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livingcorner · 3 years ago

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Rose Garden Ideas – How to Design with Roses – Garden Design

Create a beautiful rose garden for your front or back yard, small or large garden, and learn what to plant with roses By Janet Loughrey

As one of the world’s most beloved garden plants, roses deserve a prominent spot in the landscape. While these long-lived shrubs have a reputation of being somewhat fussy, newer cultivars bred for disease-resistance and vigor have made growing roses easy for even novice gardeners.

You're reading: Rose Garden Ideas – How to Design with Roses – Garden Design

A rose garden can be as simple as a single rose specimen interspersed with a few other plants. It can be as elaborate as a formal landscape embellished with hardscaping, arbors, seating, and statuary. Even smaller spaces can accommodate roses in containers, raised beds, or narrow side yards. Here are the basics of rose garden design, along with some ideas to get you started.

On this page:

PLANNING A ROSE GARDEN

ROSE GARDENS IN DIFFERENT SPACES

ROSE GARDEN LANDSCAPING TIPS

WHAT TO PLANT WITH ROSES

ROSE GARDEN DESIGN IDEAS

MORE ROSE GARDENS

PLANNING A ROSE GARDEN

Choose your site:

Make sure the site gets at least 6-8 hours of sun a day and has good air circulation to help prevent disease.

Make a plan:

Gather ideas from books and online sources for inspiration.

Draw up a rough sketch as you’re brainstorming to help visualize what the finished garden will look like.

Include pathways for easy access.

Beds should be small enough to allow for pruning and other maintenance chores.

Consider structures such as pergolas, arbors or trellises, as well as seating and decorative accents.

Choose a style:

Decide what kind of rose garden you want. Do you want a clean formal look with structured hardscape, or a more natural appearance with other plants mixed in? Pick a style that will harmonize with your home’s exterior.

Pick a color scheme:

Select colors that you enjoy and that will also help unify the home with the landscape.

Prepare the soil:

Roses like rich, well-draining soil with a slightly acidic pH between 6.0-7.0. Amend the soil with compost or other organic matter. For containers, use a high quality all-purpose potting soil and make sure pots have adequate drainage holes.

Plant selection:

Choose roses that are easy-care and hardy in your region. Select varieties for traits including size, shape, flower color, and form, fragrance and repeat or continual bloom. Many newer varieties such as Oso Easy Roses are bred for disease-resistance, vigor, and long bloom time. Some older types, particularly hybrid teas, can be higher maintenance and more disease-prone.

CREATE A ROSE GARDEN IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF SPACES

Plant fragrant rose varieties near a deck or patio to enjoy their fragrance up close. Gardener: Diana Gough. Designer: Phil Thornburg. Photo by: Janet Loughrey.

Large rose garden:

Create a design with formal rooms or mixed borders that are grand in scale so it doesn’t get lost in the surrounding landscape.

Keep scale in mind when adding hardscape, seating and structures such as arbors and pergolas, which are typically included in rose gardens.

Choose larger rose varieties that will show up better in the landscape.

Plant in drifts of 3 to 5 specimens of the same variety for greater visual impact.

Plant larger groupings with the same flower color for a more unified look.

Small rose garden:

Choose smaller rose varieties that will stay in scale with a more intimate space.

Maximize the use of space by including vertical elements such as climbing roses and trellises.

Select a few key rose specimens rather than trying to crowd in a lot of different varieties.

Limit the color scheme to one or two hues so the design doesn’t look too busy.

Choose roses with lighter colored flowers in hues of white or yellow to make the space look larger and brighter.

Front yard rose garden:

Leave plenty of room around rose plants so they don’t crowd sidewalks or other trafficked areas.

Don’t allow plants to obstruct entrances or doors so visitors don’t get scratched by thorns.

For foundation plantings, allow enough distance between shrubs and the home’s facade to provide adequate air circulation.

Backyard rose garden:

Include seating areas in different parts of the yard, which will encourage you to spend more time enjoying your rose garden.

Site the rose garden where you can enjoy it from inside the home.

Plant fragrant rose varieties near a deck or patio where you can enjoy the sweet perfume.

Place a bench, water feature, or statuary at the far end of the rose garden to draw the eye through the landscape and encourage visitors to wander and linger.

ROSE GARDEN LANDSCAPING TIPS

Create a grand entrance to your home with a rose-covered arbor. Gardener: Mary DeNoyer. Photo by: Janet Loughrey.

Read more: The Best Method for Drying and Storing Fresh Herbs

Grow vertically:

Include climbing roses to maximize your space. Train other vining plants such as clematis to grow up through shrub or climbing roses to create exciting flower combinations.

Grow horizontally:

Train climbers along a fence to define garden rooms or to soften an unsightly chain link fence.

Plant in containers:

Many roses can be successfully grown in containers, a good solution for small spaces, apartment balconies, patios, and decks. Containers should be at least 15 to 20 inches in diameter and 18 to 24 inches deep. Half whiskey barrels work well. Miniature roses can be grown in smaller pots or hanging baskets. (See more on growing roses in pots.)

Cover a slope:

Mass groundcover varieties such as Flower Carpet® or Drift® roses along a slope for low-maintenance erosion control.

Plant in drifts:

For greater impact, plant in groups of 3-5 specimens of the same variety.

Plant a hedge:

Plant a row of taller shrub roses to create privacy from the street. A row of shorter groundcover roses can be planted along a foundation, in a curbside strip, or used to define garden areas.

Make an entrance:

Create a grand entrance to your home with an inviting entryway complete with a rose arbor and adjacent plantings to soften the landscape.

