Abstract: In May, August and November 2019, 545 private courtyards in 12 residential zones(including 4 moving back, 3 mixed and 5 commercial)in Lin’an district of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province were selected for surveying on edible plants application, their proportion, location, application formand species. The results showed that the average proportion of application was 75.8%, especially at moving back residential zones, while that atcommercial residential one was the lowest. Common application of edible plants at courtyard was garden, located in front of courtyard, side yard,backyard, etc. The investigation demonstrated that there were 59 species of edible plants, which could be divided into four types, vegetables, fruittrees, medicinal plants and food crops. Vegetables accounted for 55.4% of the total application, the most was Brassica chinensis, and that of fruittrees was Citrus medica. Length of residence and habitants of courtyard was the main factors affecting the distribution of edible plants.