brie. ''The Foodscape Revolution: Finding a Better Way to Make Space for Food and Beauty in Your Garden.'' Pennsylvania, St. Lynn’s Press, 2017. It is also believed that foodscaping can help to address the demand for food within the context of

global issues A global issue is a matter of Social issue#Types of social issues, public concern worldwide. This list of global issues presents problems or phenomena affecting people around the world, including but not limited to widespread social issues, econ ...

such as

overpopulation Overpopulation or overabundance is a state in which the population of a species is larger than the carrying capacity of its environment. This may be caused by increased birth rates, lowered mortality rates, reduced predation or large scale migr ...

, an unpredictable climate and waning energy resources.Tovey, Nina. "Grow food not lawns with the fertile world of foodscaping". ''Endeavour College of Natural Health'', 10 November 2014, www.endeavour.edu.au/about-us/blog/grow-food-not-lawns-with-the-fertile-world-of-foodscaping/. Accessed 16 April 2020.

Energy and waste management

Large-scale agricultural premises typically require large amounts of energy, such as the use of

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

propane Propane () is a three-carbon chain alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but becomes liquid when compressed for transportation and storage. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum ref ...

, and electricity to carry out farming operations. The practice of edible landscaping often uses less energy and produces less

waste Waste are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor Value (economics), economic value. A wast ...

than traditional methods of food production. This is because the food products cultivated from edible landscaping usually involve little

processing Processing is a free graphics library and integrated development environment (IDE) built for the electronic arts, new media art, and visual design communities with the purpose of teaching non-programmers the fundamentals of computer programmin ...

packaging Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a coo ...

refrigeration Refrigeration is any of various types of cooling of a space, substance, or system to lower and/or maintain its temperature below the ambient one (while the removed heat is ejected to a place of higher temperature).IIR International Dictionary of ...

. Foodscaping can also help reduce

food miles Food miles is the distance food is transported from the time of its making until it reaches the consumer. Food miles are one factor used when testing the environmental impact of food, such as the carbon footprint of the food. The concept of ...

by decreasing the need for long-distance transportation of food. "A grocery store has on average 1,500 miles per product", says horticulturalists and foodscaping advocate Brie Arthur. These ships and trucks

emissions Emission may refer to: Chemical products * Emission of air pollutants, notably: ** Flue gas, gas exiting to the atmosphere via a flue ** Exhaust gas, flue gas generated by fuel combustion ** Emission of greenhouse gases, which absorb and emit rad ...

leave a harmful

carbon footprint A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that makes it possible to compare the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country Greenhouse gas emissions, adds to the atmospher ...

, which could be reduced through the practice of growing edible plants at home instead of buying fresh produce. Foodscaping can further allow participants to help reduce the use of fossil fuel-based

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are used to control pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for approximately 50% of all p ...

s and

fertilizer A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Man ...

s which negatively impact the environment.

Health and nutrition

A common motivation behind foodscaping is the desire to grow, cook, and consume foods of high

nutritious Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food and water to support its life. The intake of these substances provides organisms with nutrients (divided into macro- and micro-) which can be metabolized t ...

content.Eastman, Janet. "Change out plants for ones you can eat: 'Foodscaping' edible landscape". ''The Oregonian/Oregon Live'', 31 July 2015, www.oregonlive.com/hg/2015/07/edible_landscape_charlie_nardo.html. Accessed 16 Apr. In a 2014 research survey conducted by the Australian Institute, 71% of surveyed foodscaping households in Australia were incorporating edibles into their gardens for access to fresh, healthier produce. It is generally accepted that homegrown fruits and vegetables are fresher and more nutritious than supermarket produce, which is sometimes sold multiple days or even weeks after harvesting.Spellman, Frank R., & Joan Price-Bayer. ''Regulating Food Additives: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. In recent years, increasing concern has been expressed towards the health effects of the chemical additives and preservatives in commercially grown fruit and vegetables. Foodscaping has been considered a way to reduce exposure to chemically modified produce. Edible landscaping allows participants to increase fresh food production in urban areas. In these areas, the most accessible kinds of food are typically processed kinds, which can lead to greater dietary intakes of sugar,

sodium Sodium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Na (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 element, group 1 of the peri ...

, and fat. Many academic studies have inferred strong links between urban gardening and healthy lifestyle choices. The gardening practices involved in foodscaping are believed to increase participants' fruit and vegetable consumption and the value of preparing nutritious meals.Garcia, Mariana T., et al. "The impact of urban gardens on adequate and healthy food: a systematic review". ''Public Health Nutrition'', vol. 21, no. 2, Feb. 2018, pp. 416–25, Accessed 16 April 2020. Research has also demonstrated that creating green spaces (created via methods such as foodscaping) can increase an individual's overall mental health in addition to physiological health benefits. This is achieved through its positive impact on socioeconomic factors such as community attachment, reduced crime, and socialization.

