Description

The Edible Front Yard: The Mow-Less, Grow-More Plan for a Beautiful, Bountiful Garden

By Ivette Soler

Put the fruits of your labors front and center. With plentiful sun, a little open space and an audience of appreciative passersby, the front yard has all the ingredients for a beautiful and bountiful garden. Let famed blogger and garden designer Ivette Soler show you how to make over that space—too often unused or purely decorative—into a gorgeously designed oasis of fruits and vegetables.

The Edible Front Yard combines the loveliest and tastiest edibles and ornamentals in a garden that is a year-round feast for the eyes. Soler teaches all the tricks, from laying out the design and choosing the best front yard plants, to clear instructions for a bounty of exciting projects like a fragrant carpet of herbs, a trellis privacy screen and an eye-catching raised bed that turns areas where you have trouble growing grass into a paradise.

From the curb right up to your front door, the information in these pages includes everything you need to have a beautiful front yard—and eat it too!

Softcover, 216 pages, 166 color photos, garden plans

Media Reviews

“It’s inspiring to see photos of how much more interesting our front yards could be.”—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“It’s a winner.”—Oregonian

“Full of retro pizzazz.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“Lush and lovely.”—Apartment Therapy

“A lively new book. … Soler takes you through a wide selection of suggested varieties of vegetables, fruits and herbs that are as beautiful as any rose bush.”—Martha Stewart Living

“A good source of ideas for gardeners trying to imagine the edible front yard that might one day be theirs.”—Rachel Shaw, Washington Gardener

“A great book to get you fired up about the upcoming growing season.”—Winston-Salem Journal

“Wonderful pictures, great lists of attractive edibles, and useful design advice.”—Energy Bulletin

“New gardeners will find good advice and more advanced gardeners will find some very clever tips and ideas.”—Larrapin Garden blog

“Project[s] to help your family go green.”—DailyCandy.com

“If you are looking for ideas to add some edible and pretty plants to your landscaping I recommend this book.”—UnderMyAppleTree.com

“Don’t just plant flowers this gardening season; feed your family, too!”—AARP The Magazine

“This inspiring guide offers a fresh alternative to the boring front lawn.”—Daily Globe

“If you are toying with the idea of growing edibles very visibly — front yard or back — check it out.”—Sunset Magazine Fresh Dirt blog

“It’s no exaggeration to say that I wanted to eat this book up.”—Green Thumb Mama

“Tackles the question of how to incorporate edibles and veggies into your landscape without having the whole thing look messy.”—North Coast Gardening

“Lots of good advice and problem solving written in a clear and energetic voice.”—Red Dirt Ramblings

“Ivette’s prose, like her gardens, is unabashed, exuberant, and a rollicking good time. And in terms of visual beauty, even my high expectations were blown away.”—GreenSparrowGardens.com

“This is exactly the book that I’m looking for.”—VegPatchDiary.com

“Proves that kitchen gardens can be both pretty and productive. Shows how to grow veggies in front so beautifully that neighbors won’t object.”—Sunset

“[Soler] addresses the concerns that gardeners of all kinds have, when considering making the change from grass to groceries.”—Horticulture

“An enticing introduction to growing food beautifully … a timely, handsome guide.”—Publishers Weekly

“A useful and inspiring volume.”—Booklist

“Provides step-by-step instructions to create a bountiful front yard.”—Urban Farm Magazine

“If you are looking for visual inspiration, this book hands it over in spades.”—David Bare, Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Walks us through the ins and outs of planting every plant in the 2011 garden.”—AOL’s Shelter Pop

“Soler’s book is going to help more front yards get bountiful. And I like that a lot.”—State-by-State Gardening

“Heavily-laden with quality photography that is as inspiring as the text.”—Gardening by the Book

“Empowers readers with the knowledge to successfully transform their yards.”—Portland Book Review

“Get this book! In fact, buy several and give them to your neighbors.”—SmallKitchenGarden.net

“Soler cultivates a compelling case for a garden that’s both decorative and delicious.”—BookPage

“If you’re frustrated with waste and you’re feeling brave, if you like the idea of sustainability and permaculture, consider this [book] when developing your design.”—Epinions.com

“The pictures induce severe garden envy.”—Willamette Woman Magazine

“This delightful book is a great example of learning to color outside the lines and dispels the notion that an urban front yard should be a ceremonial expanse of useless grass.”—Dave’s Garden

“Walks you through delish design ideas, plant profiles and even introduces everyday plants that we didn’t know were edible.”—Dirt du Jour

“Provides us the tools to grow our own food in a beautiful garden and reconnect with the land between house and curb. It has earned a spot on every gardener’s bookshelf.”—BlueHeron Landscapes.com

“An entertaining and might I say, down-right persuasive book for me to have the guts to stand up and plant my veggies, right here in my own front yard!”—PersonalGardeningCoach.com

About the Author

Ivette Soler is a garden designer and writer living in Los Angeles, California. Her plant design work for Elysian Landscapes, and her own personal garden, have appeared in magazines such as Metropolitan Home, Sunset, and House & Garden, as well as in several books.

Ivette’s garden writing has been featured in Garden Design, Cottage Living, and Budget Living, and she was the resident gardening expert on NBC’s The Bonnie Hunt Show.

Her popular gardening blog, The Germinatrix, originated in 2006 as a part of Domino magazine; since 2009, Ivette’s blog has been thriving independently.

You may also be interested in the author’s own Web site, www.thegerminatrix.com.