December 8, 2012

It has to start, the cleaning of the patio. The 'before' pictures are deceptive. It looks all green and pleasant, but if you were able to walk around you would see that it's overgrown, crowded out, and almost useless. I've sat and observed and noticed that very few birds enter the area. That is a bad sign. Occasionally, I'll see a rabbit. He's going to hate me during the transition. But he'll get over it once the new plants come in.

The 'before' pictures. This design was installed about fifteen years ago. Except for basic maintenance, nothing has been done to it since. As a basic, low maintenance design, it works. As a permaculture design, it's absolutely useless. It gives nothing back. As far as I can tell, even rodents don't live here.

The flat rocks in the middle-ish of the image is a waterfall. I don't think it's been turned on in over ten years. The top two feet can't even be seen because of the overgrowth.

In the corner of the fence was a bamboo patch. I distinctly remember my grandfather burying the bottom half of a metal drum and planting the bamboo in it to contain it's spread. Well, the bamboo escaped, and nothing really seems to grow in that corner now. 

That's rain water, not pond water. My grandfather got tired of cleaning it so gave the goldfish away and drained it. It has to be pumped out occasionally. The bridge is amazingly sturdy. It could easily hold five people or more. The railings, though, not so much.

 The waterfall is falling. So much debris has fallen into the corner that those plants have become a part of the ecosystem.

Behind the waterfall. Like I said, completely overgrown. The rose is the only flowering plant back there. It's not even visible unless it is flowering. I'm surprised at how much space is completely lacking in growth. I'm not sure why.

 'Wild' bamboo. As I said earlier, they escaped from the container in which they were originally planted. Notice that even after all of these years of neglect very little to nothing grows in the empty spaces. Surprising since it has layers and layers of leaves built upon it from which to develop healthy soil.

 Bags of pine bark mulch. They've been there since the area was designed this way, about fifteen years. Plants are growing out of some of the bags.

More dead space. I know that this area wasn't lined with a weed barrier, so I'm baffled as to why nothing grows here.

Rear view of the waterfall. Yes, there's a waterfall in there somewhere.

This area DOES have a weed barrier. Obviously, even after fifteen years, it's still effective. 

That's it for the tour. I'm dreading the work...who am I kidding, I'm almost giddy to get started. I might as well be giggling like a little school girl.

Suburban Hermit of Fayetteville signing off.

November 28, 2012

Well, I started cleaning up around the storage shed and decided that that area also needed a retaining wall. The process becomes addictive apparently.

 In the above image, the right side is the area behind the shed. The orientation of the photo can be confusing. The new wall can be seen in the very back of the image below, as compared to the left side of the image above..

 A closer view from the image above. The elevation of the yard in back reaches about the height of about three and a half blocks.

 This view is from the opposite direction of the right hand side of the top image. Note how sandy and dry the soil has become. The surface can become so dry that water will run off, almost taking a downpour before soaking in. In technical terms, it becomes temporarily hydrophobic.

The three mounds of dirt came out of the area behind the shed. I didn't even reach the original level because so many thick tree roots have grown into that space. It was the digging down and seeing the elevation difference which prompted me to build this wall. Considering all of the practice time that I've accumulated, it went quickly and smoothly.

 My kale is coming along nicely.

But the seeds that I planted in a soil ball seem to be struggling.

 The difference is obvious. Was this a failed experiment? No, because I learned not to do it again. Either direct plant the seeds or do a general broadcast.

Suburban Hermit of Fayetteville signing off.

November 16, 2012

Still, not much happening. Thought it would be a good time to post documentation pictures, just to show the current state of the work.

The frost finally got my squash.

Suburban Hermit of Fayetteville, signing off.

