Have you heard? There’s a woman in a Detroit suburb who could face jail time if she doesn’t remove the vegetable garden from her front yard. When we bought our first house six years ago, my spouse and I planted a peach tree and an edible garden in our front yard. We felt the fruits and veggies would make for great conversation starters with our new neighbors. And it worked. One of my favorite memories is when we first met Grace, an elderly woman who lives a block away, and learned that her family grows chard and collards in their backyard. We swapped our cucumbers for some of her leafy greens and our friendship blossomed.
Photographer Fritz Haeg (top row)
Top row photos via Sustainable Transition, from photographer Fritz Haeg & Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn. Bottom row photos from Ecosalon.
Lately, as I drive around Atlanta, I’ve noticed more and more front yard gardens. We’re talking raised beds with tomato plants and rows of corn. As evident in this Sunset magazine article, front yard edible gardens are popular in California. With all that sunshine it would practically be a sin not to there. But apparently not everywhere, like the growing controversy in the Detroit burbs. Then there’s the gardener in the county where my mom lives who ran afoul of code enforcement for growing too many veggies.
Do you have or would you plant an edible garden in your front yard? Is it wrong if it’s the only part of the property with good sunlight? Is it plain old ugly? Or can it be beautiful?
Tell us what you think in the comments below.
I find a well-tended vegetable garden to be just as, if not more, beautiful than a flower garden. And far prettier than plain green (or brown!) grass.
Heather, I totally agree! Chard, for instance, looks so good with flowers that I can't imagine any neighbor complaining about that living in the front yard. It seems unfair to have a flower-to-veggie quota, though.
I fully support growing food plants anywhere and everywhere.
I think it's a great use of lawn – but look at this! Poor lady… http://www.theagitator.com/2011/07/07/does-michel…
I think they should have done it in the backyard. Why stir up trouble?
Why not, the beauty of planting and eating your own food has been done for thousands of years. Why would they make rules about planting a vegetable garden. It's healthy and it's good to exercise.
I totally agree, Mary. People should be able to plant their vegetables anywhere on their property – front or back. And personally, I would love to drive by a home and see a slew of fresh veggies growing in the front yard. It's inspiring to see those who grow and maintain their own produce.
It's funny you guys are talking about vegetables.
Apparently the City I grew up in on the east coast of Canada is starting to encourage people planting gardens.
Thanks for the post…and could you please add correct credits & links to the top two photos…
Upper right is:
Edible Estates regional prototype garden #4: London, UK http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/initiatives/edibl…
Upper left is:
Edible Estates regional prototype garden #6: Baltimore, MD: http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/initiatives/edibl…
Thinking about vegetable gardens, I too think they should be kept in the backyard. Some folks keep a well kept garden and others maybe not so nice. This is the motivation behind keeping things hidden in back if need be.
It would need to be kept up well. No withering vines. And a commitment to plant ornamental cabbages in the winter, if you live below the Mason-Dixon Line.
The folks that don't keep a well tended garden will probably also not keep a well tended yard of grass, flower beds, shrubbery, etc. so that argument doesn't really fly. Probably better to make the best use of the space and sunlight available and if you are blessed enough to have a yard to grow anything, why not some beautiful produce?
Such an interesting debate. It begs the question, if someone is a property owner, should they be allowed to do whatever they want on their property, unless it's dangerous or blatantly offensive? Personally, I don't find veggies a dangerous threat, but to each his own.
It shouldn't matter what is grown in the front yard, but at the same time, it does make sense that it be well maintained. Just as an unkempt lawn can be seen as an eyesore, so can a vegtable garden, and simply growing a vegetable garden doesn't absolve the gardener of the responsibility to be in synch with the neighborhood. I grow my vegetables in the front yard in a small town in Georgia, partly because that's where the sun is most of the day, but also because I find large lawns to be very wasteful in water resources, time, and so on.
I fully support all efforts to reduce the amount of lawn grass in a yard — such a waste of water that could be used to grow edible plants! Considering the recent droughts here in Georgia, I would think alternatives to lawns would be encouraged. And a poorly tended lawn is just as unattractive as a poorly tended garden. In fact, our own front yard is a perfect example — too much patchy shade to grow a uniform lawn anyway, so we would like to eliminate grass entirely and plant a cottage garden, which is traditionally a mix of edibles and flowering plants. Luckily, we live in a rural area where no one will care! Also, too many attractive lawns are kept that way with undesirable chemicals, so I would rather have neighbors tending a chemical-free garden than maintaining a chemically treated lawn. However, as long is someone is keeping their yard in good shape without doing anything blatantly unsafe I say leave them alone!
Using the ground to grow food is more important to me than the aesthetics of a nice-looking yard. Think of what the people with the "nice-looking" yards are doing to get them. Chemical pesticides, excess watering, etc. I think that should be banned.
Eating the freshest vegetables right out of your garden is such a treat.
From personal experience, one big negative for us when we had our front yard garden was theft of veggies and peaches. We woke up one morning to find that someone had shaken practically all the fruit out of our tree. On the other hand, if someone is with hunger, I want them to eat from my garden.
Peach thieves! What's next, chicken and egg thieves?
Usually we like to do such garden at the back yard of house, but your photos are really looking great. So, now we have another option added for our home remodeling plan. Beside a flower garden, we can also plant or make a vegetable garden too. Nice idea.
No, it's a great idea indeed. I think this has changed the look of your home. Looking very beautiful specially green.We can call it a Green carpet too.
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I think it depends on where you live. if the community where you live is Eco friendly or country type is could be pretty interesting design, but if it is modern community front yard probably is not the best idea.
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It makes very much sense to grow a garden wherever you have sunlight. Don't worry about keeping up with the Jones. Who is gonna care for you, when you get Diabetes from eating all this fake sugar? Do YOU! Plant it wherever you like, but don't forget to give away the first tenth. That's very important!