article about my garden in the Danish gardening magazine!

Click HERE to see the article as published in the Danish monthly magazine "Alt om Haven" (February 2016).

More photos of my garden in the article (use the link above)

Translation 

FIRST PAGE (side 40)

Introduction text "I choose plants which attract beneficial insects"

When permaculture designer Ilke Pedersen-Beyst and her family took over their new garden two years ago, there was not much else than grass and some trees. Since then, a lot has happened. Today, more bushes and fruit trees were planted around the grass lawn in the garden. The neighbours have big trees, so their garden is surrounded by green.

SECOND PAGE (side 41)

Text underneath photo herb spiral and garden: Ilke Pedersen-Beyst has transformed an average summerhouse plot into a flowering/blossoming little biotope with insects, birds, hedgehogs, and edible crops. Follow the garden and its developments on ibeesgarden.blogspot.com

THIRD PAGE (side 42)

Text underneath photo strawberries: Already the second year, the harvest of strawberries was satisfying. Enough to have a surplus for some good homemade organic marmalade.

What are you doing in the garden now?

I am very happy, because I just got my diploma as a permaculture designer. I will immediately use my new skills and I am busy transforming the whole garden. The grass lawn is getting smaller and smaller and I am working on getting more flowers in what is left of the lawn. The kids also need to have space to play with the ball and we have constructed some "living" structures made of willow for them. My goal is to make a garden, that is edible, which is easy to maintain, and has many different kinds of plants and flowers, that attract a big variety of bees, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, hedgehogs, and even toads and foxes.

What is your biggest challenge?

For most of the year, we live in Belgium, so the distance is of course the biggest challenge. That is why I go to great lengths to design it in such a way that there is a natural balance with as little maintenance as possible. I hope to achieve this by using many perennials and increasing the biodiversity with wild species that will give the garden more resilience; by choosing plants that attract beneficial insects; by suppressing weed with ground covering plants and mulch, like wood chips, that also improve the soil; and by creating microclimates that give different kinds of plants the best circumstances.

What is your favourite plant?

That is difficult to answer, because I have so many! All the wild and heritage flowers and all berries are on top of my list. Especially old...

(continued on FOURTH PAGE - side 43)

...and lovely scenting shrubs with edible berries for both people and birds, like elderberry, rowan, sloe, hawthorn and historical or wild roses. I also love plants that have many things to offer, like for example oregano. It can be used for cooking, it smells lovely, it is a fast ground cover, it is good for bees and butterflies, and it supports other plants.

Do you have a favourite spot in your garden?

Every spot that is a bit protected from the wind and surrounded with butterflies, bees, bumble bees, and birds, as well as with pretty flowers and scents.

How does your dream garden look like?

I dream of a balanced garden filled with food for both people and wildlife with a large diversity in species, ecosystems, and microclimates. I have seen permaculture gardens just like that, where it was not necessary to irrigate, to use fertilizers or pesticides, and where the harvest was big because of a very healthy soil. I know it is possible and I would like to try it myself. It will take some time, but I look forward to this exciting "dance" with nature. You can follow the gradual, but big transformation of my garden on my blog ibeesgarden.blogspot.com. In the future, I hope to help others to make their own permaculture garden.

Text with photos on third and fourth page

1. Part of the herbs in the garden are gathered in a stone herb spiral with the most drought loving plants on top

2. The blue cornflower (centurea cyanus) is easy and lovely and if you are good at cutting off the faded flowers, you can prolong its season with an entire month

3. In the lawn, the self-sown wild flowers make a rainbow of colours

4. Ilke uses the dried seeds of nettle (urtica) to sprinkle on her salad

5. Lavender (lavendula) is a hardy and drought resistant plant that looks nice most of the year. Both the flowers and the leaves can be used as a lovely scenting herb

6. Sage (salvia) is a beautiful and easy herb that attracts many beneficial insects and gives a great taste to many dishes   

My lawn

my herb spiral and the bees - part 2

I finalized my very own herb spiral! In a previous post, I mentioned the ideas and steps on how to build one. I had to adapt my initial plans a bit, but all in all, I am quite happy with the result. My first concession, was the location: due to many reasons, I could not build one just next to the kitchen door. The current location is still reachable "without making your slippers wet from the morning dew when you pick your herbs” (freely adapted from Bill Mollison). 

The current location of the spiral, will provide me with an indirect advantage: an extra shelter from the wind (and view) at my future private spot. It will create a little protected area between herb spiral,  the flower beds, and the garden shed. A partly hidden place where I can be on my own, between the butterflies and bees and surrounded by different scents floating to me from the herb and flowers nearby.

Strawberry runner inserted in outer wall

The second concession I made were the choice of stones. I inherited some old stones found in our garden and from my neighbour. I decided to use these as a base for the herb spiral and then to buy some of the same kind to be able to finalize the construction before the autumn. There was no room for a big spiral so the stones were piled up with rather big crevices between them and it all looked a bit too square to me. The result is not exactly what I had dreamed of, but with some luck the matured plants will make the difference. In permaculture, one is encouraged to turn the problems into solutions. I really like that way of thinking! The many crevices between the stones turned out to be excellent spots to squeeze in a lot of  strawberry runners! I added wild strawberries on the shady side and regular ones on the sunny side.

