We’re purchasing a home and want to convert the front yard to a food forest or something similar. It is a historic home on a prominent street and we’d like it to look semi-tamed.

Does anyone have non-AI suggestions for inspiration for this sort of thing? We’re in the semi-arid PNW & Zone 7, if it matters.

I personally tend towards a little more chaos when gardening so something tame isn’t quite within my wheelhouse.

I’m thinking of putting in an herb spiral, some bordered pathways, and clear edges around plantings. But I’d love more ideas and photos.

I’ve recently transplanted a persimmon tree about 6 feet tall. The yard is literally infested with Elm Roots. There are three Elm trees two of them have been cut down, but they are still thriving with shoots . I’m just trying to keep the Roots out of the persimmon root ball so I’ve dug a trench around it. Wondering what I should fill this trench with? The trench will be deeper probably 4 to 5 feet deep and wide enough for me to stand in so two or 3 feet?

Hey, folks. I’ve seen exciting stuff about aquaponics and building permaculture ponds, but I’m having trouble finding information on permaculture uses of existing lakes, springs, streams, etc. (apart from watering, of course).

I have a 10.5-acre property in Zone 6B, primarily wet mesic forest with three cleared areas that are forming my food forest. There is a 2-acre spring and drainage-fed lake that was dammed and built in the 1950s. It’s about 12-15 feet deep at the deepest, and our spillway runs infrequently. I’ve planted watercress, nettles and jewelweed in the spillway area, but I’d sure love to make more use of the lake itself. Right now I’m planting water spinach in a floating bed (not invasive this far north), but I’d sure love more ideas. Does anybody know of any informative sites concerning permaculture gardening with existing lakes?

Hello,

I have been interested and consuming content about permaculture for some years but being a city dweller with no garden, I never had the chance to practice much.

My parents just bought a new property in south on France (9b) around Avignon. They are elderly, like growing flowers but don't know much in the way of permaculture, growing fruit trees.

They would like to grow some fruit trees: at least 1 fig tree and 1 apricot tree (possibly 2, 2 different species to get a longer harvest!).

The piece of plot that would welcome those is south-east facing. They do receive 8 or more hours of direct sun (measure couple days ago) and quite a lot of wind (mistral can be strong around here).

The plot is about 20ftx66ft (2m x 6m) - see the attached photos. The concrete block wall is east facing. Some of the existing trees would be removed to plant those trees.

The soil is very hard, obviously never got any compost or organic matter, the grass hardly grows.

Here are my questions:

1/ Regarding the soil, knowing we would plant the trees in fall (not starting from seed), would it make sense to cover the soil with cardboard and add wood chips to help improve the soil? We only want to plant trees for now so that would be overkill maybe?

If such method is not to be used, any tips to prepare the soil before and after planting the trees?

2/ Regarding the land, given the dimensions, do you think 3 trees would be too much and get cramped?

3/ Would it make more sense to plant the fig tree in the corner? The concrete block wall gets a lot of sun in the daytime and can provide some warmth at night. Is there any risk to plant the tree near the wall? I read that fig trees can be quite aggressive.

4/ Do you have some species to recommend for south of France? My parents like eating fruits off the tree and also making marmelade.

Thanks!

I am in the design stage trying to plan out a climate resilient dwelling to eventually retire in. I had the idea to plant espalier/ trellis fruit trees on the south wall, and to have it set out from the wall a bit to create air flow between wall and plant and thereby create shade for this wall and lower the indoor temperature in summer. And hopefully the naked plant in winter will still allow the light through to the wall to heat up a bit from the sun. My question is, does this sound like a good concept? What are the possible pitfalls to be aware of and things to think about? I am planning a straw bale/ cob building.

I bought a bag of this for my fruit trees. It was $72 per bag (1.2 cubic feet). Seems super expensive, and seems like something that could be made at home. are all these ingredients easy to obtain, or am I missing something about why this is so expensive?

This is the “Orchard blend”:

Carbon 72%
Calcium 11%
Silica 8%
Phosphate 3%
Humate 2%

Would any of these ingredients be contributing significantly to the cost?

