Garden design

Starting with garden design

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productive ideas for home and community gardeners THE IMPORTANCE OF SMART DESIGN We are all designers. Whenever we think through how to do something we become designers.

When it comes to our food-producing home and community gardens, design is the process by which we think then build. First of all, we think about why we want a garden, then about how we go about deciding what we want in it and how it should be laid out on the land.

Even for those of us whose garden is on their apartment balcony, design is still important. We have to think about what it is that we should grow and where we place our containers and their plants so they grow well.

Carss Park Community Gardeners at work on their participatory site and needs analysis.

For community gardeners—that growing number of people producing food on public land in the company of friends and neighbours—the design process is a collective one. That is, it is one in which all participate.

A discussion over site plans during a site analysis process.

Before we start to explore the design process that will make our gardens more productive and enjoyable places, let’s look at a few design tips.

These are important because they provide a context for food production in home and community gardens.

It helps to think of our garden soil as a living thing requiring its own inputs and management if we are to produce healthy, good food and other plants.

A fertile soil is the starting conditions from which we grow a productive garden.

IDEAS FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVING IN THE CITY… publication produced by Community Gardens Australia

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THE NEEDS ANALYSIS

SITE ANALYSIS A site analysis tells us about the conditions on our garden site.

Site analysis identifies the situation on-site for: ■ aspect—the direction of the sun; consequently, this tells us much about the sun and shade patters that move across our site during the day and where it is that our crops will receive the amount of sunlight they need to grow well ■ soils—the type of soils we have, their acidity/alkalinity (via a pH test); this will inform us as to how we will need to amend the soils so that they are capable of producing strong, health plants ■ drainage—this is influenced by the slope of the land, if any, by soil type and how rainfall runs over the surface; it gives us clues about whether we need to divert runoff or to harvest it to irrigate our plants ■ the influence of winds through the year—the direction, strength, temperature range and other characteristics of prevailing seasonal winds and how they are likely to influence our site; it discloses whether we should plant What is our purpose in creating a community garden?

What sorts of experiences do we want in the garden and how do we expand the range of experiences?

How will we make decisions equitably?

How do we make people feel at home?

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a windbreak to protect our food plants what is already on site and its condition—trees and other vegetation, buildings, services such as electricity and gas, structures such as sheds and so on; we ask whether the plants are healthy, whether we will want to retain them and what condition the structures are in.

The importance of conducting an analysis of our site cannot be overemphasised. With the information gleaned we will be able to place our vegetables, herbs and fruit trees in the most auspicious location and place all of the other components so that they interrelate well.

Site analysis in the community garden In the community garden, site analysis identifies all of the proposed uses of the site, just as in the home garden.

But where the dwelling and its relationship to the garden forms the focal point of home garden design, it is the core gathering place, usually a shelter such as a pergola with table and seating, that becomes the focal point of the community garden design.

What facilities do we want in the garden?

How do we slow the people flow so that they spend more time in the garden?

How we maximise exchange of ideas, skills and materials?

Who will become the anchoring presence in the garden?

How do we focus on the micro, feed the senses and encourage play?

How will we communicate with each other and with the public?

Questions to ask while you are doing your community gardens needs analysis

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The needs analysis is a natural companion to our site analysis as it identifies what we would like from the garden we are to design and build.

Specifically, the needs analysis asks: ■ what are the purposes of the garden? Is it mainly food production or will it also serve as outdoor entertainment area, playspace for children etc?

■ what types of experience do participants want from managing the garden?

■ of the needs identified, what are achievable given the time we have to put into constructing and maintaining the garden, what is affordable and what is realistic in the space available.

Don’t forget to include a utility area near our garden beds where we can make compost, store garden tools, set up a small nursery and hang out our washing to dry in the sun.

Identifying all practical uses for our garden forms part of the needs analysis phase of site planning and helps to create a garden that mirrors our lifestyle and needs.

Needs analysis is important in the planning of community gardens, too, and should include a structure for garden governance—how you will make decisions together, how you will communicate, how you will resolve disagreement.

Develop a management plan to guide your community garden’s development Community Gardens Australia has developed a management plan template for this: https://communitygarden.org.au/man agement-plan-template/

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ZONE YOUR GARDEN Thinking of your garden as made up of zones in which different plants are established makes for easy access to herbs, vegetables and fruit.