Solitary bee shelter protected from rain

Here and there, I left some bigger spaces between the stones to insert my solitary bee shelters. My son selected a mixture of plant stems found in the garden with a soft or hollow core for the bees to use as nesting places. These stems were then cut in pieces of about 20cm long and inserted as bundles on the South-Eastern side to provide them with as much sun as possible. Little pieces of broken plastic pots served as a roof to protect them from rain and wind. In the coming months, solitary bees of all sizes should find their way into these little caves, lay their eggs inside, and then close the entrances with chewed plant material to leave them to develop into baby bees by next spring.

Bumble bee nest integrated

The inner parts of the bumble bee nest

The bumble bee nest was made of bits and pieces found in the shed and the garden: a flower pot, a piece of chicken wire, a piece of flexible tube, some pebble stones for drainage and aeration, and some soft nesting material, like dried moss. With the entrance turning South-East, all of it was then covered with the soil and plants. Unfortunately, I did not find any mouse droppings to add to the nesting material, which should be a bonus to attract the bumble bees to start nesting there. Hopefully, this will do the trick.

Drainage layer inside the spiral

The sandy layer inside the spiral

Let us return to the construction process. With the help of my son, we figured out the precise shape and the number of stones needed. I added a lot of stones for drainage at the bottom, then sandy soil from an old sandpit, my own harvest of organic humus, some extra humus coming from a garden center, and some extra sand mixed in at the very top for the rosemary and thyme.

Rosemary, sage, oregano, and thyme

Thyme, oregano,and savory

I just loved to do the final bit: adding the plants. I took some shoots of lemon balm, some mature thyme and chives from the old herb patch. The other plants I bought at an organic farm: several species of oregano, summer savory, garlic chives, sage, rosemary, spearmint, and of course the strawberries. All the plants have their own specific niche: in the shade or sun, dry or wet, sandy or soil with humus. This should be the base of a self-supporting ecosystem with very little maintenance.

Grass clippings added as a mulch layer

Just before we left, I added some grass clippings on top of the bare soil between the plants. This should prevent too much weed from popping up and protect the soil from sun, wind, heavy rain fall, or drought. To make up for the square look of the brick stones, I added some round shaped pebble stones collected on our beach to decorate the spiral. The two water collecting devices are also important to me: to provide some drinking and bathing water for birds, who will then leave their droppings as fertilizing presents for the plants, but also to provide water for bees and butterflies and other useful insects. The dish at the bottom  is meant for the little hedgehogs (and other small mammals) which we are hoping to see in our garden. 

An herb spiral like this, gives an excellent opportunity to combine several permaculture principles, like edging, creating micro climates, gardening for wildlife and people, stacking functions, recycling material, low maintenance gardening, etc. 

The final result: my own herb spiral ready to go!

I look very much forward to follow the life in and around this little wildlife hotel the coming seasons!

my herb spiral and the bees - part 1

My garden would not be complete without an herb spiral. Some years ago, I designed a big one for an outdoor workshop in Brussels (Scheutbos, Molenbeek) and I immediately fell in love with it. An herb spiral is a beautiful summary of maximizing space and functions on a small scale. Creating a three dimensional structure in an organic shape is a nice implementation of the so-called edging technique as used in permaculture.  In addition, it is a structure beneficial for pollinators, giving food for people, and a good educational tool for both kids and adults ;-) I like to insert animal shelters and strawberries in mine as described in my model at the bottom of this post and as shown in these photos:

Solitary bee shelters inserted in the herb spiral (IBee design, 

Molenbeek)

Entrance of the hedgehog shelter and strawberries inserted in the herb spiral (IBee design, Molenbeek)

With a bit of luck and patience, one can find all the material nearby. I got my first load of stones from our kind neighbour who was cleaning up his garden. I found a flower pot and left overs from chicken wire in our shed and started piling up pieces of tiles, stones and some odd pebbles as my drainage layer. Once I find new material, I will continue building it. I would like to fill it up with my own compost, so you will have to be patient to see the photo of my finalized and then full grown herb spiral.

The basic layers of my future herb spiral with a bumble bee nest inserted, spring 2014

Here is how I did it:
1. a layer of cardboard or garden fabric to suppress weeds and grass.
2. draw (or use rope to outline) the shape of the spiral
3. first row of stones (bricks, stones, whatever you can use or reuse)
4. first layer of gravel stones, pieces of tiles, anything to make some drainage
5. insert bumble bee nest (and hedgehog nest if it is a big spiral) - this is the stage of the photo above
6. fill up with compost and mulch layers while creating a slope going up towards the middle of the spiral
7. on the way, insert solitary bees nests (made of branches of 20cm of different sizes or wood with holes drilled in it, or bricks with holes in) roofed with a tile (see photo at the top) and on the sunny (not windy or rainy) side
8. leave holes for plants to hang from the wall, like strawberries
10. plant herbs on correct position: moist lovers at bottom and those needing a dry spot on top
11. add a layer of bark chips or plant some cover plants to suppress weed both outside the spiral and on top of the soil in between the plants
12. add a little shallow pond at the bottom of the spiral

The bumble bee nest is rather easy to make: a flower pot turned upside down; gravel at the bottom; a piece of folded chicken wire on top and then some dry material like dried moss (or the nest material from an old mouse den, which bumble bees love); a 3 cm thick and approximately 20cm long piece of pipe going from underneath the pot upwards and sticking out of the spiral wall; some small pebbles and a roof on top of the flower pot to leave space for air and avoid rain coming in from the top. This whole nest will be covered with soil once the herb spiral is finished.