Create a transition:

Use a rose-covered arbor in a side yard to define the transition between front and back yards.

Use as a background planting:

Place climbers along a tall wooden fence to soften the backdrop and break up the expanse of wood.

Foundation planting:

Combine landscape roses with other shrubs that bloom at different times along the front of your home for a season-long display of color.

Mixed border:

Use low-growing ground cover roses near the front of a mixed border or taller semi-climbers in back to establish height and layers.

WHAT TO PLANT WITH ROSES

A curbside planting of roses underplanted with perennial geraniums offers screening and privacy. Garden and photo by: Janet Loughrey.

A rose garden can be greatly enhanced by incorporating other plants as part of the overall design. Roses go well with a wide variety of trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals. Choose plants that have the same cultural requirements of full sun, ample water and rich soil.

Also, consider how much maintenance your roses will need:

Hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas, climbers, and miniatures all require regular maintenance and pruning, as well as winter protection in cold climates. Companion plants should be confined to in front of or behind roses, not in between them, to allow easy access.

Species, shrub, old garden, and landscape roses require only minimal maintenance: cleaning up in winter and deadheading as needed when in bloom. These types of roses can be surrounded with perennials, annuals, bulbs, and shrubs.

Flowering companions:

Intersperse plants that flower at different times to extend the bloom season. These can include perennials or annuals such as petunia, verbena, or calibrachoa.

Complement and contrast:

Pair roses with other plants in complementary hues to create drama and contrast. A gold-colored rose such as Oso Easy Lemon Zest® would pair well with Rapido Blue Carpathian bellflower or ‘Violet Profusion’ salvia.

Trees:

Add different heights to a mixed border or formal rose garden with trees. These can include snowbell (Styrax japonicus), fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus), dogwood (Cornus) and crabapple (Malus).

Shrubs:

Enhance the landscape by providing contrasting color, texture, and structure with shrubs. These can include boxwood, spirea, bluebeard, and daphne.

Groundcovers:

Use groundcovers as a living mulch and weed-suppressing carpet. Good rose companions include perennial geraniums, dead nettle, bugleweed, and lady’s mantle.

Perennials:

Provide contrast with perennials of different size, structure, and color. Good rose companions include alliums, lavender, catmint, salvia, phlox, and speedwell.

Read more: How to Get Rid of Garden & Lawn Grubs Naturally (Guide) | Install-It-Direct

Vines:

Climbers can be trained up or alongside rose plants for an extra layer of color. These may include clematis, climbing bleeding heart (Dicentra scandens), morning glory and jasmine.

ROSE GARDEN IDEAS

Plant fragrant rose varieties near a deck or patio to enjoy their fragrance up close. Gardener: Diana Gough. Designer: Phil Thornburg. Photo by: Janet Loughrey.

Combine roses with other plants of different heights for a layered tapestry. Gardener: Jeff Clark. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

A formal rose garden is characterized by distinct lines, clipped hedging and structures such as pergolas and arbors. Gardener and designer: Nancy Cutler. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

A rose-covered gate marks the transition between the front and back yards. Gardener: Mary DeNoyer. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

Train roses vertically to add varying layers to the landscape. Gardeners: Darin Simmons and Matthew Greydanus, Laurel Hedge. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

Train climbing roses along a fence to create an attractive screen for privacy. Gardeners: Danny Hills and Wayne Hughes, Lonesomeville Gardens. Photo: Janet Loughrey.

Roses combine well with many perennials, shrubs, trees, and annuals. Photo: Matthewshutter / Shutterstock.

MORE ROSE GARDENS

RELATED: How to Grow Climbing Roses Growing Knock Out Roses Pruning Climbing Roses How to Treat Black Spot on Roses How to Get Rid of Aphids How to Treat Powdery Mildew

Source: https://livingcorner.com.au Category: Garden

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johnfrenchlandscapes · 4 years ago

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Permaculture and the Home Garden: Finding a Balance

Written by Christy Wilhelmi and published on https://grocycle.com/.

“Permaculture” means different things to different people, as it should, since it is a whole systems approach, and systems are diverse in use and in method. Coined by David Holmgren and Bill Mollison in the late ’70s, “permaculture” was defined, according to Holmgren.com.au, as “Consciously designed landscapes which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fiber, and energy for provision of local needs.”

The term now encompasses many strategies and goals in gardening, agriculture, and landscaping. Just as our Western medicine has begun to embrace some Eastern-based beliefs of mind-body, or whole system health care, we gardeners embrace a larger picture: permaculture as a way of sustainability for future generations. Sustainable practices are perceived as a noble pursuit for some, a way of life for others, a catch-phrase for even more.

Through permaculture we are recalling in our gardens and landscapes the way plants grow in nature. However, since many of us move often—from one town or suburb to another, across the state or the country—we, the backyard gardeners, the growers of salads, berries, herbs, and flowers, may think that it takes heavy labor, much time, and a big budget to accomplish permaculture. Otherwise, why would anyone NOT prioritize sustainable practices?

Permaculture Farming: The Ultimate Guide and Examples

If you’re looking for a way to produce food while working with nature instead of against it, permaculture is your answer.

What is permaculture farming? Permaculture gives farmers a way to achieve high yields and productivity while doing it in a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly way than conventional farming methods. It applies a more holistic approach to farming crops or livestock.

In this article, you’ll learn what permaculture is, the 12 principles of permaculture, its benefits, and several real-world permaculture practices.

What Is Permaculture?

Permaculture is an approach to agricultural design that focuses on whole systems thinking, as well as using or simulating patterns from nature.

