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Perennial Plantings

in the Food Garden

Nov. 2014 - Jan 2015

This design focuses on the detail of the perennial dimension of my family's Food Garden for which I already did a concept plan focussing mainly on annual production.

 

This design was needed to maximise production on the site which had been slowly getting 'out of hand'. The background to the site is as described in the food garden design.

 

The perrennial dimension is to include mainly fruits, some nuts & other functional plantings.

Some other key focusses here are on landscape water management on the site.

 

I used a forest garden style, on a small & flexible scale to suit the space & other needs.

 

Design Process Used

 

I used C.E.A.P to frame the design process, within that, some tools & methods I used were:

 

Collecting Information:

Client survey -informal chat plus notes from food garden survey

Site survey -information on soil, climate, plants, etc from food garden design

Enlarging maps

On site contour mapping using a grid layout & a spirit level on a stick

Evaluating information: 

Resources & Boundaries, Leaks & Limiting factors brought over from the food garden evaluation.

Inputs & Outputs evaluation of existing perennial dimension.

Applying Principles:

I created a matrix on a spreadsheet which looked at each of the functions in turn against each of the principles. -Brainstorming in other words!

Research - books, online, people,

Planning:

To-scale random assembly

SWOT analysis

Research

Evaluation:

Not yet done, intend to

projected inputs & outputs analysis,

Overview

Collecting Information

 

People:

As this design is a detail of the overall food garden design, information on the clients needs could mainly be extrapolated from the client survey for that.

An additional check in with the clients though was also needed which consisted of an informal chat together.

I noted the main points of this chat as the client vision (in addition to vision from the food garden) & brought them forward to the evaluation part of the process.

 

 

 

 

 

Site:

Because of the detail needed, I expanded the maps I had made from the garden design by 1.5. I did this by simply bluetacking them against a window & measuring from a centre point out 1.5 times through other key points.

 

In addition I measured the relative contours on the North part of the site designated for the main bulk of the perennial planting or 'forest garden'. (I had done this for the South part already in the Food Garden design)

As I was alone this time I couldn't use the bunyip so I marked out a 3m grid over the area & then taped a spirit level to a 3m long piece of timber. This I used to calculate relative spot heights at each intersection. This was quite easy to do & gave me quite a detailed contour map of the space.

 

As for the zone & Sector analysis, again, the one's from the overall garden plan were appropriate to use.

I also made an extra overlay showing existing vegetation in detail.

 

 

Evaluation

 

Limiting factors & resources remain largely the same as those identified in the 'Analysis' stage of the overall food garden design, so I referred to these here.

 

I also did an input & output analysis specifically on the existing perennial dimension which highlighted any inputs not being met by the current system (extra work) & any outputs being lost or wasted in the current system (leaks/pollution). This gave extra clarity to this perennial side of the garden design.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So while many of the functions of this design are the same as the overall garden, the inputs & outputs analysis together with the client check in highlighted afew additional one's which are specific to this perrennial dimension.

 

So from all of this I pulled out many Functions of the design which were needed to alleviate the problems/limits & get closer to the vision.

 

Key themes that came up through this process were Type of produce, Access, Water management & Protection from birds.

More detail is included in the document where I began to generate some ideas & potential solutions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Permaculture Principles

  • Minimum intervention for the maximum effect comes to mind!!

There is loads here already, there's alot going to waste.

 

  • Multiple sources:

Because some of the functions are going to be addressed by the overall garden concept plan, the annual veg design solutions & also this perrennial dimension there will be many supports of each important function.

 

 

On Reflection.... Identifying functions clearly has really become the cornerstone of my design work, the possiblilities are many & varied & there is a temptation to install a typical 'permaculture' solution in any situation, because that's permaculture right? well , no not necessarily, appropriate solutions can be novel, or could be traditional techniques, they could be something my neighbours are already doing, or maybe not, maybe it's something very innocuous & not very 'permaculture' at all. The point is that the solution must fit the problem,- in the most elegant & simple way, guided by the ecological principles & the ethics. If they don't then, well it's not permaculture! It might look like it on face value but it could be missing the point. For me, the first step in this process is being really very clear about the key functions of any design, then I can choose & develop solutions which fulfill the purpose, the actual needs. In a way it's ego (glamourous) versus truth (sometimes not so glamourous!)

I admit, I'm still working on this! My main issue with this seems to be having too many functions, I need to pare them down & prioritise better, work more from pattern to detail.... but I think I'm learning....

