The Hudson Property
A perennial garden of food and shade
Hungry Gnome Gardenscapes “Empowering people to grow food.�
Our mission to each client Our mission is to empower you and your household to grow your own food as well as improve the habitat, air, water, and soil quality of your property while reducing the need for maintenance, by choosing the right plant material for the right location. We can help you develop your property to its fullest sustaining potential, starting with food.
The cement stair and path from the sidewalk to the front door act as a heat sink during the day and a source in the evening, prolonging the heat of the afternoon. Shading the cement during the summer will also help keep the front porch cooler. Water may be an issue for the front cement retaining wall. Currently it has shifted in a number of places and requires some reenforcement and more drainage to ensure it continues to stand up.
Project overview and Goals This design will take into account your personal maintenance time constraints, the existing garden space, sunlight, movement of rainwater, and your passion for cooking. A garden for growing food is exciting and it will help feed your desire for local ingredients in your cooking explorations. Since time is hard to come by for you both, the garden must not be labor intensive. The front of the house faces due west and receives full sun from around 9 am till sunset during the summer. This is perfect for plants that need lots of sunlight to produce fruit but too much sun in the afternoon to spend time comfortably enjoying the porch. Shading the porch with plants that produce fruit could help decrease cooling costs inside the house and make the porch a more comfortable place to sit.
The following document details the plans for a redesign of the front garden for increased shade and food.
Image of property from the Athens-Clark County Tax Assessors map.
Water (see pg. 3): This hot area of the house will need plenty of water to keep plants alive and currently water comes from the front roof and a section of the roof in the back. The water from the front roof is captured in the garden beds directly below as it freely falls from the roof. No gutters direct the flow. From the back of the house a gutter collects water and emits it to the garden on the southwest corner of the property. The water from the front roof could be creating a wet environment next to the foundation and we recommend directing the water that falls off the roof away from the foundation by grading the soil away from the foundation. The rainwater from the back of the house helps water the front southwest corner of the garden, however, too much water might cause the cement retaining wall to become unstable. Before planning for increased water infiltration in the front garden, it will be important to reinforce the wall. Sunlight/Shade: Much of the planning for plants in this garden is related to sunlight. Plants that tolerate lots of sun in the heat of the summer will be ideal, as well as those that grow tall enough
HUNGRY GNOME GARDENSCAPES
Hudson - Perennial Food & Shade
Designer: Gareth Crosby August 2011
2/7
Wet and shady Downspout outflow Direct roof runoff Hot, sunny & dry Area of concern for wall stability
Water overflows the wall here
0
Water & Microclimates
Hudson - Perennial Food & Shade
5
10
15 ft
HUNGRY GNOME GARDENSCAPES Designer: Gareth Crosby August 2011
3/7
to shade the porch and the stairs. By planting small shade trees here, other plants will be able to survive the heat of the summer. The following plan details a garden full of beautiful and edible trees, shrubs, herbs and flowers. Porch roof
After cleaning up the existing vegetation, leaving only the hydrangea, camellia, gardenia, cactus and some daylilies, a host of trees, shrubs, herbs and groundcovers, most of which are perennial or reseeding annuals, will be planted in the fall. (See the next page for a detailed planting plan.)