The term originated from David Holmgren in 1978, but the practices of permaculture date back much further.

Permaculture has 3 core tenants:

Care for the earth. In other words, help all life systems continue to exist and multiply. Because if we don’t have a healthy planet, humans can’t exist at all.

Care for the people. Allow people to access resources they need to survive.

Fair share. You should only take what you need, and reinvest any surplus. Any extra can go forward to helping fulfill the two other core tenants. This includes returning waste products back into the system so it can be made useful again.

Conventional agriculture tends to work against nature, instead of with it.

We tear up whatever natural ecosystem was on the land before, and turn it into a blank slate that we can plant crops or raise livestock on. But there’s another way.

By using principles of permaculture, you’re working with nature, instead of against it. That means that you can let nature do most of the work for you.

Read my beginners guide of How To Start A Permaculture Garden

Learn How To Create A Permaculture Orchard Guide

The 12 Principles of Permaculture

David Holmgren’s original ideas regarding permaculture can be broken down into twelve design principles.

1. Observe and Interact

Take time to observe nature before making any decisions or changes. Often just by observing, we can get a lot of insight into how to design our farm or garden to suit what’s already there.

2. Catch and Store Energy

In nature, resources tend to come in peak periods. We get a lot of sunlight in the summer, but much less in the winter. In some places there are rainy seasons some of the time, and droughts other parts of the time.

Permaculture is big on capturing resources like rainwater or solar electricity so they can be used later as needed.

3. Obtain a Yield

Make sure you’re being rewarded for the work that you’re putting in. After all, you probably aren’t farming just for a hobby. You want to get food, an income, or something else in return. You can’t work on an empty stomach.

4. Apply Self-regulation and Accept Feedback

Hold yourself accountable, and also be open to suggestions and critiques from others. If there is something you’re doing that’s inappropriate for your situation, you want to know about it, so your systems can function well.

5. Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services

Nature has an abundance of renewable resources that we can make use of. We should prioritize those, and try to reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources.

6. Produce No Waste

Being “zero waste” is a big trend right now, but really it all started with permaculture. If we value all of the resources that we have available and use a bit of ingenuity, we can make sure that nothing goes to waste.

7. Design From Patterns to Details

Take a look at nature and society. You can usually observe patterns in things like how beehives are organized, the design on a snail shell, or other things to give inspiration for your designs.

You can borrow from these designs and add some details and flair of your own.

8. Integrate Rather Than Segregate

Permaculture is all about having things support each other and work together, instead of having everything exist as an island unto itself.

By pairing different plants, livestock, and other objects together correctly, we can take advantage of relationships they can have with each other.

9. Use Small and Slow Solutions

Permaculture isn’t about making big changes overnight. Making gradual changes and working with slow systems makes them much easier to maintain.

Plus they tend to have a more sustainable outcome. When it comes to permaculture, slow and steady wins the race.

10. Use and Value Diversity

Where conventional farming is all about monoculture and many farmers traditionally only grow one or two crops, permaculture is big on diversity.

A diverse system is much less vulnerable to threats like pests, diseases, and other problems than a homogeneous one. Don’t put your eggs all in one basket.

11. Use Edges and Value The Marginal

Where two different things meet is usually where the most interesting stuff happens. It’s usually the most productive and diverse part of the whole system.

12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change

Change is inevitable. By making careful observations and then stepping in at the right time, we can make a positive outcome based on changes instead of negative ones.

Read my guide on How To Start A Permaculture Garden here.

The Benefits of Permaculture

Permaculture has a bunch of benefits that make it an attractive choice for anyone who has land and is looking to grow food, from farmers all the way down to backyard gardeners. Some of the benefits include:

Reduced water usage

You can save on water bills by making use of wastewater and rainwater. Even for homeowners this is worthwhile, but for larger farms it really becomes a more cost effective and efficient way of watering your crops.

It costs less

Permaculture is more cost-effective than growing plants conventionally. You don’t have to spend money on things like pesticides or fertilizers.

Since permaculture systems require less maintenance, usually all you need to do is water crops and occasionally mulch, they also save money in terms of labor.

Reduced waste

If you’re using a permaculture system, nothing goes to waste. Garden waste, leaves, table scraps, and other waste products get turned into fertilizer or food for livestock.

Some permaculture enthusiasts take this further and even make use of things like compost toilets to truly live a zero waste lifestyle. Making use of byproducts is what really makes permaculture sustainable.

Nature does most of the work

Once everything is correctly set up in your permaculture garden, it will take care of itself much more than a conventional one.

Water can be stored in human-made water features to attract birds, frogs, and other beneficial wildlife that will help remove pests as well. Companion planting similarly helps to keep insect problems to a minimum.

Permaculture gardens require a lot less maintenance overall.

Less pollution

Permaculture is a more natural way of growing food and the use of any motorized farm equipment like tractors is rare.

Less toxins

Permaculture uses natural fertilizers and pest control methods and is usually considered organic, so you’re not getting exposed to all of the chemicals you might be if you’re using pesticides and other artificial products on your crops.

Improved values

By practicing permaculture, you’ll naturally develop more ethical and positive values like wasting less, only using as much as you need, reducing pollution, and helping others.

You’ll promote green living through use of only natural fertilizers and pesticides.

More self-sufficiency

Permaculture allows a farmer or gardener to have a wider array of crops on their land. It gives you the self-reliance of being able to grow whatever you want or need to eat.

If there’s extras leftover, you can always learn how to preserve it for later use.

