Gardening Novice

[Nomad]

Recently, I've started getting very interested in gardening - if that means watching people garden on the TV.
In particular Monty Don's Big Dreams Small Spaces - available on NetFlix.

I think it could serve a few purposes fitting in with ERE.
Growing food.
Being a cheap/free hobby.
Being exercise

I'm thinking of turning my back garden which is essentially just a lawn into a permaculture type garden but with
with an aesthetic appeal for entertaining or just relaxing.
What are peoples experiences and what are the best sources for ideas?

[7Wannabe5]

I think it is more like ERE can be fit in with gardening/permaculture. After all, you can't eat most other forms of productive capital investment. All those stocks and bonds are really good for is funding the occasional tool replacement.

How large is your space? What sort of trees grow in the oldest forests nearby?

This is a very good example of a small, lovely backyard permaculture design:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l294zaoLgoA

[Nomad]

@7Wannabe5
The back garden is 13 yards by about 12 yards about half in full sun and half slightly shaded (cherry tree).
There is a side to the house which is 3 yards by 9 yards - this is in full sun all day.
The front garden is about 10 yards by 12 yards and half/sun half shade.
That's about 300 square yards in total.

All the soil is a kind of clay soil and I'm in the UK/Lancashire it can rain a lot.

I like the video, there is a very similar climate here to that of the Netherlands so I'll make a note of the varieties she mentions.

[George the original one]

Planning your permaculture to have a wide fruitful season is difficult and, apart from nuts, tends to be on the sweet end of the spectrum. Keeper apples and pears extend the fresh season into winter. Strawberries, cane berries, and blueberries cover Jun-Sep. On the other hand, if you're into food preservation/preparation and can dedicate a couple days to picking & processing, you might want varieties that ripen en masse rather than strung out over a couple weeks. I favor espalier techniques to keep trees manageable over the years, preferring semi-dwarf rootstock over dwarf. Most nut trees are HUGE, but hazelnut/filbert are not and they will like your climate and soil.

You've got enough room for annual crops. Thinking a bit outside the box is worthwhile here, since what works for farmers isn't necessarily best for gardeners. So vertical green beans & peas growing on heavy wire fence trellis instead of bush crops, radishes to fill in otherwise empty spaces, garlic is a perpetual annual (save 1/6th for starting next season's crop), and storage onions.

Short of hügelkultur, you'll likely have an initial outlay of capital that might seem excessive. Plenty of compost for the clay soil, trellises and other hardware, potting soil, and footpath groundcover (woodchips, gravel, or bricks). I'm not a fan of container gardening because plants do better when you give their roots room, but strawberries are shallow-rooted and do well in containers in large scale vertical installations (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4Yj8ANR04A for speedy construction tips), cutting the required space in half.

[7Wannabe5]

What George said. You have plenty of space to produce a good quantity of food for yourself. Here is a video outlining easy sheet mulching method for bed preparation. Since you live in a very damp, mild climate, I would recommend less mulch around annual plantings than is often shown in most no-till/no-weed methods. Ultimately, the purpose of the cardboard layer is to quickly mimic the shade that would be provided by tree cover, until the plants you would prefer can fill in. The weeds (vigorous volunteers)will quickly re-establish themselves in any sunny, empty space. However, if your soil is deep, loose and friable, hand-weeding is not nearly as much work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL0KeofMGhs


Since you already have a large cherry tree, perhaps begin to establish permaculture guilds from that end of the garden while simultaneously starting out with small, manageable annual veggie patch in any other sunny spot. Paw-paw, butterfly bush, chives, horseradish, sorrel and tulips might form attractive under-story. Plant a lot and stick with whatever thrives in your micro-climates.

[George the original one]

I'm going to throw in some climate considerations, too. Not being entirely familiar with English weather patterns, we'll just have to compare to USA weather patterns.

For instance, the east coast USA has fairly consistent rainfall each month (low irrigation required year round) with cold winters and hot summers with little time between the season changes (makes growing peas difficult). As you go inland towards the Rockies, the rainfall decreases slowly until you cross the Mississippi when it tapers off more dramatically. Moving north, winters get markedly colder, but summers are kind of equally hot and moving inland doesn't change that.

The west coast USA has a wet winter and dry summer (good for garlic, but irrigation required in summer for most other crops) with a gradual shift between the seasons. As you go south, the rainfall decreases slowly with Eureka, California, being the furthest south where irrigation can be skipped in spring/fall; south of Eureka, you must irrigate year-round to some extent. As you go inland towards the Rockies, the rainfall decreases dramatically. Winters and summers become more severe the further inland and the higher in elevation you go.

So is your rainfall more like the west coast or the east coast USA pattern? What about the seasonal temperature changes?

[BookLoverL]

(Deleted this post.)

[7Wannabe5]

@BookLoverL:

So, layer of wood chips would be helpful in bringing in appropriate organisms to aid in converting clay to loam, BUT thick layer of permanent mulch would likely render beds more consistently damp and cool than would likely be desirable for many non-woodland crops. Also, the mild winter means many non-beneficial organisms will survive, especially if given cover.

As George noted, my Mid-Northern Mid-West climate has consistent lower level precipitation through the year, blazing hot and fairly humid summers, and bitterly cold winters, and I am also in pretty heavy clay. So, permanent mulch works well for me.

[George the original one]

Okay, so Oregon-Washington coastal temperatures with east coast rain patterns. Pretty dang ideal conditions, except need a greenhouse for heat-lovers like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, & melons. Growing season is entirely dependent on first/last frost dates. Probably have to watch for mold/fungus/bugs because no winter kill and plenty of moisture.

[vexed87]

I do like Monty from BBC Gardener's world, I wasn't aware of the Netflix show, thanks for sharing that.

Here are some great beginners tips from Patrick Whitefield, a late permaculture great from the UK. As lots of the typical US books, tips and guidance are unsuitable for our temperate climate, you'll find this especially valuable;
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... JREb-cNSNs
Enjoy!

Also check out his (text)book; https://www.amazon.co.uk/Earth-Care-Man ... 185623021X which despite the price and size, I thoroughly recommend.