November 12, 2012

Not much happening. A simple tri-panel, instead of a photomerge, is enough to show the current state of the yard. I've pulled all of the old vines out. The logs from the back neighbor's house have been placed. I plan on covering them with dirt and compost and planting seeds on top of the resulting mound. The intent is that the logs will slowly rot, during which they will absorb water-acting as moisture storage, they will release nutrients, and they will give off heat-potentially extending the growing season. Regardless of results, this design adds variation to the landscape. I'm surprised at myself for not seeing my error sooner. I designed variation into the walls by curving them. Those curves create micro-climates, or, as Sepp Holzer calls them, biomes.

But I was so obsessed with getting the terraces flat, I failed to realize that I need variation in the vertical plane. The more micro-climates that I can introduce, the more bio-diversity that I can support. And mounds and dips are far more reflective of nature than curving walls. This thought has made me consider just how many other places could/should I add mounds and dips.

Suburban Hermit of Fayetteville, signing off.

October 28, 2012

Now is a good time to show some before-and-after pictures. Unfortunately, I only have a few 'before' pictures, plenty of 'after.' Use your imagination accordingly.

Amazingly, out of all the pictures that I took today, this pano-set is the closest to the above image. There will be other images in this post that show the original garden area from different angles, so some mental effort by the reader will be necessary. Your mileage will vary.

These two are almost identical. 

Note all of the trees that have been removed in the back neighbor's yard.

In the two images below, in the top image, the reader can see how far out the branches reached. I couldn't even get into the same position as in the lower image. The red things hanging from the wall are ramps for working on cars. I have not moved them.  The sink will be getting re-installed. It was originally there so my grandfather could clean fish caught on his fishing trips.

The area filled in by the horseshoe shape in the lower image is the exact area between the fence on the left and the cinder blocks on the right in the upper image. It took five layers of urbanite to level it out. BUT, it should be noted that the plane in front of the cinder blocks had to be lowered to match the front edge of the second tier. That act probably lowered that area by two layers of urbanite.

The reference point in the lower image starts a few feet away from the cinder block in the upper image, going towards the storage shed.

The next two images are fairly congruent. The lowest image shows how much height is actually involved. It's hard to see when looking towards the fence.

The lower image is simply a close-up perspective of the terracing in the above image, from the middle of the image, moving to the left. If you remember, that is where the GIANT watermelon was growing. I really believe that the heat gain from the blocks helped that watermelon grow that big; watermelons are heat-loving plants.

After just one season, the build-up on the second tier is already enough that I have to dig it out. I'm considering lowering this whole level by about six inches. As it is, it's already too high for the compost, straw/hay, and mulch with which I plan to layer this area.

I 'found' an entire row of concrete stepping stones hiding under the dirt. I thought I remembered them. 

Another mold or fungus is attacking my squash. Let me know what this is, anyone.

October 26, 2012

Couple of surprises this week. Found some volunteer watermelons in the upper bed. I'm confused by this. Seeds responds to temperature and moisture. The ground has been wet enough, but the temperature has been nowhere near warm enough, I thought. If I had a greenhouse, I would try to cultivate these. Sadly, these are destined to become in-the-ground compost.

My second surprise, the roots on that gourd! With a support system like that, no wonder its vines can spread out so much. I can't even find the end of the roots on the lower part of the picture.

I did score a bonus this week. An empty, grassy lot in my area gets mowed about three times a year. Each time, big piles of grass straw gets left in rows. I find it strange, the county, or city, not sure which, wants the tall grass cut for aesthetic reasons but leaving the cut grass in mounded rows is okay. Go figure. Doesn't matter to me, that makes it easier for me to rake up and bag. This is my second bonus. The first has already been spread out as a very thick ground cover, as you can see in the area in front of the pile. I'm testing to see how effectively it suppresses weeds and grass. So far, it's doing a good job.

My potted seeds are sprouting nicely. Broccoli, I believe.

 Lettuce. Too many in this pot, but I'm not going to thin them, just to see what happens.

 Carrots in the next two pictures. I'm interested to see what happens in the vase.

Suburban Hermit of Fayetteville, signing off.