Applicable to existing systems

Existing agricultural systems and land can be transitioned over to the principles of permaculture. Anywhere that you can typically grow food can be used for permaculture on a large or small scale.

Common Permaculture Practices

In the decades since Holmgren first wrote about permaculture, a wide variety of new techniques and practices that fall under the general umbrella of permaculture have sprung up and become included under the topic.

Here are some of the more common subcategories of permaculture.

1) Agroforestry

Agroforestry is an approach to permaculture that combines trees or shrubs along with livestock or crops. The name comes from the combination of agriculture and forestry.

These two seemingly separate fields work together to create more sustainable, healthy, profitable, and productive systems.

Under the heading of agroforestry, you have forest farming, which is really an entire permaculture topic unto itself. But the basic idea is to use a seven-layered system to create your food forest.

This includes a canopy layer, low tree layer, shrub layer, herbaceous layer, rhizosphere, ground cover layer, and vertical layer.

It’s designed to mimic naturally-occurring forests, but using nut and fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, and other plants that are useful for humans.

Other agroforestry systems include silvopastoral and silvoarable. Silvopastoral systems combine trees with foraging livestock, while silvoarable combines trees with companion crops.

Alley cropping is another agroforestry technique that involves cultivating food, specialty crops, or forage in between wide rows of trees.

As you might imagine, there is a lot of overlap between these different types of agroforestry and they have a lot in common, so the lines aren’t always perfectly clear.

For example, alley cropping can be used as part of a silvoarable system.

What all types of agroforestry have in common is that they can help to improve crop production, diversify farm income, and provide protection and other benefits to crops.

Having nut trees alongside foraging livestock means that you get the benefits of additional income from the nuts that you gather.

The trees provide protection from the wind, rain and other elements for livestock and reduce the risk of mortality. And animals produce waste as they forge which in turn fertilizes the trees and boosts their production capacity. Examples of cultures around the world combining agriculture with forestry are surprisingly common. They stretch back hundreds of years or more, from Southeast Asia to North America.

Learn more agroforestry technics in this Agroforestry Ultimate Guide and Examples.

2) Hügelkultur

Hügelkultur is German meaning “hill culture.” It’s a technique whereby large amounts of wood are buried to improve the water retention abilities of the soil.

This decaying wood acts like a sponge to hold onto water that seeps into the ground. Often compostable plant materials are planted on top of the mound and eventually composted into the soil as well.

A Hügelkultur is a great way to follow the permaculture principle of catching and storing energy.

Water during rainy times of year gets trapped in the underground wood, which can often hold enough volume to help keep plants alive even through an extended dry season.

This practice is a great alternative to burning wooden debris and other unwanted wood. Instead of releasing carbon into the atmosphere when it’s burned, the wood’s carbon gets sequestered back into the ground.

A Hügelkultur mound usually has a lifespan of 5 or 6 years before the wood fully rots and the process needs to be repeated again.

3) Harvesting Rainwater and Greywater

Instead of just letting rainwater run off your land, you can accumulate and store it to use later on. This is embodying the permaculture principle of “catch and store energy.”

Most rainwater is collected from roofs. Homes, barns, and other structures on your farm likely already have eavestroughs that collect and move water away from the buildings.

To harvest rainwater, all you need to do is hook up a large tank to your downspout collect this water, instead of simply letting it soak into the ground and go to waste.

Another water catchment method is stormwater harvesting. It differs from rainwater harvesting in that it deals with the collection of stormwater from creeks, drains, and other waterways instead of from roofs.

One way farmers can create a stormwater harvesting system is by making a cistern or water reservoir at the base of a hill. This will catch most of the water which flows down the hillside. The advantage to stormwater harvesting over rainwater harvesting is that a much larger volume of water than rainwater harvesting can. The downside is that it collects a larger amount of pollutants.

To mitigate this, normally rocks and silt are incorporated into the hill to partially filter the water before it arrives at the cistern.

Both rainwater and stormwater can be used for a variety of applications, including water for irrigation and livestock, as well as even drinking water if properly treated first.

What the water will be used for determines the extent to which it needs to be treated. The water would need to be screened, disinfected, and filtered before it’s potable for humans.

One final source of reusable water on the farm is greywater. This is water that comes from activities in the home or around the farm like taking a bath, washing dishes, or doing the laundry.

This water is different and kept separate from the blackwater of toilets or septic systems, which is difficult to reuse.

Greywater can’t be reused for drinking water since it contains soaps and detergents, but can be used for landscape irrigation and other purposes.

Human waste can be repurposed, although the process is harder and less practical. The two most common approaches are composting or using the material to create biogas.

Biogas is methane from human waste which can be used as a fuel for cooking or heating. Even after composting, it’s not recommended to use human manure on crops because of the high risk of pathogens and bacterial contamination, although they can be used on trees and shrubs.

Getting composting toilets approved by your local sanitation authorities can be a difficult ordeal, so they’re less commonly used.

4) Cell Grazing

Grazing is usually seen as a negative activity that has the ability to destroy the environment if not practiced responsibly. And it’s true that allowing livestock to overgraze an area can have negative consequences.

Under permaculture, cell grazing (also called rotational grazing) is the preferred method. This involves moving groups of livestock regularly between different fields, pastures, or forests. Either ruminant animals (like cows, goats, and sheep) or non-ruminant animals (like pigs, rabbits, or flocks of geese) can be used effectively for cell grazing.

When done responsibly, the disturbances caused by grazing animals can actually prompt a better ecology and allow plants to regrow more quickly.

Cell grazing involves closely monitoring and monitoring livestock and how they’re interacting with the land.