The zoned design places plants of different types according to how often they are visited for maintenance and harvest. plants we need to visit frequently are placed near the house or focal point of a community garden plants harvested less frequently are placed further from the house — this includes the less-intensively managed crops of pumpkins, corn, artichoke, cabbage, squash, dry beans etc

A zoned garden — annual crops on the sunward side of the garden, close to the sitting area for ease of maintaining and harvest. A food forest of less-frequently visited fruit and nut trees is placed behind.

fruit and nut trees and shrubs are placed beyond the vegetable garden because they are only harvested seasonally chickens are best housed between the vegetable beds and orchard area.

In small urban gardens it may be necessary to mix the different zones.

In small urban gardens the zones for vegies and fruit trees might be more integrated depending available space and sunlight

Biodiverse gardens...

A highly productive, organic garden designed to feed a convent. Wellington, New Zealand.

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DESIGN WITH PLANTS Plant a diverse garden A diversity of plants in our gardens provides: ■ niches for a range of insect predators that help to control pest insects ■ soil improving plants such as legumes ■ a range of foods for a varied diet.

Ground covers, fruiting shrubs and fruit and nut trees are combined to make the best use of vertical space by ‘stacking’ plants of different heights and shade tolerance.

A garden planted mainly to produce food can also incorporate ornamental and native species in its design.

Establish natives as a windbreak (trees, shrubs, ground covers) and as habitat for birds and lizards. Grow low barriers of shrubs and groundcovers surrounding your garden as a living fence.

Plant in clumps Planting in clumps — small areas of a single plant type — makes harvesting and maintenance easier.

Interplanting individual plants so that they are mixed is suitable for the home garden or community garden allotment. Line planting makes for ready access where easy harvesting is required.

Clumping your plants enhances visual design and is in accordance with the principle of mixed planting for pest resistance and pollination.

Stack plants to make use of vertical space

Establish windbreaks to protect your plants

The vertical layering of plants — ground covers, shrubs, small and large trees — known as ‘stacking’, makes use of vertical as well as horizontal space in the garden.

A barrier of taller shrubs or, if space permits, trees of different height combined with shrubs can be planted around the sides of your garden from which strong, cold or excessively hot winds come. Their purpose is to protect your food plants.

Stacking mimics the structure of the natural forest with its: ■ high canopy layer of taller trees ■ mid-layer or understorey of lower trees and tall shrubs ■ ground layer of low shrubs, grasses and creepers ■ a root zone known as the ‘rhizosphere’ makes use of the topsoil immediately below the soil surface.

Plants in the understorey and ground layers are selected according to shade tolerance and climate.

In the home and community garden, stacking creates a ‘food forest’ effect, a ‘tree garden’ or ‘forest garden’.

The spacing of trees and the species selected is dependent on climate: ■ in a drier, arid climate, the food forest may take the form of a native woodland with trees spaced further apart ■ wet tropical, sub-tropical and warm temperate climates may have trees planted closer together, allowing for adequate light penetration to the shade tolerant species in the understorey layer ■ the cool temperate food forest might look like an open forest with trees and shrubs further apart than in warmer climates and berry producing and other shrubs between them.

Rare native plants may be established in the windbreak where their conservation is a priority. They can be combined with hardy but productive nut and other species and used as a seed source for propagation.

Within your garden, make low barriers of small shrubs to deflect damaging winds. Take care not to shade your vegetables and herbs. Do not plant too close to your vegetable garden where windbreak tree and shrub roots could compete with those of your crops for nutrients.

Make a microcatchment A microcatchment intercepts and stores rainwater runoff until it soaks into the soil. A contour ditch (swale) is a microcatchment excavated across a slope. The circular microcatchment (above) is a cut into a shallow slope and mounded. Moisture-loving plants such as banana and taro are planted in the mound.

Plant what you eat You can reduce spending on the food you eat a lot of if you grow enough of it in your home or community garden.

Some gardeners make use of their community garden allotment to grow speciality plants such as culinary herbs, chillies, spices or others they use in cooking or have a special interest in.

Most gardeners, however, prefer to grow what they eat most of.

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DESIGN FOR ACCESS DESIGN WITH SOILS Plan your garden so you can get to all the garden beds easily. Design pathways to link the most frequently visited parts of the garden — the vegetable beds, compost and chooks, for example.

Paths should be made: ■ sturdy — strong paths are durable paths; pave your paths if you can afford to ■ with weed-free edges — avoid leaving gaps between paving and along edges from where weeds can invade the garden beds ■ wide enough — for main ■ paths, of sufficient width to move a wheelbarrow along them (about 1.3m); for access into garden beds, about 600mm in width, or use stepping stones; for sustainability education centres (some community gardens have this role) make them wider so groups can easily move along — build gathering places at points of interest where the group can gather around the presenter ■ smooth paths are safe paths, where there are aged, wheelchair-bound or less-mobile gardeners, make the paths wider, with a smooth surface.

