How does your garden grow?

[Charliemum]

T

Is any one of you practicing permaculture in your garden?
If so what are the ups and downs you have experienced?


I am thinking of mulching my small shaded big city garden with wood chips, in order to build up a forest-like mycorrhiza and to soften the compacted soil through an increase of microorganisms. And later plant some of the wild groundcovers like wild garlic, violets, lily of the valley, snowdrops, etc.

If any of you have any experience with this in your own garden/land I would love to get some of your experiences.

And has anyone had to deal with english ivy taking over? I dont think we have any grass left, not that i mind that, but how do you get rif of ivy in fafour of a mix of other understory plants?

Here is a quick look at things now:
View attachment 473592
i still need to finish the stone path, and after that i may work on a small bird bath and feeding station, though i need to think of a way to avoid the crows taking over.

As summers get hotter, i'd like to make the garden better for birds and insecsts as well as improve soil life.

The Ivy you will have to pull out by hand it's the only way and you will have to keep pulling everytime more comes up . We had the same stuff in our garden when I was a child and mum was pulling it out for about 2 years . The permaculture I know a little about but have never been able to pull off, slugs eat everything in our garden nomatter how much I go out at night and remove them from the garden.

I was always told a nature pond is the best way to bring wildlife to a garden and if you want to plant wildflowers they like rubbish soil anyway so no need to add to the soil. Just dig it over and add seeds a hibernaculum (not sure on spelling) are great with a pond for amphibians too . I can vouch for that we currently have a resident frog in our pond and in the winter he lives in the hibernaculum I built about a foot away from our pond . I hope one day to get newts too
Check out wild your garden with Joel Ashton on YouTube he is a great source of info when it comes to nature gardens

Just so he is easier for you to find.

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

I hear you. I don’t use synthetic chemicals either. My tree is only about 4’-5’ right now, so I just pick them off, but have some neem oil spray I might give a shot. Smells, but safe to eat. My olives last year were small and bitter.

 

[Charliemum]

I hear you. I don’t use synthetic chemicals either. My tree is only about 4’-5’ right now, so I just pick them off, but have some neem oil spray I might give a shot. Smells, but safe to eat. My olives last year were small and bitter.

I have used neem oil on my elder tree to get rid of an infestation of black fly it ruined the tree though the oil made the leafs burn turn brown and die it made them very sticky too it also killed all the bugs on my elder not just the blackfly. I will never use the stuff again, the poor tree never recovered it upset me greatly, that tree had been there since the house was built in the 60's . It has since started growing again but as a bush infront of the old tree stump. (It became rotten after the neem killed it and had to be cut down) Be careful with it I regret ever using it.

 

[Wolfram1]

I was always told a nature pond is the best way to bring wildlife to a garden and if you want to plant wildflowers they like rubbish soil anyway so no need to add to the soil.

Sadly there is not enough space for a pond, perhaps i will add one or two larger tubs wit some water plants and Medaka (japanese rice fish) in the future, that should be a good alternative.

There already is quite a strong bird presence and they regularly dig for worms in the back. I do want to improove on it though and perhaps help create an enironment they will feel safe nesting in.

Probably need some dense bushes, perhaps Taxus baccata, as it also has berries for them

In the rain:


In terms of soil, well, i have to say i would prefer to rebuild the soil rather than accepting that it is depleted. To do that i will need to undo years of "care" where my parents raked and removed branches and leaves and threw them in the bin.

The thing is that lawns or other grass dominated soils are mostly bacterialy dominated soils. Forest Soils are fungal domiated. To achieve this all you need to do is bring in organic matter rather than remove it and let the nutrients locked into them slowly leech out into the soil.

Active soils will basically consume any dead organic matter very quickly/have a high turnover.

The microbiota will change on its own if the conditions are right.

Another principle is that tilling or otherwise breaking the soil surface, or even direct sunlight, damages the soil structure and impacts the microbiota negatively. While a woodchip mulch will protect it from sunlight, drying out, disturbance, etc.