Planning

 

The first step in planning was to select those systems & elements from the above 'applying principles' matrix. To do this I followed Aranya's guidance in 'Permaculture Design' (p97) to:

 

  • disregard any solutions that are clearly way beyond budget(money/time) or too large or small scale for the purpose

  • select those elements/systems which support [or could be adapted to support] at least 3 functions -Multiple functions, 

 

I then grouped similar ideas & highlighted some things that needed further research.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In some cases I needed to decide between any competing ideas for example, The brainstorming principles had thrown up many possible solutions to the landscape water management issue; contour planting, keyline, terracing, etc.

To help see clearly what each of these solutions offered I did a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Risks analysis of the relevant options. 

As I talked about above, I needed to get the most appropriate option for the function.

So first a bit more clarity was needed about the actual function here. I prealised that I had sort of skipped over this in the original fuinctions analysis by not looking 'over the fence' or 'downstream' so to speak. The house being downhill from the garden meant that this actually had to take priority over the other things even the needs of the plants. So to get specific, the AIMS of the earthworks (in order of priority) were to:

  • Redirect water away from the house

  • Prevent soil & nutrient erosion

  • Provide dry footings for trees & plants -especially in winter

  • Increase microclimates for more diversity of plants

Must also be able to construct a fruit cage of some sort on them.

 

 

 

 

 

The most appropriate choice of earthworks was to input small off contour swales, or low gradient drains which would bring water across the slope away from the house & let it settle in either pond/pools for ducks or aquaculture, and/or simple 'nutrient traps', -small indentations within which nutrient hungry plants will be positioned. The simplicity of this idea came to me from a video called 'permaculture for profit' (link in resources below).

 

Permaculture Principles:

  • Multiple Functions: 

I was initially reluctant to decide ont he drains because I wanted to make the most use of the abundance of rainwater we recieve onsite here! But as it seemed like the only way to really keep the house dry, I gave some thought to what other functions this solution could serve. A quick Brainstorm came up with afew ideas:

  • **Could become pathways too (but it would be wet?) -cover with patio slabs? Or another wide path material?**

  • Drains excess water -away from the house

  • Brings to nutrient traps places -can use for other plants

  • Seasonal ponds/wetland habitats

  • Grow stuff in them? -or would that block them....

  • Put rocks in them -frog habitat

 

  • Diversity: 

For the South section of the garden, the water issue was not as acute since it has been addressed by the arrangement of the annual beds in the garden design. There is almost a natural terrace on the area where the forest garden is to be, so here I will design around the natural slope, maybe adjusting slightly to make a full terrace.

There will also be a terrace at the bottom of the slope of the North area.

 

  • Integration:

On reflection things would have been a bit more streamlined if I had a contour map of the whole garden at the beginning & developed the overall plan from that. -Pattern to Detail- I can now correct this by bringing the drain/swale accross the garden into the annual area & also connecting the paths & terrace.

 

 

Research & Resources

I did alot of research for this design, some of the resources I found most useful were:

 

 

  • www.fruitandnut.ie An Irish supplier of specialist fruit & nut trees for the Irish climate

 

  • Knowledgable friends

 

 

  • & Google search page which led me to all kinds of interesting videos & blogs! 

 

 

 

Estimated costings 

Although budget was not a major concern in this design I wanted to get an idea of where we were at with the expenses.

I started to guage constings for the implimentation of this design, (see ultimate matrix spreadsheet above)

The main costs will be the trees & shrubs that I'll need to purchase. Many of the herbaceaous plants can be taken from cuttings from friends. Other than that I intend to use salvaged materials where possible. 

 

At the moment I'm still looking for sources for some of the plants but of the one's I have sourced the estimated cost comes to a total of 232. I imagine this could go up to 300 euro once I source the rest of the plants.

 

The other main costs are the courses which come to a total of about 50 including travel.

Applying Principles

 

This is why I like 'CEAP' -I get allocated a time specifically to use the permaculture principles!

 

To do this thoroughly I created an 'Excel' spreadsheet grid with a list of the functions down the side of the sheet & the permaculture principles & ethics along the top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went through each cell,contemplating each particular function with the corresponding principle or ethic. I noted any ideas I had regarding that combination, any possible solutions to the functions, & any other points of interest or questions. It was a form of Brainstorming systems & elements which continued on from where I had begun to generate some ideas in the functions document (in 'Evaluation' above).

 

On Reflection....This was a bit of a long-winded process but it was also very thorough way of brainstorming the functions with a specifically permaculture-centred approach.