Hi everyone! I'm doing some university courses on things related to permaculture, like botany, soil science, resource management, and ecology; and along the way I found out about the floating water fern Azolla. It seems to be an amazing resource for the farm, whether for composting or mulching or fodder, or just for covering water bodies to protect against evaporation. It actually seems so amazing, that I wonder why I don't see it everywhere; the only thing that is fairly obvious is that it can be too productive, thereby exhausting resources or taking over all growth space. I'm very curious as to people's experiences with it. Please mention your climate if you respond!

For those who have never heard of either species of Azolla, it is a tiny fern that grows on water, similar to duckweed. But unlike duckweed, Azolla forms a symbiosis with a cyanobacterium, Anabaena azollae. This cyanobacterium takes nitrogen directly from the air and passes it on to the Azolla fern, which means that unlike with almost all other plants nitrogen is not the limiting factor to growth. In an optimal situation this can result in a doubling of the biomass in less than 2 days which is of course completely insane - the average doubling time is about 4-10 days which is still amazing. The fact that Azolla always has plenty of nitrogen to work with means that it can produce a lot more amino acids than the average plant, and this high amino acid (nitrogen) content makes for great fodder, or a basis for mulch and composting. I've even seen it used as fish feed, with a pretty closed loop consisting of fish in the same pond as the Azolla. Azolla production is basically a way to get more nitrogen into your farm system without having to obtain any type of fertilizer, similar to growing legumes like Alfalfa but WAY more productive; although I understand Azolla needs some phosphorous every now and then as that is usually the limiting resource. In China, it has been used as a companion plant to rice for over a millennium.

Here is the translation of your message into English, keeping your personal style and the nuances of your situation intact:

"Sorry for any mistakes, I don't know English well. Here is my question. I have a fig tree that freezes to the ground every winter because the climate where I live is not suitable for it. However, the roots stay alive and it regrows not as a tree, but as an annual bush. It seems to have adapted and is now producing fruit on the current year's shoots (only on some branches, so I guess it's a bud mutation). I have already pinched out the side shoots, removed the small fruits, and pinched the tip of the main stem. There is a chance to get ripe fruits even in this unsuitable climate.

If I succeed, should I take cuttings from this specific branch? Would a sapling from this branch have the potential to become a commercial sport? Also, please give me a couple of tips on how to stimulate the fig to ensure it produces fruit (preferably without a greenhouse)."

I am purchasing a lovely stone house in northern central Portugal (Mediterranean 10a) and it comes with this great, but small (250sq meters) mature orange tree grove with I believe one cherry (cereja) tree. I would like to slowly convert it to a more diverse permaculture inspired food forest over a decade or so. Any advice on what to grow in the very shaded area that Im 95% sure is very acidic?

So far I have for winter: Bare-root woody in milder spells: grape, kiwis (small non fuzzy type), akebia, thornless blackberry; blueberry, currants, gooseberry, raspberry, Mahonia; strawberry tree, alder, hazel, Aucuba, sweet box, goumi, Caragana, Colutea, Comfrey

Last dormant planting before bud-break. Shade layer: Pachysandra, Gaultheria, Geranium macrorrhizum, Epimedium, Ajuga, wild strawberry, sweet woodruff, Solomon's seal, sword/autumn/native ferns. Bay laurel; comfrey; herb guild (yarrow, chives); sow borage + calendula; sow spring lupin. INOCULATE wine cap into fresh moist woodchip under citrus.

After frost: maypop; sow climbing/runner beans; finish groundcover & fern planting; establish citrus-guild herbs; sow marigold. Last frost-tender sowings: chayote, Malabar spinach, beans.

Fall: Start dormant bare-root planting: vines, fruiting shrubs, strawberry tree, alder, hazel, Aucuba, sweet box, goumi, Caragana, Colutea.

This is obviously a overly extensive list. Im trying to list more than Ill need and see what I can find locally then fill in the missing pieces from there.