You can also build soil in grasslands but you will need to let grasses grow high to let them set deep roots, englisch lawns are terrible as they do not root past a few inches.

If anyone is interested I love the youtube channel "Crime pays but Botany doesn't", and the movement "Kill Your Lawn" in favour of native plants and wildlife.


Considering how compacted the clay soil already is i really want to let the microorganisms turn it back into loose fertile soil.

In terms of ivy, i agree manual removal is the only way, except if i do that i will expose the soil and make things worse, so for now i dont mind it too much, this will be a future problem, and i will probably work on it in batches.

There used to be grass but all the trees around the border have almost closed the canopy so by now grasses have no chance. :^) In the Back, there is even a spot where ivy has died and not come back. Too shaded. As i mentioned above the birds love the spot.

Rebuilding soils is a long process but totally worth it, i was just hoping some of you may already have some experience with that. Any tipps are welcome.

@Smotzer, your Godly insights are needed!

 

[Charliemum]

Sadly there is not enough space for a pond, perhaps i will add one or two larger tubs wit some water plants and Medaka (japanese rice fish) in the future, that should be a good alternative.

There already is quite a strong bird presence and they regularly dig for worms in the back. I do want to improove on it though and perhaps help create an enironment they will feel safe nesting in.

Probably need some dense bushes, perhaps Taxus baccata, as it also has berries for them

In the rain:
View attachment 473603

In terms of soil, well, i have to say i would prefer to rebuild the soil rather than accepting that it is depleted. To do that i will need to undo years of "care" where my parents raked and removed branches and leaves and threw them in the bin.

The thing is that lawns or other grass dominated soils are mostly bacterialy dominated soils. Forest Soils are fungal domiated. To achieve this all you need to do is bring in organic matter rather than remove it and let the nutrients locked into them slowly leech out into the soil.

Active soils will basically consume any dead organic matter very quickly/have a high turnover.

The microbiota will change on its own if the conditions are right.

Another principle is that tilling or otherwise breaking the soil surface, or even direct sunlight, damages the soil structure and impacts the microbiota negatively. While a woodchip mulch will protect it from sunlight, drying out, disturbance, etc.

You can also build soil in grasslands but you will need to let grasses grow high to let them set deep roots, englisch lawns are terrible as they do not root past a few inches.

If anyone is interested I love the youtube channel "Crime pays but Botany doesn't", and the movement "Kill Your Lawn" in favour of native plants and wildlife.


Considering how compacted the clay soil already is i really want to let the microorganisms turn it back into loose fertile soil.

In terms of ivy, i agree manual removal is the only way, except if i do that i will expose the soil and make things worse, so for now i dont mind it too much, this will be a future problem, and i will probably work on it in batches.

There used to be grass but all the trees around the border have almost closed the canopy so by now grasses have no chance. :^) In the Back, there is even a spot where ivy has died and not come back. Too shaded. As i mentioned above the birds love the spot.

Rebuilding soils is a long process but totally worth it, i was just hoping some of you may already have some experience with that. Any tipps are welcome.

@Smotzer, your Godly insights are needed!

Oh I understand better now forest floor not meadow you can encourage birds by putting up little houses for them plus bird feeders also planting things they like to eat I grow peas and leave dandy lions because the bullfinch like them for example we also hung feeders in the band of shrubs n trees at the bottom of our garden and within a week of putting it out we got several sp of finch and tit Robbins thrush sparrow ect and even a visiting wood pecker (I didn't even know they were in our area) . If you put out food cover or not they will come . We have 2 ferrol Tom cats that live in our garden (they aren't ours they just showed up one day) and even though they patrol the garden the birds still come for food. We get so many my neighbours complained that we were feeding the birds, sad ppl.

