pretty & PRACTICAL

Colorful cut flowers and fresh greens are as handy as your own backyard. Get inspired by this fab little garden.

The idea for an ornate, edible garden started as soon as Bari and Joe Levin finished building their Montgomery, Alabama, home five years ago. Visions of Spanish moss dripping over iron fences, brick-lined raised beds, and cedar arbors lifting 'New Dawn' roses into the Southern sky drifted through Bari's mind.

But her vision promised even more. "My son, Jason Isenberg, was pushing for an organic, edible garden," says Bari. "He persuaded me to set aside a section of the yard for planting vegetables." With his experience designing and installing organic gardens, Jason complemented his mom's aesthetic sensibilities. "I thought this project would be a great way for us to collaborate," says Bari. The result is a gardener's dream and a chef's pantry.

An Edible Puzzle

The two settled on a design after many long phone calls, with Bari standing in the yard describing various options to Jason, who lives in Arizona. The idea integrated Jason's love for growing organic vegetables with Bari's vision for a rustic retreat. "I wanted the garden to have a mysterious feel to it," says Bari, "as if it were the foundation from a house long gone."

Jason wanted the design to reflect his philosophy that a garden should be multipurpose. "It's ideal when a garden is filled with plants that look pretty and also provide food," he says. They used fruit trees, such as figs, pomegranates, and pears, to create a physical boundary for the garden. These trees also give some shade in the summer and then let in sun during winter.

A Good Bed

Raised beds for vegetables were essential to the plan. Bari wanted them to look nice and also allow her to sit on the edge and reach the plants. "If you're going to I grow crops such as lettuce or greens, you might as well make the work as easy as possible," she says. The brick sides and cedar posts of the 2-foot-wide raised beds make natural seats for weeding and harvesting.

The next challenge was to fit the beds into the space. "We really boxed ourselves in," says Bari. "Our lot is narrow anyway, and I wanted a lawn with a shrub border around the house. This limited the space for the garden." Fortunately, size restrictions can often inspire good design. Jason and Bari staked out how big the raised beds needed to be and then brought out a wheelbarrow to see if it could fit through the pathways and gate openings. "We had originally planned to have an oval bed in the middle of the garden," Bari reflects, "but I think I'm much more of an angular person. So we designed a bed using straight lines, which give the wheelbarrow enough room to maneuver."

Putting It All Together

Before breaking ground on the project, Bari consulted horticulture expert Jason Powell, owner of Petals From the Past nursery in Jemison, Alabama. He helped her select and install plants that were appropriate for the conditions and devise some finishing touches for the garden. "I sent Mr. Powell the plans and asked him if they were going to work. He said, 'Sure, we'll make them work,' " Bari recalls.

She then started preparing the soil for the raised beds. "We installed a drip-irrigation system. Now, each bed has its own irrigation zone, which makes my life a lot easier," she says. Next, they brought in a mixture of manure, mushroom compost, sand, and pine bark mulch. "I knew we needed really good soil. I just add some compost every time I plant, and things grow beautifully," notes Bari.

Once the beds were in place, they installed white gravel between them but quickly realized that it didn't give the right look. "I also knew that I didn't want to have all-flagstone paths, because they would seem too busy," Bari says. "So we tried red gravel, which was exactly the right choice." Now the garden's entrance has a patchwork of flagstone pavers for a formal touch, and the rest of the path is red gravel to match the brick on the house.

With all this in place, Bari spends her time sowing and harvesting the next round of vegetables and wondering how she'll fit more plants in the space. Her son, Jason, says, "When we started, I told Mom she was going to want more room. But she just said, 'We'll see.' Now she calls me asking how to expand the garden. It's great."

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Sep 2005
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