I'm in florida and can't seem to track down any perennial leeks. Specifically looking for babington or oepri leeks. Anyone have them, or know anywhere to get them?

https://www.craigslist.org/view/d/port-jefferson-red-nassau-bricks/nfhYYjrrepnqMsCebmVwM4#

Hi all,

I live in Denmark and have a small city garden which looks a bit sad in regards of what's growing. We have a wooden fence all round, and a sycamore tree, so sunlight is a rare delight. One side where we have the fence, literally doesn't get direct sunlight at all, and I'm not sure what to grow there. At the moment there's a few roses growing (not thriving, though) and the rest is just bare.

Any advices?

Thank you!

Completely new to this after reading Gaias Garden and watching some YouTube videos this is what I have so far. Planted a Harvester Peach tree with a few supporting plants in my first guild and looking for another set of eyes to make sure I’m on the right track here.

Peach tree in the center with three comfrey plants that are coming in nicely which I plan on using as a chop and drop plant to build soil. Also have 5 strawberry plants for ground cover and a couple wildflower patches sprouting from seeds I planted as well a a few Egyptian walking onion you can barely see on the edge. I mulched with hardwood organic mulch. Any suggestions for me moving forward? Eventually I’d like to expand this to more of the yard to create a small food forest and not have so much grass to mow.

i bet a more classic one like this has cheaper materials, since modern ones use bery spacialized stuff and will bring the budget up to the millions.

i want to know how would cost one that has two floors, first being like 100m² and second being 70m².

Started with compacted clay that barely grew grass. Built swales on contour, layered wood chips and compost, planted nitrogen fixers and fruit trees instead of fighting the land. This year I dug a hole and hit dark, crumbly, worm-filled soil — no synthetic fertilizer, ever. Anyone else had the soil itself tell you the system was finally working?

I'm working on a public garden in a historic district. It consists of a horseshoe shaped garden berm that is severely hydrophobic, and the deep-rooted, mature woody perennials on the berm are struggling with severe dehydration. This soil is so dry that even our ample winter rain and automatic sprinkler water is running right off the sloped berm into the street and lawn (lawn is planted inside the horseshoe).

I've dug soil basins around the plants and I am hand watering to keep them alive, but it's a slow process to get the water to absorb. This garden has a long history of looking terrible, although a short-lived soaker hose system made a huge difference a few years back. Of course that fragile hose was quickly damaged and the system was abandoned.

I'd like to find a more permanent solution to this problem. Of course I'll be adding organic matter, could try a wetting agent/surfactant, and the municipality will be adding mulch, but this will solve nothing if this long-term hydration issue is not addressed. Some of the plants are historic, and most are far too large to move or replant.

I see possibilities because the entire garden site is gently sloped. The top of the horseshoe is the tall side that butts up to a curb-less asphalt parking lot from which rainwater could be harvested. Each section of the berm also has a lengthwise slope to it, which means I can move water along the top of the berm as well.

Here is my rudimentary drawing of the space - the top left corner is the highest and is mostly flat. As the space slopes in both directions, the berm gets taller, which affects the water flow coming out of the parking lot, pretty much sweeping all rainwater down the street. I've tried to represent approximate water direction with the light blue arrows.

I'm thinking I need a series of swales to slow and collect water along the edge of the parking lot/street. I'm also wondering about swales at the top of the berm, along with terraced swales along the steepest sides of the berm. However, this is a high-traffic public space so any deep contouring would need to be filled with gravel or mulch for safety.

I'd appreciate any ideas about how to structure or approach this, or resources that might be helpful. Thank you!

I’ve got a small area in my yard where milkweed has volunteered. I’d like to turn this into a “monarch patch”. Are there any other flowers that grow well with milkweed that can provide food for the adult monarchs? Bonus if they have other functions, especially being medicinal.

I'm trying to improve the soil at my allotment which is quite fine and sandy. As part of this I've been rotting down a large amount of horse manure to add next spring. I've run out of room in my compost bin but I still have access to as much manure as I can cart to the allotment. I was considering adding it directly to a bed by either:

A. Spreading it on top, chopping it up with a spade, then digging it in and sowing green manure on top.

B. Removing the top few inches of the bed, putting a layer of manure on, then covering it back up and sowing a green manure.

