Permaculture design for Olgun Yavuz

Olgun's garden design The design is visible at: http://www.therainbowtree.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=62%3Aolguns-garden&catid=34%3Adesigns&Itemid=70&lang=en Olgun's garden Before   After   Before   After   Survey Above: This is an overview of the ground floor of the house with a quick sketch with the access paths to the garden. Above: This is the client interview,this family has got an higher income than the family in the design C.E. garden. They need less self-sufficiency and more privacy with enphasis on medicinal plants. While they want more recreational use of the garden (relax and pleasure) with some emphasis on energy recycling through different kind of composting,rainwater harvest and using solar lights.   Analysis Above: The elements analysis,coming from the client's interview,shows that the forest garden elements are going to satisfy the functions of the garden express by the client in the interview.So,a multylayer (forest garden approach) must be applied to the design in a form or in an other. Below: The random assembly and input-output analysis shows again the importance of the forest garden approach especially in the outputs with food,no dig,less maintenance,self-sustaining system and in particular soil creation because the ground was a building site just covered with a thin layer of soil. White clover in the beginning and natural leaf mulch from the fruit trees will increase the amount of nitrogen (also used in the decomposition process) and organic matter able to improve soil life and areation (with the white clover roots at the beginning and later with the fruit trees and bushes roots). Above: The garden after the first wave of planting Above: A closer view of the garden after the first wave of planting and sowing white clover. I tried to compare the design with the Holmgren principles and in a way or an other it was fullfilling them all. Design The concept of this design was to distribute all the big plants in a sort of hedge forest garden,placed all along the walls in a wave pattern so to create more surface and planting space. While the central area could be sow with white clover, to create a sort of sustainable lawn releasing nitrogen at every cut but also used for planting annual vegetable like tomatoes in between. A sort of multifunctional space for relaxing and to produce succulent annual veg. Relaxing area Planting plan In the master plan a pergola to increase the growing space and to give privacy with shelter from sun and wind.   Implementation Above: The fron of the house with the herb guild (Rosemary,lavander,jasmin and mint)   Above: A close up of the herb guild inside a coppiced chestnut planter   Above: This is the forest garden approach I was discussing previously in Olgun's garden in April 2011. A planter beside a wall enjoying the heat of the white wall. Using vertical space as much as possible. Above: This is a tomato forest,planted observing a natural forest pattern and forestry practices like close planting. This is based on my believe that tomatoes needs more high temperature than direct sunlight. In a forest pattern you get higher temperature inside the forest than outside and protection from frost. Basically every plant protect each other. A small planter made with local (just outside London) coppiced trees with herbs. Plant guild: Tomatoes growing well between echinacea purpurea (a medicinal plant) Above: The inside of the tomato forest A view of different elements in relation of each other   Maintenance   Jan. Formative pruning of fruit trees   Formative pruning of fruit bushes   Feb. Continuing with pruning   Planting suitable trees   Beating up   Mar. Continuing with planting   Mulching   Sowing veg. indoor   Apr. More sowing indoor   More mulching   May More veg. Sowing   Veg.Planting   Jun. Start to harvest first veg.   More Planting   More Sowing   Starting harvest of the forest garden   Jul. Fruit harvest from forest garden   More sowing outdoor   Harvest in the forest garden     Pruning prunus specie   Aug. More sowing outdoor   More planting   Forest garden harvest   Pruning “Prunus” specie   Sept. Planting indoor and outdoor winter salads   Forest garden harvest   Oct. Starting cleaning up veg. Beds Last forest garden harvest   Starting tiding up for winter   Nov. Pruning some fruit trees   Dec. Relax   Evaluation Yields 2009 and 2010 Plant 2009 2010 Tomatoes 45kg. 30 kg. Courgettes 4 kg. 2 kg. Raspberries 1.5 kg. 3 kg. Redcurrant 300 g. 4.5 kg. Grape none 300 g. Tayberries none 200 g. Apples none 3 kg. Cherries none 200 g.   Feedback The client was very happy overall about the performances of the garden. Especially,because the garden was started on a pile of rubbles from the previous construction of the extension of the house. It performed very well the first year in relation of vegetables and in the second year it appeared some fruits like: Apples,cherries,redcurrant,raspberries. The client removed some white clover the second year without adding compost or any fertilizer,because it was growing to tall, and I think it has been a lack of nitrogen for the vegetables. Tweaking The client agreed to sow some wild white clover to reduce the height of the clover lawn and some dynamic accumulator to cut and mulch like phacelia,to add nitrogen and organic matter to the soil. We will be adding some herbaceous perennial plants like:Good king henry,sorrel,wild rocket to overcome the intensive care needed by annuals.