Plants need adequate rest between grazings, so it’s important that an area gets a rest period to regrow after it has been grazed.

However, you also don’t want to over rest an area or plants can go through lignification (become woody), resulting in lower productivity. So it’s a delicate balancing act.

Even vegans and others opposed to using animals for meat, milk, or fiber can still keep livestock for grazing by using what’s called conservation grazing.

This is the practice of using animals like sheep and goats to eat invasive plants, or allowing them to replace your lawnmower to keep grass short. Animal welfare is maximized, as they’re closely monitored.

Farmers can ensure their livestock are getting sufficient quality and quantity of water, and their nutrition can be managed and supplementation provided as needed.

Conservation farming provides a low-stress environment for domestic animals while also allowing them to contribute productively to the farm and earn their keep.

5) Sheet Mulching

Many farmers and gardeners already make use of mulching, which is just any kind of protective cover placed on top of the soil to retain water and prevent weed growth.

Wood chips, cardboard, plastic, stones, and other materials are all commonly used.

Sheet mulching is an organic no-dig technique that tries to mimic the soil buildup that happens naturally in forests, namely how leaves cover the ground. The practice of sheet mulching is also sometimes referred to as “lasagna gardening” since it uses many alternating layers of materials. In a cross-section, land that has had sheet mulching applied to it would look like a slice of lasagna.

Most commonly, sheet mulching uses alternating layers of “green” and “brown” materials. Brown materials include fallen leaves, shredded paper and cardboard, pine needles, wood chips, and straw.

Green materials include manure, grass clippings, worm casings, vegetable scraps, hay, coffee grounds, and compost.

Anywhere from 5 to 10 layers of materials may be used. Your sheet mulching should always be topped with straw or wood chips.

Sheet mulching helps add nutrients and organic matter to the soil, suppress weed growth, moderate temperatures and protect against frost, reduce erosion and evaporation, and absorbs rainfall.

6) Natural Building

Natural building is a more sustainable approach to construction than going down to your local hardware store or lumber yard for materials.

In a permaculture system, you should strive to use as many recycled or salvaged materials as is practical.

There are plenty of renewable resources on the land that you might be able to make use of in your next building project.

Clay, rocks, wood, reeds, straw, and sand are all readily available materials that most people overlook.

For example, subsoil, water, straw, and lime can be combined to create cob. This building material is very low cost, but it’s also fireproof, resistant to seismic activities, and is strong enough to build entire houses out of.

Despite being made of natural materials, cob is very resistant to weathering. With proper maintenance, a cob structure will last a very long time. In fact, the oldest cob house still standing is estimated to be 10,000 years old. Not bad, considering the cost to build a small cob house is only about $5,000 to $10,000.

Cob also allows for some very unique architecture that isn’t possible with bricks or other traditional building materials, since you can mold it like clay into any shape that you want.

Adobe is another material similar to cob which is used all over the world, from Mexico to the Middle East.

Less natural materials like tires can also be used for construction. Earthship homes are a type of passive solar earth shelter that are constructed by stacking tires filled with earth to form walls, and then covering them.

This can be a great way to repurpose used tires that would otherwise end up in landfills or incinerated. Discarded glass windows are also often similarly used instead of buying new.

7) No-Till or Minimum-Till Farming

Minimum-till or no-till farming aims to leave soil undisturbed. Instead of breaking up the soil before planting, it’s simply left undisturbed.

This helps retain water, prevents carbon from leaving the soil, improves soil quality, and reduces the amount of weed seeds being brought closer to the surface to germinate.

Conventional farming disturbs the soil. This lets carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and overly oxygenizes the soil.

Loosening the soil like this can also lead to erosion and nutrient runoff, as well as destroying beneficial fungi networks in the land.

With the proper techniques, tilling is something that can be minimized, or potentially even eliminated entirely for some systems.

8) Intercropping and Companion Planting

Intercropping is the combining of two or more plant species into an area which have beneficial effects on one another.

One example is companion planting, where strong-smelling plants and herbs like basil, oregano, chives, or garlic alongside main crops like tomatoes, carrots, or cabbage.

Pests hate the smell of many of these strong-smelling companion plants. Not only that, but some of them actually improve the growth and flavor of the plants they’re paired with as well.

Others loosen the soil or give other benefits.

You will need to look up different plant companions and carefully plan your garden accordingly.

While many plants work well if combined with other plants, there are other plants that don’t get along because they require the same nutrients, or for other reasons. For example, carrots don’t like to be planted near dill, sage attracts pests that feed on cucumbers, and most plants dislike being planted near fennel.

9) Market Gardening

Market gardening is an interesting move away from traditional agriculture, which is done on large tracts of land far out in the country, to smaller plots of land that are sometimes even located in urban environments.

Like the name suggests, market gardeners often sell their produce at farmer’s markets, although some may supply restaurants and grocery stores directly as well.

In market gardening, cash crops are intensively grown on a small scale (usually less than an acre of land.)

A market gardener can earn as much as $100,000 per year while growing on as little as a quarter acre of land. Permaculture and other sustainable practices are a big part of what makes this possible.

Check out these small scale farming ideas which you can grow into your farm.

The Importance of Permaculture Farm Design

Permaculture is crucial, because right now, it’s the only food production system we have that’s beyond sustainable.

Conventional agriculture tends not to be sustainable at all, so it’s not really something to measure against. Really we should set the bar at sustainability because that’s what’s necessary for humanity to survive in the long term.

But really we strive for food production systems that will give a net positive result. Otherwise, the human population won’t be able to grow and still have all of its food needs met.

