As you work on your garden you will inevitably develop a list of things you want to include, for your own convenience or comfort, for efficiency, to increase productivity or simply to make the garden more interesting. Here are a few of the things on my wish list (not necessarily in order or preference).
Greenhouse
This has to be my top choice, in fact it’s not really a wish because I make sure it comes true. It expands the range of gardening possibilities in so many ways. It enables you to overwinter tender plants, you can grow transplants for your vegetable garden, propagate trees and perennial food plants, grow salad greens (or even actual crops) in winter and gives you a place to dry seeds and other stuff in summer. It also gives you a nice place to work or sit when it’s cold outside, which is really nice.
Pond
A pond is a beautiful focal point for the garden and I often find myself sitting and watching it (it’s like garden TV and can often be a distraction). It also increases biodiversity by being a magnet for wildlife (bees, birds, frogs, insects) and allowing you to grow a whole range of low maintenance (well at least they never need watering) aquatic plants. A suprising number of these plants are also edible and many are cultivated as food crops in Asia (they can also be a source of biomass for mulch or compost material.
Fruit bearing arbor
This is beautiful and adds a whole new dimension to the garden. If located close to the house it also provides a comfortable place to sit on hot days and will become a primary sitting area. At the same time if you select the plants carefully it will be a low maintenance source of delicious fruit (even if it is high maintenance it would still be very worthwhile).
Attractive fences
When you first start the garden you will often start by encircling it with an inexpensive fence. After a while you might want to replace some of the more visible parts with something more visually attractive (fences are a major focal point).
Shed
A shed is almost an essential for storing stuff, not only to keep it all safe, out of the weather and in one place, but also to stop it cluttering up other areas of the garden. A shed should be attractive as it is a very important focal point. If it isn’t then you should disguise it with plants, paint, new siding, or just by leaning attractive stuff against it!
Vegetable garden
This is pretty much the center of my garden, the place where I spend most of my gardening time and where I grow most of the food. It should be attractive and comfortable (have a nice shaded seating area to relax, think and drink tea).
Forest garden
I have quite a big garden and I find the best way to productively fill up areas not needed for anything else (but not left wild) is to plant them as forest garden.
Bush fruit garden
The bush fruit (blackberries, blackcurrants, raspberries, blueberries) are some of the most nutritious, tasty and productive plants you can grow and are some of my favorite plants. I grow a lot in the forest garden areas, but I also have an area for growing those bush fruit that birds won’t leave alone. By concentrating them in a small area they are easier to protect with netting.
Rainwater collection
Even though we may go for 6 months during the summer without a drop of rain, we actually have abundant rainfall here. It just happens to pour down in the other 6 months. The simplest way to use this is to allow it to percolate into the soil and then pump it back out of a well (and use deep rooted plants that can tap into it directly). I would love to collect the water directly from my rooftops, but this would require very large capacity storage and as yet I haven’t found an inexpensive way to do it (if you know of one let me know).
Drip irrigation
In our dry climate watering is essential if you want to grow much through the summer. If you have a large garden this can take up a lot of time and is especially difficult if you have to go away for any length of time. The solution to this problem is a drip irrigation system and a timer, which makes watering essentially automatic. This doesn’t mean you can then forget about watering though, you must still keep a careful eye on your garden.
Artwork and ornamentation
This personalizes your garden and makes it unique to you. It can be anything from your own artwork, to stuff you find, beg or (god forbid) buy. It’s a strange phenomenon but almost anything you put out in the garden looks better there than anywhere else.
Gate
The front entrance gate should look good because it is an important transition point and gives people the first impression of your garden. I not only want an attractive gate but also an overhead trellis covered in attractive, vigorous and productive climbing plants. In my last garden I grew Hops around the gate, but I’m planning to try hardy kiwi this time.
I would love to collect the water directly from my rooftops, but this would require very large capacity storage and as yet I haven’t found an inexpensive way to do it (if you know of one let me know).
ReplyDeleteWe use four 1000 Litre Rain Barrels - https://picasaweb.google.com/PortagePerennials/1000LitreRainBarrels. The cost was around $100-140 each. We have them on three corners of the house. Our primary gardens are down hill from the tanks so watering is via gravity feed. If the gardens were on the same level, I'd try raising them a few feet off the ground on very well constructed stands. A pool pump would probably work as well.
Mike
Those are some nice rain barrels, I'm envious! Unfortunately out here I estimate I would need about 40,000 litres to get through the summer. I've looked at 5000 gallon (18000 litre)plastic water tanks which cost about $1600, but can't justify the cost (or afford to spend the money. An above ground swimming pool is probably the cheapest option, but not very durable. If civilization collapses and the power goes out permanently I would probably go with a hole in the ground lined with pond liner.
ReplyDeleteWow. That's a huge amount of water. How are you using it?
ReplyDelete40000 is a generous guesstimate, I'm not sure how much exactly (it may only be 30,000 or even less). I have maybe an acre of cultivated plants with 5 drip zones (2 vegetable garden zones and 3 mixed forest garden type plantings) There is also another drier vegetable garden plot on soaker hose, as well as a pond and various disconnected bits.
ReplyDeleteI consider myself pretty frugal with my watering and tend to give too little rather than too much (I also use gray water). I only water my fruit trees for the first couple of years, then they are on their own (and do great). I probably waste some water growing unusual plants, which don't belong here, but that is my passion. I am also still planting new things every year which take water to get established.
Another potential source of waste is the drip zones. Drip is very efficient in theory, but when you add a timer there is always the chance of watering when you don't need to.