I hope you find the info your looking for with someone with alot more knowledgeable then me

Ps you don't need alot of space for a pond our garden is only 20ftx24ft and my pond is only 3x4 ft any water source will help bring nature even the barrel you suggested

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

I have used neem oil on my elder tree to get rid of an infestation of black fly it ruined the tree though the oil made the leafs burn turn brown and die it made them very sticky too it also killed all the bugs on my elder not just the blackfly. I will never use the stuff again, the poor tree never recovered it upset me greatly, that tree had been there since the house was built in the 60's . It has since started growing again but as a bush infront of the old tree stump. (It became rotten after the neem killed it and had to be cut down) Be careful with it I regret ever using it.

Wow! Was it concentrate? I have gotten some leaf burn from it, but not plant death.

 

[Charliemum]

Wow! Was it concentrate? I have gotten some leaf burn from it, but not plant death.

Idk it was food grade neem oil I put it in water sprayed the tree , I followed the instructions but tree was fine before I used it n died after, never trusted the stuff since

 

[DomGom TheFather]

Potatoes

 

[FatBadBay]

Now that the sun is out my plants have been blooming like crazy

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

Let's play Guess which Dat is that?

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

Obviously not one of the ones pictured above.

 

[Charliemum]

Obviously not one of the ones pictured above.

View attachment 474032

I had to go look them up but what a beautiful plant ! I bought alot of new plants recently ...they all got eaten by the stupid slugs , I am currently researching ways to get the population down without hurting the other wildlife in the garden ,we have a resident frog in my pond and a resident blackbird. They do eat the slugs but not enough of them apparently Will get there though and hopefully it will eventually look like the nature reserve I wish to have

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

I had to go look them up but what a beautiful plant ! I bought alot of new plants recently ...they all got eaten by the stupid slugs , I am currently researching ways to get the population down without hurting the other wildlife in the garden ,we have a resident frog in my pond and a resident blackbird. They do eat the slugs but not enough of them apparently Will get there though and hopefully it will eventually look like the nature reserve I wish to have

Slugs are the worst, the last time I tried to grow strawberries I didn't even get to eat one.

Plug Datura into the search and you'll see @DomGom TheFather has pics of the flowers.

 

[FatBadBay]

I had to go look them up but what a beautiful plant ! I bought alot of new plants recently ...they all got eaten by the stupid slugs , I am currently researching ways to get the population down without hurting the other wildlife in the garden ,we have a resident frog in my pond and a resident blackbird. They do eat the slugs but not enough of them apparently Will get there though and hopefully it will eventually look like the nature reserve I wish to have

I've heard putting out little bowls of beer will kill the slugs. They go in to drink and they drown. There's also organic slug bait you can put down

 

[Charliemum]

I've heard putting out little bowls of beer will kill the slugs. They go in to drink and they drown. There's also organic slug bait you can put down

I looked into that, the only problem with that is you need a big garden slugs can apparently smell/sense the beer from 100 feet away so I would end up attracting even more slugs from the gardens attached to mine
I think I am going to try putting a pot in a pot as a slug/snail hide then take them out everyday and dump them in the local field
I am also trying copper tape? Apparently the slugs n snails hate the copper so they won't go over the tape I put it round all my pots today but I maybe too late the plants have been hammered already. The only thing the slugs haven't touched is the pumpkin plants my son is growing.

 

[Charliemum]

Th

Slugs are the worst, the last time I tried to grow strawberries I didn't even get to eat one.

Plug Datura into the search and you'll see @DomGom TheFather has pics of the flowers.

Those pics are amazing so many beautiful flowers on that thread amazing

 

[DomGom TheFather]

Let's play Guess which Dat is that?

View attachment 473769

Something in that picture looks suspiciously metel.

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

Something in that picture looks suspiciously metel.

Unless one of us mixed them up, they're the literal weed.
Edit: it was me.

 

[DomGom TheFather]

Unless one of us mixed them up, they're the literal weed.
Edit: it was me.

View attachment 474243

They look almost identical at that stage.
Doesn't help that that stramonium is purple. Lol.
But I thought I saw a brown seed in the tray.

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

thought I saw a brown seed in the tray.

I knew I left that there for a good reason, lol!