So the goal of permaculture is to design a system where more energy gets extracted from the system over its lifetime than what you have to put in.

Usually, this involves working with a closed-loop system that incorporates waste products back into the system.

Permaculture is adaptable. It’s constantly under development and permaculture farmers are constantly trying to find better and more efficient ways of doing things, and to have a better understanding of nature.

Biodiversity thrives under permaculture. We don’t have to make the tradeoff of destroying forests and other habitats for wild plants and animals, just to produce our food or earn an income. It’s a way of people living more symbiotically and sustainably, and being better stewards of the environment while still getting our own needs met.

Learn more about farmers lifestyle, learn what a homestead is, and why you should start homesteading.

The History of Permaculture

Permaculture as we know it today was originally developed by David Holmgren and Bill Mollinson of Australia in the 1970s.

It came about a decade after the world began to learn about the dangers of pesticides like DDT and the threat they posed to humans and the environment.

The term was made from a combination of the words “permanent” and “agriculture” since it was designed for the creation of sustainable (in other words, permanent) systems.

It was one of the first agricultural systems devised where we began to understand that local actions could have global impacts.

Although Holmgren is credited with popularizing permaculture, it’s worth noting that several works on topics like agroforestry and forest farming had existed since the 1930s or earlier, and unwritten records of similar techniques most likely date back much farther than that.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the difference between permaculture and organic farming?

A: Organic farming means not using chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or genetically modified organisms.

Permaculture includes organic farming practices, but goes beyond that and lays out larger systems about how a farm should be structured, how to reduce waste, and other important considerations as well.

Q: What is the difference between horticulture and permaculture?

A: Horticulture simply refers to the growing of plants for commercial consumption, usually vegetables. There is some overlap, and parts of permaculture can be classified as horticulture.

But horticulture also applies to other farming techniques like monoculture, and permaculture includes things like raising livestock that aren’t part of horticulture.

Q: Where can I find permaculture farms near me?

A: Many permaculture farms are eager to show the great work they’re doing to the public and allow visitors. But there isn’t necessarily one directory where you can look to find permaculture farms in your area.

I recommend doing a Google search for “permaculture farm + (your city)” to find farms in your area. Many of them will have websites or social media pages where you can contact them to learn more.

Conclusion

Permaculture is a great way to continue generating high yields and maintain your current level of productivity, even if you’re switching away from a more conventional farming model or system.

It gives a more environmentally-friendly and sustainable system for agriculture by taking a more holistic approach to managing livestock and crops.

Not only can permaculture be just as profitable as conventional farming, it’s often easier and less labor-intensive as well.

This is because using the 12 principles of permaculture, you allow nature to work for you, instead of trying to work against it.

Original post here https://grocycle.com/permaculture-farming/.

The post Permaculture and the Home Garden: Finding a Balance appeared first on John French Landscapes.

John French Landscapes

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robertpatrick8 · 6 years ago

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How to Create a Landscape Design That Matches Your Personality

Like it or not, your landscape says something about you and your personality. Do you like what it is saying? If not, don’t let your landscape talk behind your backyard. Experts have tips for ways to create a landscape that matches your personality and tells the world, in green, who you are.

Aligning your landscape and your personality is as much psychology as it is planting.

“Creating a landscape that is both a reflection of its creator’s personality and pleasing to them is a relatively complicated process,” said Bryan Stoddard, director of Homewares Insider, a website for do-it-yourself homeowners.

Landscape architect Francesca Sideris of Langlea Garden Design & Construction in the city of Brighton and Hove, south of London, looks for clues to a client’s personality in everyday items.

“I take inspiration from the client’s home such as the type of artwork they have, their interior design style, ornaments or trinkets on display,” she says. “I notice the cups they drink from, the type of dog they have. The way they dress. The curtains!

“If I’m designing for a bolder personality, the garden design is often bold. I’m also interested in the type of activities they enjoy in their free time. If someone is very sociable they often require a large entertaining area, maybe a firepit or heaters to allow for sitting out late. If a client is very private or more introverted they may value lots of screening around the garden and a more relaxed ‘oasis’ feel.”

Assess Your Personality

Several experts suggest that the place to start is by asking yourself some questions to help you see what your personality truly is. After all, how can you expect your landscape design to mirror what you can’t see?

What turns you on most about being outdoors? Think back to your favorite memory of a yard. What stimulated you? The smell of fresh-cut grass? The sound of a brook? The laughter of a gathering of friends?

Your answers to these questions will guide you toward which features in your outdoor space you want to include in your new landscape design, whether it’s a lush yard, a water feature, swimming pool or an outdoor kitchen and entertainment area.

Big 5 Personality Traits

For a deeper dive into your personality type, patio designer and outdoor-living enthusiast Eric Clark suggests you grade yourself on the Big Five Personality Trait Spectrum, used in psychology to assess people on their fundamental traits. The five traits are:

Openness to experience. Are you inventive and curious? Or more consistent and cautious?

Conscientiousness. Are you efficient and organized? Or more on the easygoing and even sometimes careless side?

Extroversion. Would you say you are outgoing and energetic? Or more of a reserved loner type?

Agreeableness. Do people say you are friendly and compassionate? Or would challenging and detached come to mind?

Neuroticism. You’re secure and confident? Or would sensitive and nervous be how you roll?

Someone who scores highly on the openness to experience will “want to aim for an exciting, varied landscape with multiple different elements” Clark said. “Think nooks and crannies, spots in your yard or landscape that evoke different emotional states that you can nurture.” Those at the opposite end of the scale will “probably want to stick with a more uniform, slowly changing landscape. A large even yard space, a small variety of repeating plants, simple transitions, and uniformity in design and materials.”

