Small-Space Edible Landscape Design

Garden designer P. Allen Smith incorporated formal raised vegetable beds into the landscape at his Garden Home in Little Rock, Arkansas. The large square space includes four square beds sited diagonally in the center and four triangular beds at the corners, with gravel paths between.

Cool-season vegetables and flowers are planted in the raised bed garden for fall and spring. Warm-season plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplants grow in the beds during summer.

Often, the showiest part of edible plants is the colorful fruit, so be sure to think about fruit color when designing beds and containers. Here, a dwarf yellow cherry tomato plant is a delightful companion for red geranium in a container garden.

Repetition, often in groups of three (or other odd numbers), is a common strategy of landscape design, and it also works for containers, as this grouping of Mediterranean herbs (thyme, sage, oregano and rosemary)shows. These herbs grow well in terra-cotta clay containers because the material dries out quickly and provides great drainage.