Driveway
In the long term, a white oak will grow to shade the front of the house. In the short term smaller trees and shrubs including fig and serviceberry will grow tall to shade the porch and a trellis measuring 6’ in width and 5 ‘ in length will support muscadine, Chinese yam and hardy kiwi vines to shade the stairs up to the front door. Trellis
Sidewalk
0
Design Description
5
Hudson - Perennial Food & Shade
10
15 ft
Nacoochee Ave
HUNGRY GNOME GARDENSCAPES Designer: Gareth Crosby August 2011
4/7
Shade herbaceous layer: Mint Lemon balm Sweet woodruff Violet Chickweed Camelia
Gardenia White oak
Cactus & Century plant
Hydrangea Figs (2) Chinese yam
Hardy kiwi
Herbs
Thornless blackberry (3) Daylily
Serviceberry
Hydrangea
Gogi berry (3)
Herbs Asparagus & Strawberry
Comfrey
Nasturtiums & sweet potato
Muscadine
Serviceberry Rosemary
Sunchoke & Ameranth
Lavender
Sunchoke & Amaranth
Asian persimmon
0
Planting plan
Hudson - Perennial Food & Shade
5
10
Sunny herbaceous layer: Thyme Oregano Garlic chives Chives Calendula Chervil Salad burnett Anise hyssop Lemon verbena Reseeding annuals: Cilantro Fennel Dill Amaranth Huautzontle Chamomile Marjoram Basil Borage Edible flowers: Daylily Spiderwort Nasturtium Violet Calendula
15 ft
HUNGRY GNOME GARDENSCAPES Designer: Gareth Crosby August 2011
5/7
Mint
Oregano
*Beebalm red
Garlic chives
*Violet
*Lemon balm
Anise hyssop
Yarrow terracotta
Dill
*Spiderwort
*Chichweed
*Calendula
Lemon verbena
Borage
*Chamomile
*Daylily
*Strawberries June-bearing Ever-bearing, Alpine
Fennel
Cilantro
*Queen Anne’s Lace
*Ostrich fern
Chives
Garden sorrel
Basil
Partial Shade
*Sweet woodruff
Plant Lists
Hudson - Perennial Food & Shade
HUNGRY GNOME GARDENSCAPES Designer: Gareth Crosby August 2011
6/7
Plant lists
Time frame for installation
#
Common name
Shade tolerant plants
10 10 5 10 5 5 1 pkt 5 2 2 2
1 1 1 pkt 10 4 5 5 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Sweet woodruff Ostrich fern Spiderwort Violet Lemon balm Daylily Chickweed Mint Chamomile Queen-Anne’s-Lace Carolina allspice
Sun-loving plants White oak Asian persimmon Calendula Strawberry Comfrey Yarrow Daylily Oregano Anise hyssop Chives Beebalm Lemon verbena Fennel Dill Garden sorrel Garlic chives Borage Cilantro Basil
Botanical name
Galium odoratum Matteuccia struthiopteris Tradescantia spp. Viola odorata Melissa officinalis Hemerocallis spp. Holosteum umbellatum Mentha spicata Matricaria recutita Daucus carota Calycanthus floridus
Quercus alba Drysopterous kaki Calendula spp. Fragaria spp Symphytum officinale Achillea millefolium Hemerocallis spp. Origanum vulgare Agastache foeniculum Allium schoenoprasum Monarda fistulosa Aloysia citrodora Foeniculum vulgare Anethum graveolens Rumex acetosa Allium tuberosum Borago officinalis Coriandrum sativum Ocimum basilicum
Edible quality flowers fiddlehead flowers, stems, leaves flowers, leaves leaves flower, root tubber leaves, stems, flower leaves flowers root NA
acorns flower petals berries NA NA root tubber leaves, stems leaves leaves, flowers flowers leaves leaves, flowers leaves, flowers leaves, stems leaves flowers leaves, seeds leaves
Much of the plant material for this garden is perennial. The best time to plant perennials. in general, is during the spring and fall. For fruit trees, the winter is the best time to plant in Georgia. We will be scheduling the installation for October of 2011.
The cement retaining wall The longevity of the cement retaining wall is uncertain considering the current water drainage that flows into the southeastern corner of the property. Increased water storage in the soil for plantings could put more pressure on the wall but with some preemptive measures, you can maintain the wall at the current state for many more years. We recommend a french drain behind the wall. This involves trenching 2 feet down and 6 inches out from the back of the wall and removing all this soil. At the bottom of the trench, lay a perforated pipe. Knock out half of one cement block nearest the far east corner to allow the perforated pipe to drain. Fill the trench with gravel and The cost for Hungry Gnome Gardenscapes to do this would be $600
Estimated Budget for October Planting and Trellis Plants are subject to price and availability changes. Hungry Gnome will do what it can to deliver the plants in the design for installation however there may be a need to substitute other plants for unavailable varieties or wait until these varieties become available, to plant them. As prices for plants and material are constantly changing, we can only give an estimate as to the cost of these items. This number includes the approximate cost of plants, labor and equipment rental for the project. Trellis - $1,000 - 1,500 Plants - trees/shrubs - $350 - perennials - $200 - annuals - $100 total plants - $650 Labor - $350 Irrigation - $175 Total estimated budget
Estimated Budget
Hudson - Perennial Food & Shade
- $2,175 - 2,675
HUNGRY GNOME GARDENSCAPES Designer: Gareth Crosby August 2011
7/7