Someone not very conscientious should stick with a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant landscape plan. At the other end of the scale, their more-organized and more-efficient opposite can opt for exotic, nonnative plants requiring more care. “You will need to bring these indoors when the winter sets in,” Clark said, “but of course, you’re conscientious enough to always remember to do that!”

And so on, he said. Extroverts should put the focus on their front yards, so they can impress and meet neighbors; introverts can feel more comfy behind privacy fences and hedges. The secure and confident can go for bold colors; the nervous can opt for orderly flower beds hemmed by retaining walls

Bring That Personality Outdoors

This Ohio homeowner values entertainment and nature. Photo courtesy Ohio Valley Group.

“The homeowner wanted to extend his outdoor living area. We installed a paver patio adjacent to the deck with a wonderful corner, gas fireplace to allow for evening entertainment. We also installed walls along the patio to create a cozy feeling.”

— Kathleen Dangelo, co-owner, Ohio Valley Group

Now that you know your personality, start to bring it outdoors and brainstorm landscaping ideas. Whether you hire a landscape designer or do it yourself, find a way to translate your personality into specific design ideas.

“The first step is finding general inspiration, or in other words, looking for already-done projects that resonate with your idea of beauty, good design and landscape architecture,” said Stoddard. “It’s important to nail a certain aesthetic that you agree you’ll follow later on, or you risk getting lost in the mass of ideas.”

The source of landscape design ideas can be as easy as finding photos of what you like. Walk around the neighborhood with a camera. Collect them via sites such as Pinterest or Houzz.

“Collect photos of landscaping that you feel reflects your personality,” said Central Texas artist and designer Pablo Solomon. “Analyze what elements of those landscapes are important.”

This homeowner’s design is built for evening entertainment. An extrovert would be happy with this design. Photo courtesy Ohio Valley Group.

— Kathleen Dangelo

Personality, Schmersonality: Be Practical, Plan and Budget

“Make a plan,” Solomon said. “The more detailed the plan, the more likely you are to complete your project in a sensible sequence, obtain materials and labor on sale, and stay on budget.”

Ohio Valley Group, longtime Northeast Ohio landscaping design and maintenance company, offers an online tool it calls the “Vision Planner.” The online form asks potential clients questions about their favorite outdoor activities, entertainment habits, desired features and more. (The company uses it to guide its clients, but anyone can look at it to organize their landscaping thoughts for free.)

“Having our clients complete the Vision Planner helps them to focus on what parts of their outdoor designs are most important to them,” said co-owner Kathleen Dangelo. It encourages a more interactive planning experience between the client and the designer and ensures the final product is not only beautiful but functional as well.”

Holding Down Your ‘Personality’ Landscape’s Cost

Cost is another practical consideration. If your personality says 1,000 lilies but your budget says a dozen daffodils, you’ll have to find compromises. Solomon also suggests these cost-saving steps:

Do as much work yourself as you can. “Labor is usually the major cost in landscaping,” Solomon said.

Be sure to address drainage so your landscape design doesn’t create costly water damage.

Place trees and shrubs for shade to save energy.

One more piece of advice from Solomon: You can take “personality” a step too far. Your idea of curb appeal may be an eyesore to your neighbors.

“Do not overdo the ‘self-expression,’ ” he said. “You can have a landscape that follows good design principles and that you love without making the entire neighborhood mad. Self-expression does not mean you need to stick out like a sore thumb.”

Whatever your style is, enjoy it.

“Time spent outside in nature, surrounded by plants, is one of the best anxiolytics available,” Clark said, “and you don’t need a prescription!”

The post How to Create a Landscape Design That Matches Your Personality appeared first on Lawnstarter.

from Gardening Resource https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/landscaping/how-to-create-a-landscape-design-that-matches-your-personality/

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dreambackyardbuilders · 7 years ago

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The Basic Principles Of Landscape Design

Whether you plan on “borrowing ideas” or plan on creating your own personal landscaping design, you should have at the very least an elementary understanding of the principles of landscaping.

This doesn’t mean that you must apply every principle to each and every part of your plan. But just having an idea of these principles will help you generate ideas and increase your creativity.

Great landscaping lies in the eyes with the its creator. So, even though the principles of landscape design are great guidelines to check out, don’t feel as if they’re the “have to rules” of landscaping. Abstract and creativity are permitted.

Unity should be your main goals inside your design. It might be better understood and applied as consistency and repetition. Repetition creates unity by repeating alike elements like plants, plant groups, or decor through the entire landscape. Consistency creates unity in the sense that some or all the various elements of the landscape fit together to create a whole.

Unity can be achieved by the consistency of character of elements in the design. By character, I am talking about the height, size, texture, palettes, etc. of numerous elements.

An illustration would be inside the use of accent boulders. Have you ever seen a landscape design that had one large white round boulder here and another large red square granite boulder there etc, then you’ve observed that unity wasn’t created by this specific element.

This is just one example though the principle relates to all other elements including groups of plants and materials.

An easy way to create unity in your landscape is by creating themes. And one of the most effective to create themes is with a little garden decor or garden statues. Developing a theme garden is a lot easier when it’s linked to something you are interested in or have a desire for.

If you’re into butterflies as an illustration, you could build a theme using plants that attract butterflies and also using statues, ornaments, as well as other decor which can be related to butterflies.