Other than the time (& focus!) it takes, a risk with this technique I would say is that it possibly narrows my view a bit too much, there could have been some simple solutions that I missed...maybe because they were not "permaculture" enough... Like drains for example. For that reason I think it would go well together with my usual 'wild design' sheet which for some reason I didn't really use this time.

Also I had rather alot of functions there, possibly I could have grouped them better to make it more concise & therefore less work.

 

Overall though it worked very well, it got me into the right mindframe.

To a certain extent I felt many of these things I would have done anyway, say like companion planting, using layers etc, but doing this highlighted them & made things more thorough & explicit, it made me actually do them rather than just think I was doing them. So if I adapt it a little it could be a good tool to use in future.

 

The ultimate matrix masterplan!

 

I then began to create the 'ultimate matrix masterplan' excel sheet which I began to slot each chosen element into.

 

The idea for this type of a design matrix came out of my reflections on the Incredible Edible design where I found things got a bit messy when I got into the all the detail & I also found myself looking up the same plant many times. So I wanted to design a tool which would to help me be more efficient at getting all the info in one accessible place.

To this initial idea I added some of the things that were suggested by the 'applying principles' brainstorm during this perennial dimension design, things such as creating a harvest & maintenace plan and flowering times for pollinators for example. 

The spreadsheet hads 2 layers:

Layer 1 shows: Element/System, Variety Detail, Primary purpose, Secondary functions, Other comments, Suggested Location, Units needed, Source, cost/unit, total cost, Implimentation notes, & Maintenance notes,

Layer 2 shows: seasonal patterns: Element/System, Harvest, Maintenance, Insect, Bee, Bird, Poultry

 

Things really began shifting from 'pattern to detail' here. There was much research done at this stage, Where I had identified things like 'herbs for teas' or  'evergreen plants for windbreaks', I now needed to get into detail into which exact herbs I would use. See 'resources' section below for more info.

As you can see if you take a look at sheet 2 of the matrix, I am still working on filling in all the detail there. This detail will fine tune the plant choice & layout.


 

 

 

 

On Reflection... When researching an element - in particular a plant, I could identify which if he functions it would be fulfilling, what it's main purpose was, make other notes about the element around needs, or implimentation, and also compile harvest, maintenance & pollination plan in one document. In reality I still did skip about a bit in terms of looking up the same plant more than once but this document still really helped keep things together, clear & focussed. I was also really usefull when it came to the random assembly part of the design. 

 

Action Point: How could the matrix idea be improved & developed for future designs....?

 

 

Putting it all together

 

I then began putting things all together using random assembly. I used the old-skool approach of cutting out each plant to scale & placing on the map to find the best spot for it. This took a long time to achieve, but was really very helpful to get a visual representation of the size & layout of things to optimisze the use of the space.

 

It was at this point that I also yet again found that 'the map is not the landscape' and had to go ouside & do the contour mapping which I mentioned in 'collecting information' above. During this I also spent time in the garden doing small tidying-up type jobs during which I began to visualise & experience (-by walking intended pathways) how things would work in the space.

 

Within all of this was lots & lots of research especially around plants. See below for more info resources I found helpfull for this.

I began also to put together a list of 'materials needed'. And an 'Implimentation Guide' (with reference to the matrix masterplan) to act as an implimentation plan. Cold & wet as it was in January the season was slowly moving forward & It felt like time was getting tight for sourcing plants & getting some things started on the ground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Reflection..... I found this to-scale random asembly technique invaluable. I could clearly see how many plants could realistically fit in the space and even which existing plants would be better off getting relocated. It was also easy to move elements around & try out different ideas. It was worth the time it took cutting out & measuring & i's a tool I'll use more.

However, I think, for me to develop as an efficient designer (my long term vision) I need to learn how to do this type of thing on the computer. It would make things alot quicker.

Action point: research into this.

 

I could also do with some more visualisation tools. It was very handy in this designto be ale to go out whenever I neeed to check thing, imagine how things would look & work in the space, but if I was designing for a site further away that wouldn't be so convenient.

Action point: research this

 

Evaluation/Design Details Overview

-against the main functions of the design.

 

The documents & images above really give alot of detail around the design solutions, but just to give an overview here in relation to the functions.....(see also slideshow below)

 

Yields: Focus on appropriate yields - chosen more fruiting plants that the family want (apples, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, plums) & less that we have too many of (eg: blackcurants). These valued & more vunerable crops are positioned close together to enable protection from birds in the form of fruit cages, to make most use of the available sun & to be easily visible. The plant choices weight towards reliable crops like apples, soft fruits & mints, with a decent amount of new 'edge' crops too to trial such as the szechuan pepper, New Zealand Flax plant, Lime, Bamboo, & some Eleagnus species. 

