guildfordcycads

Hi all, I am converting the backyard into a veggie garden and would love some ideas as to the layout and best way of implementing pathways etc.

It is on grass so I am sheet mulching everything with cardboard first.

Here is the garden from above with the proposed beds and walkways. On the right side is a 60cm bed against the fence that will be a bed covered in mulch and rocks a few native grasses + Okra (the point of this bed is to provide some shelter for the native skinks that live in the yard.

Then 40cm pathways & three 1.2m beds, with just veg and mulch.

Then against the other fence on the left I am a bit unsure. I was going to put okra also, but the bed ends up as 1.2m (but reach only from one side). Any ideas here?

Other thing is that the yard slopes down a little.

As far as sun goes it gets 5hrs at the top (I will put herbs there) and tapering to about 8-9 as it you get further down the slope. Sub tropical region.

Any feedback would be great!

I had to cut back all the sucker branches on a couple of regrowing stumps. I piled them on the edge of my garden to eventually build a dead hedge. For now they will rest until the leaves fall off and return to the soil creating organic matter. In the spring I will use the branches to create my dead hedge. Meanwhile I have a safe space for critters, insects and pollinators to nest for the winter.

I would like to put up a sign for my neighbors to understand what I’m doing as intentional for supporting life. What should it say?

I’m stuck on how to reconcile these goals. Anyone have advice on how to be growing potatoes carrots and onions without disturbing the long term soil ecosystem?

I want to grow an American persimmon fruit orchard and don’t want to be dependent on nitrogen fertilizers. I was thinking about planting alfalfa around the orchard to naturally provide nitrogen. If it becomes too numerous, could the nitrogen excess harm the trees? American persimmons don’t need very much nitrogen, about 30lbs for an orchard with 100 trees on a single acre. I would also likely be feeding the clippings to rabbits or cows. Is this a good idea or disaster waiting to happen?

Hey folks! I have a bunch of locust trees on my property including the remains of a few I had to have taken down. Are there any particular good uses for the wood around my property? Can I build low garden retaining walls (mostly decorative, not actually reraining) I know some people use them for fence posts but I dont think mine are straight enough