Converting Front Yard to Edible Garden

All of my gardens have been in urban settings with the exception of this garden which technically is rural but more like a small urban dead end road setting.  I have made a few posts on the growing trend of urban gardening.  Those living in urban areas are growing in traditional row gardens, on balconies, containers and on their windowsills.  If you look around most urban properties there are expanses of grass that usually is chemical dependent.  In Ontario we have a lawn pesticide ban but in many ways the ban does not go far enough.  Some enterprising residences have realized simply eliminating or greatly reducing grass in their yards is the eco-friendly approach to urban living.  Low growing, maintenance free ground cover such as Irish moss or Snow-in-Summer are one alternative to grass.  Another alternative is removing grass in favour of wild flowers.  However one of the best alternatives is removing grass in favour of edible plants. Here is an excellent video showing how one urban front yard was converted into an edible garden using raised beds:

There are a few considerations before you convert your front yard to an edible garden especially if you are using raised beds.  There may be municipal bylaws in place that restrict the use of your front yard.  There may also be bylaws in place that prevent you from installing anything over a certain height within a certain distanced of a street that could restrict the visibility of your neighbours' access to the street.  If this is the case then use shorter raised beds nearest the road and plant those plants not needed trellises or supports. 

In some cases pilfering from your garden can be more of a problem when it is located close to a street as it would be when located in your front yard.  There are ways to deal with this issue.  I will discuss those methods in tomorrow's post.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
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