Hi All,

I'm new - just joined!

I'm renting a house in Edmonton, AB, and the landlady just decided to convert the gravel parking spot in the alley to a full garden. I'm thrilled - the back yard will triple in size to be about 10m(33')x20m(66').

My question is... what are some good shrubs to plant?

The garden is south facing, and will have a 6' fence around it (landlady's decision). The gravel parking spot is being converted by a truckload of topsoil being spread on top (already delivered). Not the best way, but currently the only way! Digging through the gravel is really tough (I've tried), but the guy is coming with a post hole digger tomorrow so if I know where I want to put shrubs I can get the holes dug through to soil underneath (I know it's there, it's just hard to get to!). The landlady wants to put in an apple tree. Any ideas of what kinds grow best here, that are tasty, and cooking/eating variety?

Also, I'm mostly into having native plants if possible. I was thinking of putting a chokecherry (there's one out front that's beautiful) and a serviceberry. Oh, and I have a bunch of raspberries that I was going to put along the back fence.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?