Unity ought to be expressed through no less than one element in your landscape and preferably more. Using elements to convey a main idea through consistent style and a specific theme is the thing that creates harmony.

Simplicity is actually one of the principles in design and art. It’s among the best guidelines it is possible to follow when getting started or take action yourselfer. Just keep things an easy task to begin with. That you can do more later.

Simplicity in planting, for instance, would be to pick 2-3 colors and repeat them through the entire garden or landscape. Keeping decor down and in just a specific theme along with keeping hardscapes for example boulders consistent can also be practicing simplicity.

Balance in design is just as the word implies. Equality. There are basically 2 types of balance in landscape design. Symmetrical and Asymmetrical.

Symmetrical balance is the place there are more or fewer equally spaced matching elements of the garden design. Which has a garden equally divided, each party could share the identical shape, form, plant height, plant groupings, colors, bed shapes, theme, etc.

You might remember creating something like this if you were a child in art class in class. Where you have a piece of paper, splash paint onto it, fold it in two, unfold it, and after that it magically creates an interesting symmetrical design. So symmetrical balance or design is nearly of a mirror image or reflection.

Asymmetrical balance alternatively is one of the principles of landscape design that’s a somewhat more complex. While textures, forms, colors, etc. may remain constant to produce some unity, shapes and hardscapes may be more random. This kind of balance often has separate or different themes each and every having an equal but different kind of attraction.

A good example of this would be where bed shapes or paths differ on both sides of the dividing line. One for reds could be curvy having a sense of flow as the other side is straight, direct, and hard.

This can also build a neat contrast. Flowing lines are pleasing towards the eye though the bold contrast of a curve having a straight line can be extremely interesting.

Asymmetrical balance isn’t necessarily limited to just the shape of a garden.

An example could be where the whites of the garden is mostly large shade trees while the other side is predominately a lower growing flower garden or perhaps a mix of both examples. This can be only restricted to your imagination.

Contrast and harmony can be achieved using plants. Fine foliage verses coarser foliage, round leaves verses spiked leaves in addition to color compliments and contrasts.

Plant height, color, and texture could be varied from one area to another but each area should stay consistent within a unique theme.

You’ll hear me discuss “themes” a lot. Many successful do-it-yourself designs consume a basic theme to accomplish most of the principles of landscape design described on this page. The proper usage of plants and garden decor or even a mix of both is an easy way to achieve themes.

Color adds the dimension of actual life and interest towards the landscape. Bright colors like reds, yellows and oranges seem to advance toward you and can actually make an object seem closer to you. Cool colors like greens, blues, and pastels appear to move away from you and can make an object seem farther away from you.

Grays, blacks, and whites are considered neutral colors and therefore are best found in the background with bright colors inside the foreground. However, to increase depth in a landscape, you need to use dark and coarse textured plants within the foreground and use fine textured and light-weight colored plants in private.

Colors could also be used to concentrate to a specific section of the garden. A bright display among cooler colors would naturally catch the attention.

Natural transition can be applied in order to avoid radical or abrupt modifications in your landscaping. Transition is simply gradual change. It might best be illustrated in terms of plant height or color but tend to also be used on all elements from the landscape including however, not limited to textures, foliage size or shape, and the decoration of different elements.

In other words transition may be accomplished by the gradual, ascending or descending, arrangement of different elements with varying textures, forms, colors, or sizes.

An example of a good transition will be a stair step effect from large trees to medium trees to shrubs to bedding plants. It is where a bit knowledge of proper plant selection belly in handy.

Transition is among the principles of landscaping that can be used to “create illusions” inside the landscape. For example a transition from taller to shorter plants can provide a sense of depth and distance (similar to a painting), making the backyard seem greater than it really is. A transition from shorter to taller plants may be used to frame a focal point to make it jump out and seem closer pc really is.

Line is with the more structural principles of landscaping. It can mostly be linked to the way beds, walkways, and entryways move and flow.

Straight lines are forceful and direct while curvy lines possess a more natural, gentle, flowing effect.

Proportion simply refers to the size of elements with regards to each other. Of all principles of landscape design, this one is fairly obvious however requires a little thought and planning. Almost all of the elements in landscaping can be intentionally planned to satisfy the proper proportions.

As an illustration if you are setting up a small courtyard garden, a large seven foot garden statue put into the center will be way out of proportion as well as a little tacky to say the least. Or a small four foot waterfall and pond used in the center of a substantial open yard would explore the expanse.

Don’t misunderstand this to mean that if you have a big yard you cannot have smaller features or garden decor. Proportion is relative and elements could be scaled to suit by creating different rooms in the garden. Desire to is to build a pleasing relationship one of many three dimensions of length, breadth, and depth or height.

A smaller water feature could be proportionate if put into a corner or for the edge of a substantial area and gets a focal point of the larger area while creating its very own distinct atmosphere. An entire room, sitting area, or theme can be done around it. Other rooms and themes can be achieved as well. See small gardens for applying for grants creating rooms and creating illusions.

Also, special consideration and look at should be given to proper plant selection to stop using plants which might be out of proportion.

Repetition is related to unity. Its helpful to have a variety of elements and forms inside the garden but repeating these 4 elements gives variety expression.

Unity is achieved by repeating objects or factors that are alike. Way too many unrelated objects will make the garden look cluttered and unplanned.

There exists a fine line here. It is possible that too most of one element can create a garden or landscape feel uninteresting, boring and monotonous.

However, unity can still be created by using a number of different elements repeatedly. Therefore keeps a garden interesting.

NOTE: This post was originally published on http://mcucracker.tumblr.com/

#hardscapes #pavers #backyard

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