our future garden

The first remark I got was "Why change anything? The garden with lawn surrounded with bushes looks fine as it is." The main reason for me is that I long for creating and enjoying a mature, balanced, and diverse eco-system beneficial for both humans and wildlife! I hope to show through this blog that a lawn with isolated bushes and trees do not correspond to this description.

our garden as we inherit it

Our current garden has a lot of lawn, also underneath all the bushes and trees which are all situated along the fence (see map below). There is a little fruit tree orchard at the Northern side of the house (low apple, plum and pear trees) and on the West side there are some trees (a mix of Acer, birch and willow). In Denmark, protection from North-Western wind is rather important, so I am happy with this starting point. I will not be able to plant high trees on the Northern side, because of the neighbours, but some low wind barrier bushes will be possible. There also are some pine and fir trees, two isolated cherry trees, and a big plum on the Southern side.

current garden (click on image to enlarge)

As one can see from the drawing, I have not yet identified all bushes, but I hope I will know them all soon. I am not sure yet what to do with all the cherry laurel (prunus laurocerasus, laurierkers, laurbær-kirsebær, marked with a capital "L" on the map), since I am not so fond of them. They grow very tall and the leaves are hard to compost. I am not sure about their merits for wildlife compared to other bushes, but for the time being I will leave them where they are. The same goes for all the pine trees (which I think are pinus mugo) on the South-Western side of the house, which are not so well placed.

With many family members of different ages with different wishes using our summerhouse, I will not be able to get rid of all the lawn. To keep everyone happy, a big rectangle on the South-Western side will be kept for lawn games and a big wooden swing-climbing construction. Of course, it will be a lawn of grass mixed with "weed" and without using chemicals.

An interesting challenge will be to seduce deer into parts of our garden while protecting some of the plants we ourselves would like to harvest! One of the big challenges will be the slugs!

the pillars of our future garden

Once I had a good overview of the existing plants, the basic wishes and challenges of the garden, I eagerly started studying some basics on permaculture techniques and companion planting. I really love the notion of creating a healthy and self-sustaining garden which provides many functions both for wildlife and people.

a selection of the books I read to learn and get inspired

Then I made a first rough design of the future garden, which I guess will be a dynamic one adapted along the way based on observations and learning processes.
 

I created several main areas: the little orchard (North side), a little terrace area with a wall towards the South (South side of the shed), and the forest garden (North-West side), and the grass lawn with swings (South-West side). My main focus will be on the first three, but in between I will also try to improve the latter part.

My main aims are:

1. to turn the existing fruit orchard into a more self-supporting and healthy eco-system and replace the grass with guild plants (for protection, support, pollination, nutrition)

2. to create a quiet little terrace with a South wall (of the shed) with lots of bees and butterflies, lovely scents, and more sun loving plants, protected from the wind with shrubs and climbing plants, with shelters for solitary bees and butterflies

3. to make a small forest garden with horse shoe shaped beds (and maybe some swales), ending up in a herb spiral and a wild flower area for bees, butterflies and beneficiary insects

4. to reduce the grass covered area under trees and bushes as much as possible and use mulch layers and ground covering plants and bushes (many berries!) to achieve this 

5. to plant some extra bushes along the Southern fence for privacy and for wildlife

6. to make a compost area where I can store leaves, wood, grass, and plant tonics (and where I hope to make a hugelculture pile) covered from view by a low fence made of cut branches

7. to gather the rain water from the roof (and in the long run also re-use grey water) to water the plants

8. to install bird feeders and baths which can be moved around in the garden to fertilize soil where needed

9. to make piles of dead wood for wildlife and open the lower part of the fence for hedgehogs

10. to make nice constructions with willow branches for the grandchildren to play in
11. to connect to the neighbours and local similar initiatives

I know it sounds very ambitious, but with a little help from my teenage kids and with a long term perspective there is no need to get stressed. With a plan in mind, it is so much easier to take the first steps, like planting some pioneer plants and make the outlines of the future beds and paths.

I am not sure I dare to share my design and drawing of the future garden: it became quite difficult to decipher the scribbling on the different phases. At least for me it is readable and a nice item to frame one day ;-)