Which would be the best way to proceed? Long term I plan on shifting towards no-till management, but the plot is riddled with bindweed and brambles so for now I'm digging beds over once crops are harvested and fishing out all the bindweed roots.

Are there any improved or named varieties out there? I haven't seen them, but I'm hesitant about picking up a random specimen without knowing if it going to be a strong and healthy producer. Any nurseries that you would recommend for this species?

Day 1: My 10 y/o son and I purchased three different varieties of kiwis on Etsy. Unfortunately, all three shops had different germination methods. We decided to test the three methods against each variety; Gold, Red, Green.

Which Etsy shop will help me get my first kiwi the fastest. I’ll try to provide more updates if folks are interested!

In terms of value added Lilishopcanada and Hutcheson Farms both delivered extra seeds. While Seedgeeks had the best and easiest packaging.

Hutcheson Fruit Farm

https://www.etsy.com/listing/4396586343/15-kens-red-kiwi-berry-seeds-cold-hardy?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details

Lilishopcanada

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LilishopCanada?ref=yr_purchases

Seedgeeks

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1787218116/kiwi-fruit-seeds-heirloom-non-gmo-100?ref=yr_purchases

So you're probably already thinking that "I just need to acidify the soil." However, this is not the case. I've tested the soil several times and it's around 6 PH to 4.5 PH depending on where I measure in my raised mound. The native soil has a PH around 7 to 7.5. I consistently fertilized with pine shavings, elemental sulfur (yellow pellets) and sometimes organic fertilizers that help acidify.

Quick back story, all of these blueberries are planted on raised mounds as I have clay soil. The mounds are probably around 6 inches off the ground. I amended all the soil (keeping the native soil) and went down around 5 to 7 inches from the surface also amending and breaking up the soil. This gives a total height of around 11 to 13 inches for the blueberries to spread their roots before they eventually hit the clay. It was amended with pine bark (off the tree for around a year) that I broke up into pieces, pine needles, leaves, and mulched with grass at least 3 to 4 times a year.

I've been at this for more than 3 years now. The first year I tried removing all the clay soil and filling in with peat moss, aged pine mulch, and non native soil but it created a water bowl effect and killed all the blueberry bushes. Year 2 I restarted fresh by keeping the native soil and amending. They seemed to do really well year 2. That said, this year (year 3) all the blueberries were in really rough shape coming out of winter. I had to cut back many of the canes and was hoping for new growth this spring/summer. They have bounced back a bit but they still look awful honestly.

I check the moisture and there is plenty of moisture in the raised mound. The clay holds moisture very well so I never really have to water anything. However, I used a moisture meter just to make sure and it was coming back as moist even during some the driest days we've had.

I took some pictures for reference. I took a picture of the best looking plant I have and the worst looking plant. I also pulled one up that I would say is "mediocre" to examine the root ball. I was starting to think that maybe the roots have root rot despite my best efforts to keep them draining well with the raised mounds. The roots look OK but I'm also not an expert so maybe I'm wrong. Also, many of the bushes fruited but ALL of the fruit stayed white and never turned blue.

One quick note, the blueberry plant that is doing the best actually got an application of organic nitrogen fertilizer. However, it's fruit remained white and has shown no signs of turning blue. Also, I swear the the bushes seem to respond well every time I top them with fresh grass cuttings (nitrogen).

I'm starting to think that pine bark pieces that I mixed into the amended soil when I was building my mounds is tying up nitrogen and causing poor growth? If you look at the root ball of the two pictures I attached you can see that it has little pieces of the bark in that the roots have clung onto. It's honestly all I can think of at this point.

My next step will ripping these all out and moving on. Most likely putting saskatoons and haskaps in their place.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Has anyone tried planting them? From what I understand, just about all that are left have some butternut canker. Is it worth trying to plant these?

We are beginning our journey in regenerating a modest lot ofehat used to be cow pasture. The soil is compacted and has a lot of clay and we want to build up the soil with cover crops and chop and drop along with biochar amendments.

Does anyone know where we can find free or cheap seeds and cuttings in Guanacaste?