 

Productivity: is also increased by stacking a diversity of usefull plants in a forest garden template. Others are chosen for bird & bee forage, habitat, shelter, soil protection, fertility building, etc.

The layout facilitates the practical protection of the more vulnerable crops with the building fruit cages to protect from birds, and also makes it easy to view the crops.

 

Access: Redirection of the access lines to increase efficiency & gardeners shadow 'effect'. Main paths solid along/above drains, side paths planted with foot tolerant groundcover which is also productive such as the Nepalese Raspberry. Easier access makes for more time efficient working in the garden.

 

Climate: has been enhanced by creating South facing arcs using productive but hardy plants such as the Eleagnus. Within these arcs are placed the more tender & productive plants such as the soft fruits which can avail of the extra heat & shelter. -Multiple functions as the shelter belt also provides nitrogen & berries & shelter for birds. In addition, varieties have been carefully selected to suit the climate & sourced, where possible from local suppliers specialising in plants for Irish weather conditions.Ground cover species have been chosen to provide soil cover (-to protect from high rainfall) throughout the year.

 

Water management & soil erosion:

Most of the info above detailing the SWOT anaysis on the multifunctional earthworks covers this. 

 

Fertility:

Multiple sources of fertility privided by

 

Nitrogen Fixing Plants: Provided mainly by plenty of Nitrogen fixing plants included in the design, I took guidance here from Martin Crawfords chapter on 'Fertility in the forest garden' where he advocates looking at the garden as a whole. Given that this is a relatively small site the placement of the Nitrogen fixers is not really crucial however in general I have made sure that there are Nitrogen fixers well within reach of heavily cropping plants such as soft fruit.

Urine: Martin Crawfords analysis of the amount of urine needed for fertility can be easily provided here with both direct pees onsite & the use of collected urine from the nearby compost loo which will be fed to the trees & plants -with care -not onto edible parts or at certain times of the year.

Added Mulch, Leaf litter & Nutrient Accumulators: Plenty of comfrey along with deciduos deep rooted trees & shrubs and added mulch from the poultry bedding. Chop & drop technique for other mulch plants.

Animals: Poultry rotating around the site & bird forage such as barberry & rosa rugosa attracting birds into the site where they will leave their droppings. Evergreen shrubs for bird shelter in winter will also help provide this.

 

People:

Courses identified will provide the necessary knowledge & skills for the maintenance of the perennial dimension of the garden.

Time: Improved access is the main time saving solution here, along with the layout which puts frequently visited crops nearer to the hosue & on main pathways. Full & vigourous productive groundcover plants help to minimise the need for weeding.

 

Wildlife:

A 'zone 5' area designated for wildlife & planted with native trees -birch, alder, oak, provides a haven. Specific plants selected for forage & habitat such as the windbreak species (which also provide shelter for the house).

 

Overall reflections

I've reflected on specific parts of the process as I went along, so this is just a summary & any additional comments on the overal design process.

 

Went well:

  • Putting energy into my own project to set it up as an abundant functioning example of permaculture design has been very rewarding.

  • As with the Incredible Edible design this has been a huge amount of research particularly around the individual plants but also the overall concept of forest gardening & shaping the concept to fit my landscape.

  • Learning some simple mapping skills

  • Learning the value of the Random assembly

 

Challenging:

  • The challenges of working with a less than perfect site

  • Pressure of trying to finish the design in time for spring & self imposed pressure of trying to finish & write it up to wrap up this diploma so that I can begin some other projects,

  • Getting bogged down in decision making around things that I feel I don't know enough about -such as the water management issue.

  • Feels like I'm still learning the hard way & sometimes not seeing the wood for the trees.

 

Long term Vision:

  • In this context remains to become a more efficient & effective Permaculture designer.

  • To apply my design skills to other areas of the farm & household.

 

Next steps:

  • Wrap up this design -fill in any gaps

  • Get back to my 'Interior Design' & wrap that up.

  • Fill in all the bits & pieces required for the portfolio

 

Then:

  • Research computer software for mapping & designing -I've already begun doing this in a very simple fashion by drawing on the photos to illustrate placement of elements -see above slideshow

  • Improve template for matrix

Click to enlarge image
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