Maintenance

Input

Depending on the scale of the edible landscape, foodscaping may require extra time and manual labour to maintain, unlike a regular garden or

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

. This is as the aim of foodscaping is to yield edible returns while also remaining aesthetically pleasing, which may involve added watering,

fertilization Fertilisation or fertilization (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give ...

pest control Pest control is the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest (organism), pest; such as any animal, plant or fungus that impacts adversely on human activities or environment. The human response depends on the importance of the da ...

and

pruning Pruning is the selective removal of certain parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. It is practiced in horticulture (especially fruit tree pruning), arboriculture, and silviculture. The practice entails the targeted removal of di ...

. A lack of time and unsuitable conditions such as

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

and insufficient shade can be significant deterrents for people wishing to create edible landscapes. However, maintenance requirements can be reduced by choosing

plant species Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Sometimes ...

that are suited to the geographic location, climate, and conditions of the area to be foodscaped.

Harvesting

During certain times of the year, monitoring the

ripeness In United States law, ripeness refers to the readiness of a case for litigation; "a claim is not ripe for adjudication if it rests upon contingent future events that may not occur as anticipated, or indeed may not occur at all." For example, if ...

of food production is a requirement for successful foodcaping. If fruits are not harvested at the correct time, they may rot and become visually unappealing within an edible landscape. This may also attract undesired pests or

vermin Vermin (colloquially varmint(s) or varmit(s)) are pests or nuisance animals that spread diseases and destroy crops, livestock, and property. Since the term is defined in relation to human activities, which species are included vary by regi ...

Plants

Row of Swiss Chard at Phipps Conservatory

Plants in foodscaping designs are typically chosen for their aesthetic and edible appeal. Many vegetables can add colour to foodscaping spaces.

Swiss chard Chard (; ''Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'', Cicla Group and Flavescens Group) is a green leafy vegetable. In the cultivars of the Flavescens Group, or Swiss chard, the leaf stalks are large and often prepared separately from the leaf bl ...

, and lettuce species come in many colourful varieties, making them a popular choice for foodscaping. Edible flowers, such as

carnations ''Dianthus caryophyllus'' ( ), commonly known as carnation or clove pink, is a species of ''Dianthus'' native to the Mediterranean region. Its exact natural range is uncertain due to extensive cultivation over the last 2,000 years. Carnations ...

, marigolds,

cornflowers ''Centaurea cyanus'', commonly known as cornflower or bachelor's button (among other names), is an annual flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to Europe. In the past, it often grew as a weed in cornfields (in the broad sense of "co ...

and

pansies The garden pansy (''Viola'' × ''wittrockiana'') is a type of polychromatic large-flowered hybrid plant cultivated as a garden flower. It is derived by Hybrid (biology), hybridization from several species in the Section (botany), section ''Mel ...

can also be used to add decoration and brightness to an edible landscape. Garden writer Charlie Nardozzi suggests that lemon, apple,

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century. Plums are ...

, and

cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The na ...

trees can serve as edible alternatives for ornamental trees. He also proposes that

blueberry Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' with the genus ''Vaccinium''. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) ...

elderberry ''Sambucus'' is a genus of between 20 and 30 species of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae. The various species are commonly referred to as elder, with the flowers as elderflower, and the fruit as elderberry. Description Elders are most ...

and

gooseberry Gooseberry ( or (American and northern British) or (southern British)) is a common name for many species of ''Ribes'' (which also includes Ribes, currants), as well as a large number of plants of similar appearance, and also several unrela ...

plants can substitute popular decorative shrubs such as

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

hydrangea ''Hydrangea'' ( or ) is a genus of more than 70 species of Flowering plant, flowering plants native plant, native to Asia and the Americas. Hydrangea is also used as the common name for the genus; some (particularly ''Hydrangea macrophylla, H. m ...

s and privet hedges. Alpine strawberries and

chives Chives, scientific name ''Allium schoenoprasum'', is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae. A perennial plant, ''A. schoenoprasum'' is widespread in nature across much of Eurasia and North America. It is the only spe ...

have also been suggested as suitable replacements for non-edible flowering plants.Nardozzi, Charlie. ''Foodscaping: Practical and Innovative Ways to Create an Edible Landscape.'' Massachusetts, Cool Springs Press, 2015. Edible landscapes generally consist of a combination of

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook **Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), a ...

and

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

plants. When planning an edible landscape, it is important to know that certain plants require particular environmental conditions. One should also consider the seasonality of the edible plants being used, meaning the time of the year during which a certain species will grow best. Cool season crops require lower temperatures for growth and

seed germination Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, ...

