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!

strawberry fields

I felt so lucky to get good advice and some wonderfully thriving plants from our neighbour! She came with a whole wheelbarrow filled with plants for my garden! I did not mind to alter some of my plans and integrate her presents into my garden. Besides columbine, garlic, forget-me-not, common mulein, and linaria, most of the treasure consisted of strawberries. I do not yet know which variety she gave me, but the plants look strong and healthy.

I created two strawberry "fields": one as part of the little orchard and a central one close to my future herb, veggie, and flower garden. In both fields, I inserted their best friend: borage (borago officinalis, komkommerkruid, hjulkrone). 

Borage (borago officinalis, berganie, hjulkrone)

Borage has several advantages for strawberries:
- it attracts pollinators
- it attracts predators, like mantis and wasps to get rid of pests 
- it is a good nutrient accumulator (e.g. K, Si, Ca and P)
- it improves the flavor of strawberries!

Additional advantages: 
- it is a pretty flower
- the flowers (and leaves) are edible and look very pretty in a salad
- the bees love it
- it is one of the host plants of the painted lady butterfly 
- it is an excellent mulch plant 

Knowing that I would not be there to manage the beds for two months, I had to plant the strawberry plants and borage seeds immediately. I chose for two strategies: 
1. for my bed on a slight slope, I removed the grass sods and added white clover seeds as a future ground cover (see photo below).
2. in the other bed, situated between the fruit trees, I just removed the moss between the grass and threw my white clover seeds in between on the cleared spots.

One of my strawberry fields with borage and clover, with thanks to Karina

For a week or so, I irrigated both beds thoroughly each day and then, with a small heart, I left them for themselves... 

Then, my kind sweet neighbour gave me another present. When I told her about my frustration to have to leave my plants and seeds for some months, she said: "the birds might eat some, the slugs might take some, and the lack of rain might kill some, but some of the seeds will survive and they will be strong". To let go. I will try!

the butterfly mandala

The initial idea was to make a horse-shoe shaped veggie bed with a wild flower bed around it. With the summerhouse being far away and the urge for low maintenance garden, I first want to make a butterfly mandala shaped bed and add veggies later on. I love butterflies. One of my main goals for this garden is to attract many of them and this includes providing for host plants for their eggs and caterpillars. Many of the host plants, like nettle, are regarded as weed, but I intend to make sure they will have a space somewhere.  

Butterflies love to flutter from one plant to another while being protected from wind. The north-western wind will find a barrier with our maples, firs, and elderberries. I will increase the barrier with two extra fruit trees which will be planted later in what is now designed as our wild flower area. In addition, they prefer flowers in several heights, like in steps. Finally, the more species of flowers, the more butterflies and species one will attract. 

Mandala flower bed almost ready to sow

The challenge was to create the bed and sow the seeds before the summer. I did not opt for a mulch layer, because that would take to much time to decompose and make the soil right to sow. We simply removed the grass surface. All the grass sods were used for our hedgehog hill, which I will show in another post.  

During the past months, I had carefully collected some seeds beneficial for butterflies. I made a first sketch to place all the lower flowers on the south-east side and making the mandala gradually higher towards the north-western side.   



Sketch in my notebook of the future flower mandala

The plants I have selected for the mandala are the following:

- spring vetch (1)
- flax (2)
- red clover (3)
- flax, different from (2) and slightly higher variety (4)
- cornflower (5)
- common vervain (Verbena officinalis, ijzerhard, læge-jernurt)(6)
- sea holly (Eryngium) (7)
- echinops (8)
- borage (9)
- purple coneflower, (echinacea purpurea) (10)
- cornflower (11)
- white coneflower, (Echinacea alba) (12)
- yarrow (a. millefolium) (13)
- echinops ritro (14)

echinacea purpurea, photo: ©Janus

The numbers between brackets correspond with the area numbers in the drawing above. I also have added some white clover in those beds where the seeds were scarcely spread. I hope this will keep the unwanted weed, like grass, at bay. Around the entire mandala, my daughter planted giant sunflowers which will follow the sun with their pretty heads. I doubt the bed will ever look like the drawing...

verbena officinalis, photo:©Janus

I admit, I have no idea, whether this flower bed will be successful. There are many challenges in leaving such a freshly sown bed on its own for two months: drought, birds, slugs, cats, and invasive weeds, just to mention a few. But there is nothing I can do about it and I will just need to let go! With a bit of luck, I might be able to sit in the midst of my butterflies and flowers during the summer months. In my mind, I am already sitting there...

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 ;-)