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(South Wales, UK)

Recently “reclaimed” a part of my familys small holding (40m x 10m) that was formerly covered in bracken. A rogue hawthorn and sloe bush have managed to survive the braken, so I’ve kept them in honour of their efforts.

I did this at the start of November, which involved cutting, removing and then breaking up of the soil to expose roots to frost.

The presence of braken makes me think it sits around 6-7 ph, and personal knowledge and BGS soil maps show the land as clay/clay loam.

My hope is to get atleast 1 large and 4 medium apples trees in and plant some vegetables and grains in whilst they grow, working around the trees once mature.

Bracken will definitely reappear as it surrounds the patch, that’s fine, but I’d like to avoid a monoculture of it like in the past, so I can deal with it individually.

What are some suggestions of things to plant whilst the trees grow that will aid them, resist/survive the bracken and be tasty/appealing to the eye?

Thanks.

I am in the UK, with 30 years of experience in permaculture, still waiting to see where the investment is to bring it into the mainstream. I ran a three-year project in a school here in Wales exploring how to get it into the curriculum, which largely fell on deaf ears. I have partnered with a farm since and find myself still wondering how to connect to a regular flow of students, anyone out there with some decent ideas, I would love to hear from you. An empty mountain adventure centre in our village has been put up to let, and it got me thinking once again, the facilities are there, I have access to land, and a proven track record if only I could find the support and the links. I keep dreaming.

TLDR: A stock pond x olla love child irrigation system???

So let me preface this by saying I an a complete gardening noob who has been casually learning about permaculture for a couple years and this year we’re ready to start our backyard suburban experiment. I’m prone to biting off more than I should but we usually make it work anyhow. Ha.

I’m zone 6a and planning my beds like a keyhole / 3-sided square open on the north side so my garden can get the most sun in my yard. I’ve been tossing the idea of also having a smallish stock tank “pond” to collect rainwater and use for watering the garden. I’d like to have some aquatic plants and cold hardy fish like minnows or rice fish for mosquito control and a bit of added fertilizer. Initially I figured I’d just decant water by hand and water the beds, maybe do a terracotta pot olla system, but what if I ran lines out of the tank directly to the center of the beds? Would a hose ending in a pot olla work? Or rope wicks? I’ve seen irrigation systems like that, but seems like they always just use buckets. I’m really interested in having that living aspect involved.

I imagine I’d have to be more careful about monitoring and maintaining the water level (and temperature over winter) in the pond, but could this idea work? Is there a very good reason in failing to see that makes this a poor choice?