, whilst warm season crops are plants that thrive in higher

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

and air temperatures. In hot climates, the ideal plants for foodscaping are those that require little water, such as

bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central Asia, Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed eit ...

and

broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the Brassicaceae, cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large Pseudanthium, flowering head, plant stem, stalk and small associated leafy gre ...

. Whilst certain fruit trees,

berries A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone fruit, stone or pit (fruit), pit although many wikt:pip#Etymology 2, pips or seeds may be p ...

and

rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The plant is a herbaceous perennial that grows from short, thick rhizomes. ...

are suitable for cooler climates,

root vegetables Root vegetables are underground plant parts eaten by humans or animals as food. In agricultural and culinary terminology, the term applies to true roots, such as taproots and tuberous root, root tubers, as well as non-roots such as bulbs, corms, ...

s and

s are examples of plants that cope well in extremely cold conditions. File:Beetroot Bettolo Capel Manor Enfield London England.jpg, alt=Beetroot (beta vulgaris), Beetroot (''

Beta vulgaris ''Beta vulgaris'' (beet) is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Betoideae of the family Amaranthaceae. Economically, it is the most important crop of the large order Caryophyllales. It has several cultivar groups: the sugar beet, of gre ...

'') File:Cabbage plant.jpg, alt=Cabbage (brassica oleracea var. capitata), Cabbage ( ''Brassica oleracea var. capitata'') File:Tomatoes on the Vine (Unsplash).jpg, alt=Tomato vine (solanum lycopersicum), Tomato vine ( ''Solanum lycopersicum'') File:Capsicum annuum var. Fiesta - MHNT.jpg, alt=Chili peppers (capsicum annuum), Chili peppers (''

Capsicum annuum ''Capsicum annuum'' is a fruiting plant from the family Solanaceae (nightshades), within the genus Capsicum which is native to the northern regions of South America and to southwestern North America. The plant produces Berry, berries of many color ...

'') File:Salvia rosmarinus (10-04-2020), vue en gros plan.jpg, alt=Flowering rosemary (salvia rosmarinus), Flowering rosemary ( ''Salvia rosmarinus'') File:Plums.jpg, alt=Plum (prunus domestica), Plum (''

Prunus domestica ''Prunus domestica'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. A deciduous tree, it includes many varieties of the fruit trees known as plums in English, though not all plums belong to this species. The greengages and damsons als ...

'') File:Single raspberry on bush.jpg, alt=Raspberry (rubus idaeus), Raspberry (''

Rubus idaeus ''Rubus idaeus'' (raspberry, also called red raspberry or occasionally European red raspberry to distinguish it from other raspberry species) is a red-fruited species of ''Rubus'' native to Europe and northern Asia and commonly cultivated in oth ...

'') File:Calendula flower orange-yellow.jpg, alt=Calendula flower (calendula officinalis), Calendula flower (''

Calendula officinalis ''Calendula officinalis'', Mary's gold, common marigold, the pot marigold, Scotch marigold, or ruddles, is a flowering plant in the daisy family, Asteraceae. It is probably native plant, native to southern Europe, but its long history of cultivat ...

'') File:Tagetes-Marigold-Flower 04.jpg, alt=Marigold flower (tagetes erecta), Marigold flower (''

Tagetes erecta ''Tagetes erecta'', the Aztec marigold, Mexican marigold, big marigold, ''cempaxochitl'' or ''cempasúchil'', is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Tagetes'' native to Mexico and Guatemala. Despite being native to the Americas, it is of ...

'') File:Chamomile@original size.jpg, alt=Camomile flower (matricaria chamomilla), Camomile flower (''

Matricaria chamomilla ''Matricaria chamomilla'' (synonym: ''Matricaria recutita''), commonly known as chamomile (also spelled camomile), German chamomile, Hungarian chamomile (kamilla), wild chamomile, blue chamomile, or scented mayweed, is an annual plant of the com ...

'') File:Cornflower.jpg, Cornflower (''

Centaurea cyanus ''Centaurea cyanus'', commonly known as cornflower or bachelor's button (among other names), is an annual flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to Europe. In the past, it often grew as a weed in cornfields (in the broad sense of "co ...

'') File:Viola tricolor pansy flower close up.jpg, alt=Pansy flower (viola tricolor var. hortensis), Pansy flower ( ''Viola tricolor var. hortensis'')

Examples of foodscaping

People

Landscape designer and author Rosalind Creasy has frequently been named the "pioneer of edible landscapes" in gardening-related media and publications. Since the 1970s, she has written over twenty books on edible landscaping. One of her most influential works in foodscaping is her book ''The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping'', published in 1982. Brie Arthur is an American professional

horticulturalist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

who has been noted as a public advocate for the practice of suburban foodscaping. In order to challenge the idea that ornamental landscapes can't involve edible plants, she has spoken publicly at schools, worked with television programs, and been involved in various horticulture-related associations. Her debut book titled ''The Foodscape Revolution, Finding a Better Way to Make Space for Food and Beauty in Your Garden'' was published in 2017.

