Is growing veg among ornamentals pretty or impractical?

Do you remember that garden Bunny Guinness designed at Chelsea Flower Show in 2011? You know, the one with the beautiful hazel-hurdle-raised-beds burgeoning with edibles and ornamentals. Well, if you don’t, it was stunning. I could not stop staring at its honed perfection. But, I thought at the time, ‘this is a Chelsea Garden that can’t be recreated in reality’. So, was I right? Can you combine ornamentals and vegetables without either party being compromised? Can you truly make a space that is at once pretty, productive and practical?

I think the answer is probably nuanced. Certain edibles, grown in certain ways, can potentially look great and be productive within an ornamental garden. There are however a whole host of edible plants that simply don’t cut the mustard. Cabbages are a good example. They may look beautiful while in growth, particularly if you opt for a ruffled or purple leaved form. And they are easy to tie in with larger leafed ornamental plants or perhaps a purple colour scheme. But the problem comes when you are ready to harvest. A buxom cabbage may have a spread of 50cm or more meaning the harvest process leaves you with an ugly gap towards the front of the border. There’s also the issue of the dying leaves at the base. While these are often hidden their putrid rotting scent is not!

Cabbages are one example of a plant that is far from ideal to grow among edibles, essentially because harvest both kills the plant and the look of the border. Other plants that fit this harvest-and-they’re-gone set include carrots (and most other root veg), onions, lettuce and beetroot.

That said, there are numerous plants that can work and they tend to be the fruit or vegetables that don’t