by Ivette Soler
Timber Press, Inc, $19.95, 214 pages
On opening Ivette Soler’s The Edible Front Yard, page after page of gorgeous photographs depicting lush, well-organized landscapes with tantalizing herbs, fruits and vegetables immediately catch the eye. These photographs alone provide ample reason to convert from lawn and ornamentals to a more edible landscape. The photographs, however, are just the start.||Soler, who is a garden designer and author of the popular blog, The Germinatrix, provides the information to make this front yard redesign smooth and successful. Soler starts by listing a cornucopia of edible plants suitably attractive for the front yard. She then provides information on creating an aesthetically pleasing design, assessing a list of important factors in each front yard, and removing the old design. Finally, Soler addresses hardscape, privacy, irrigation, organic gardening, harvesting and putting the garden to bed for winter. Soler also attempts to make readers aware of issues, such as zoning and irritable neighbors, that may arise. The Edible Front Yard succeeds because it both empowers readers with the knowledge to successfully transform their yards and shows them why they would want to do so.
Reviewed by Annie Peters