Public projects

The Ornamental Kitchen Garden is an edible landscape on the grounds of the château of Villandry, located in the

Loire Valley The Loire Valley (, ), spanning , is a valley located in the middle stretch of the Loire river in central France, in both the administrative regions Pays de la Loire and Centre-Val de Loire. The area of the Loire Valley comprises about . It is r ...

region of France. The Italian Renaissance-style garden is composed of nine square patches, each featuring a geometric design of

s and vegetables whose design layouts change with each bi-annual planting. These patches are lined with neat box hedges, and each displays vegetables of different colours such

red cabbage The red cabbage (purple-leaved varieties of ''Brassica oleracea'' Capitata Cultivar group, Group) is a kind of cabbage, also known as Blaukraut after preparation. Its leaves are coloured dark red/purple. However, the plant changes its co ...

beetroot The beetroot (British English) or beet (North American English) is the taproot portion of a ''Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'' plant in the Conditiva Group. The plant is a root vegetable also known as the table beet, garden beet, dinner bee ...

and blue

. Each year, forty species of vegetables within eight plant families are planted. Based in

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, Backyard Abundance is a non-profit organization founded in 2006 that aims to educate more people about edible landscaping. They encourage community residents to take part in creating transformative

s that can help to reduce

human impact on the environment Human impact on the environment (or anthropogenic environmental impact) refers to changes to biophysical environments and to ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources caused directly or indirectly by humans. Modifying the environment to ...

. Founded in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, 2006, Edible Estates is a foodscaping initiative that works with local art institutions and community garden groups in different cities worldwide to create productive edible landscape designs. Edible Landscapes London is a non-profit organization that creates productive

forest gardening Agroforestry (also known as agro-sylviculture or forest farming) is a land use management system that integrates trees with crops or pasture. It combines agricultural and forestry technologies. As a polyculture system, an agroforestry system c ...

spaces that integrate fruiting trees and herbs. They created the first-ever accredited course that trains people in forest gardening practices. According to Lindsay Oberst in an article on Food Revolution Network, Edible Estates "strives to inspire others to look at underused or misappropriated green spaces in a new light, highlighting new contexts for

and connections to the

natural environment The natural environment or natural world encompasses all life, biotic and abiotic component, abiotic things occurring nature, naturally, meaning in this case not artificiality, artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts ...

". NYU's Urban Farm Lab is a collaborative urban agriculture project promoting the integration of edible crops into

. They have implemented foodscaping techniques in many spots around the university's campus.Kirschner, Kylie. "Edible Landscapes in a Concrete Jungle". ''Washington Square News'', 24 Mar 2019, nyunews.com/culture/dining/2019/03/25/nyu-urban-landscaping-efforts/. Accessed 16 March 2020.

The Eden Project The Eden Project () is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay clay pit, pit.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map 107 – Fowey, Looe & Lostwithiel''. . The complex is dominated by two h ...

is a sustainability project in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England, which attracts over a million yearly visitors. The 15-hectare site features large domes and a food garden, with edible produce incorporated into the landscaping design. The Food Forest is a property in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, Australia, which grows 160 varieties of

organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...

fruit, nuts, wheat, and vegetables on 15 hectares of land. The owners educate visitors on how ordinary families can grow their food at home by creating productive foodscapes. The

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

' first "roof field" was created on top of a large office building near Rotterdam's central station in 2012 by Binder Groenprojecten. The 1000m² "roof field" is used to grow vegetables, fruits, and Herbs, and also houses

honeybees A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the cur ...

.Sjauw En Wa, Amar. "Roof fields, Schieblok Rotterdam". ''Urban Green-Blue Grids'', www.urbangreenbluegrids.com/projects/roof-fields-schieblok-rotterdam/. Accessed 5 May 2020. Wayward is a

, art and architecture firm based in London that combines creative food growing with

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

and architecture installations.

Potential Limitations

Although Foodscaping has the potential to reduce Carbon dioxide emissions, promote food security, and reduce food miles there are also limitations to Foodscaping. There are many questions about the biosafety of Foodscaping especially since public urban greenery is used for recreational purposes by communities due to lack of nature oriented places. There are biosafety concerns since they are in public spaces where humans and animals are frequently there there, it can lead to an incorporation of a hazardous components into the landscape. Due to their position in public spaces there is a prohibition of pesticides and fertilizers for the public plants as they might be harmful to visitors. It can also affect the plants in the garden if they are exposed as they might cause harm to visitors.

References

{{Sustainability Urban agriculture Horticulture Sustainability Permaculture Sustainable agriculture