Healthy soils grow healthy plants — that is why organic gardeners pay so much attention to improving the fertility of their soils. Nutritious soils are the basis of successful organic gardening — they are the most important consideration in garden maintenance.

Keeping our soils fertile is easy — we simply add nutrients such as compost and mulch.

■ compost is easily made from food wastes from our kitchens. Mix these with lawn clippings, leaf litter and other organic wastes such as shredded newspaper. The mix will decompose in a compost bin or heap. It is then spread on the garden where it used by plants as nutrients. Compost is a means of turning our organic waste into a useful product.

■ mulching is another technique used by organic gardeners. You can use compost and/or worm casting then lay hay or tree mulch or wood chips onto our garden soil. This breaks down into nutrients for our plants. Mulch prevents our soils drying out, reduces soil erosion and keeps the soil at a more-even temperature, helping our plants grow strong and healthy and it encourages soil life

Well made paths ease movement around the home or community garden and enable easy maintenance

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crop rotation is a technique for restoring soil fertility and reducing plant diseases. Different types of plants are sequentially moved through the garden bed, one following another over time (following leaf vegetables with fruiting vegetables, then root crops, then legumes such as beans) plant a green manure of a legume (pea and bean plant family) mixed with a fibrous grass, such as vetch mixed with oats; the legume provides the important nutrient, nitrogen, while the grass decomposes into organic matter in the soil, helping retain soil moisture and gradually breaking down into plant nutrient.

Plant legumes for soil fertility Legumes, which fix the plant nutrient nitrogen into your garden soil, can be incorporated into garden design as: ■ a green manure crop ■ lines of perennial (those lasting more than two years) shrubs cut seasonally for mulch (alley cropping — depending on climate and growth rate — it is perhaps a more viable technique for the tropics where plants grow faster) ■ interplants of perennial or annual (annuals complete their life cycle within a year, going from seed to seed) legumes among your vegetables.

Pidgeon pea, a shrub-size legume

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DESIGN FOR WATER

MANAGE INSECTS

SAVE YOUR SEED

We can reduce our use of water in the garden by: ■ using water-conserving irrigation (check restrictions on irrigation systems during drought) ■ adding mulch and compost to the soil; as they break down they retain moisture in the soil profile where it is accessible to plant roots ■ storing rainwater in roofwater tanks for garden irrigation ■ adding hydration particles to dry, sandy soils that do not retain water ■ diverting greywater from the laundry rinse water onto the garden (use on fruit and other trees and shrubs — not directly on vegetable crops) where there is no risk of contamination or to public health; consult your local council.

To avoid the need for expensive and potentially risky synthetic pesticides, we use integrated pest management in the organic garden: ■ create habitat using rocks, logs and water features to attract a diverse range of creatures ■ mixed plantings (including flowers) to attract predator insects that prey on pest insects and to create a safe place for birds and others to hide ■ plants known to repel certain insects through giving off odours or chemicals ■ crop rotation ■ barriers and traps to deter or catch insects like snails and fruit flys ■ hand pick pests ■ organic sprays — also known as ‘botanical’ sprays because they are derived from plant sources — as a last resort.

If you grow non-hybrid plant types you can collect, dry, store and swap your seed with other growers.

Water-conserving garden irrigation includes drip irrigation or weeper/dripping hose for fruit and vegetable beds.

Seed saving skills are easily picked-up.

See The Seedsavers Handbook (Fanton, M&J, Seed Savers Network — https://seedsavers.net/shop/), attend a Seed Savers course or learn from local organic gardening or Permaculture groups in your area.

HARVEST, COOK AND EAT WHAT YOU GROW Grow, harvest, process, cook and enjoy eating what you grow.

Learn about preserving so you can store excess produce.

On sloping land with non-erosive soils, contour ditches (swales) can be dug along the contour so they detain runoff and allow it to infiltrate the soil where plants can use it.

Plant the lip of the swale with shrubs or trees.

MAKE A WATER GARDEN A shallow water garden enables you to grow edible wetland plants such as water chestnut, arrowhead and water cress — climate allowing.

Gardening book author, Jill Finnane, waters her garden with a watering can

Community Gardens Australia PRODUCED by… Community Gardens Australia DESIGN, TEXT & PHOTOS by… Russ Grayson

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For ease of harvesting, water crops that produce edible roots — water chestnut, arrrowhead — are grown in large pots submerged in ponds lined with a watertight membrane.

rocks hold down and conceal liner water level waterproof liner root crops in large pots

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