Edible plants bring beauty, food and less lawn to mow.

Can landscaping be beautiful and edible? Absolutely. When concerns have risen about safety and sustainability of foods, there is no better time than now to begin planting aesthetic edibles in the little piece of earth we may be granted to live upon.

Our backyard is a yearly work in progress, oftentimes negotiating with the birds as to who will get how much. Currently, we enjoy the summer fruiting of strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, elderberries, plums, beach plums, peaches and persimmon.

And we keep adding. Last year it was a pear tree, this year apricots—dwarf, of course, as it is all on one-third of an acre of land. It is helpful to add extra plantings so the birds are bountifully fed, too. We included viburnum, extra strawberries and raspberries and one elderberry bush for them.

Speaking of fresh, colorful berries, many of these plants pack in powerful nutrition, as they are high in Vitamin C and antioxidants. Antioxidants help neutralize harmful byproducts of metabolism called free radicals. These free radicals are considered threats, often from environmental pollution or toxins that can initiate disease problems. Antioxidants may slow or possibly prevent cancer, heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer’s disease.

It is important to plant edible preferences of family members. Our one son pleaded for a plum tree. It took 10 years until it really produced, but now it is a heavy bearer. There are tricks to working with freezing temperatures to protect the fragile blossoms and young fruit. Some throw sheets over a dwarf tree at night, but when the tree is 20 feet tall, another tip is to turn on a sprinkler hose as the temperature dips to 32 degrees.

Allow the water to fully cover the tree, even though icicles may hang on it in the morning; it may save the day and the fruiting season. And then there may be bugs to contend with—use safe organic sprays.

Be adventuresome and choose plants that are beautiful throughout several seasons. We discovered that beach plums provide a lovely five-foot mass of white blooms in the spring that honeybees, bumblebees and butterflies love. Later, the colorful grape-sized plums change colors from green to yellow, orange, red and bluish purple. And the plum makes a delightfully tasty jelly.

Plant edibles close to where you will be more apt to use them. When we first moved to our current home, I planted many herbs where I could see them outside my kitchen window, but the distance to walk in inclement weather and obtain them for that evening’s meal became a barrier. I transplanted all the herbs to an aromatic bed just outside our back door.

Finally, our annual vegetable garden plants are incorporated within the landscaping of the rest of the backyard. Tomatoes, garlic and green peppers are situated nearby daisies, black-eyed susans, and lavender plants. And with the help of rain barrels and a good compost bin, plants can thrive through hot summer days. Edible is incredible: less lawn to mow, more seeds to sow, God makes them grow, and the taste is “wow.”

Sheryl Shenk is a member of Harrisonburg (Va.) Mennonite Church.