Backyard mini-orchard permaculture experiment
 

After renting a few places to test neighborhoods we finally found the right spot and I could start turning my ideas into reality.
Up north I focused on veggies, roses and conifers mostly. In north Florida you can pretty much grow something all year and I’ve always wanted fruit trees, so ...

First year I set up my veggie container garden and began planning and saving.
We have a pretty standard yard for our neighborhood but with a little extra space on one side. We also inherited some typical shrubs, all more or less straggly or not worth keeping, plus a mulched area.

We decided to carve out a roughly L-shaped bed across the back and side yards and set it off with a low stone wall. The volume is about 2500 sq feet or so.

As I was researching pollinators I realized I could combine my next goal - hummingbird & butterfly garden - with the orchard so ... more planning and saving.

To get a jump start I ordered most of the fruit trees and put them into 30 gallon smart pots. I started making vermicompost on a larger scale, also in fabric pots.

Figs (3) Green Ischia, Smith, Petite Nigra
Apples (2) Williams Pride, King David
Nectaplum (1) Spice Zee
Pluots (2) Dapple Supreme and a 4in1 combo
Pear (1) Warren
Blueberries (10) assorted high bush plus 6 Peach Sorbet
Bearss lime and a Meyer lemon, both on dwarfing rootstock

We have 3 rescue cats so the hummingbird plants had to be tall enough that they could feed out of reach. I ended up with Hamelias, firespike, taller penstemons and abutilon.

Another hurdle was the line of weedy trees on the back neighbor’s property. Those roots were going to be all through the new garden space. More research...and found a type of plastic barrier used to control bamboo.

I also realized that to add the compost I wanted I was going to have to get rid of a few inches of existing soil from the whole area. Up to this point I was figuring on my labor for the garden and hubby for the irrigation and wall. No way I could do that, so I hired a ‘clean out’ crew.

The clean out team:
Pulled out the old azaleas, ligustrums, etc. Some of them took a little bobcat to get out.
Removed the old mulch, sod, and old weed barrier.
Removed 3 inches of the sandy yucky soil from the whole area. Oh, and hurricane Matthew hit in the middle of this so that stuff was wet. And heavy.
Chainsawed through the roots along the fence line from the back neighbors weed trees. (There was a lot of cussing overheard during this step.)
Installed the bamboo barrier all along the back border. This had to go down 2 feet so more cussing.
Trimmed back all the overhanging branches from said neighbors weed trees. Easiest part.
Ground roughly leveled.

For my tomatoes I had been using organic compost I got through a local sod company, mixed with pine bark fines and a few other amendments. It worked really well and I could get it in giant cubic yard bags, delivered. I decided on 5 cubic yards of that, plus some bulk soil from my local nursery.

Over the planning period I had ‘grown’ about 20 bags of vermicompost using our kitchen waste. These were in 30 gallon smart pots so pretty maneuverable. Each fruit tree got 2 bags and the rest went to the general space. Once the fruit trees were in I also started some ‘dig and drop’ composting.

We’re now a couple of years into this project. The wall is still under construction but you just cannot do that kind of work during the summer here. Oh, and we had 2 more hurricanes. Plus hubby has had 2 back surgeries so he’s forced to work at a slower pace.

All the fruit trees and blueberries are established and growing well.

Some of the original bee/hummingbird plants just couldn’t take the heat and melted away during the second year. This included the agastache, penstemons and some of the salvias. Others did too well - one quart sized salvia Amistad spread to 6 ft wide and 6 ft tall in a few months, engulfing the pear tree. I couldn’t bear to yank it out because the bees and hummingbirds absolutely loved it. I finally just did.

I did discover the all-time best bee plant: African Blue basil. It’s easy to manage, beautiful, and swarming with bees of all shapes and sizes every daylight minute. It’s mesmerizing to watch. Not frost hardy but cuttings root easily in water. Sterile, so flowers instead of setting seed.

I’m still making vermicompost but have had to stop dig and drop composting as the possum found it irresistible. A few times he’s gone after the worms, too, so now I put the raw kitchen waste into a regular sealed composter for a while before adding it to the worm bins.
Before ...
[IMG]http://http://www.tomatoville.com/picture.php?albumid=485&pictureid=3121[/IMG]

Marking out the new garden, making vermicompost
 

The new garden encompassed the mulched area plus a section of lawn.

Clean out complete
 

That was a multi-day effort by the crew, with hurricane Matthew tossed in for fun.
Bulk compost delivered.

Soil Prep Done
 

Partly power tilled but mostly hand tilled. Sweaty job.
Spencer thinks this is great.

Trees Going In
 

Tucked in with vermicompost and bone meal, plus sulphur for the blueberries.

Pollinators and Fruit Tree Guilds
 

Researching permaculture concepts was a blast. I ended up with guilds of chives, dill, cilantro, borage, nasturtium and cerinthe. I let other herbs like annual basil seed around.

Pollinator planting
 

Planting is so much more fun than weeding.

More Planting and Wall Started
 

We knew this was going to be a multi-year project. Those are fun!
Stone delivered, wall base in, wall in progress. At first hubby wanted to dry stack all the stone but has ended up using a bit of mortar where you can’t really see it for stability.

Growing Up and Out
 

Filling out ...

LOVE seeing these types of projects! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you! I agree!

Great job!

I really miss the rounded glacial stone that was spread all over eastern Wisconsin - farmers let me pick it up from their piles. Not much stone in tidewater VA!

Your border looks great!

I know. And thank you!
We came to Florida via New England; no shortage of stone there. On reason it took 3 years to save for this project was the cost of the stone, but we are both suckers for it.

That is very ambitious and good to see.

As a mason, backfilling with mortar works well, and it's popular nowadays.

North Florida has weather conditions a lot like where I live in Texas. Temperatures can be hot one day and cold the next - depending on seasons. Lantanas will bring in the butterflies and can live anywhere in Florida. Most lantanas sold are hybrids, so starting them from cuttings is the easiest way to get new plants. When it gets below freezing - they will look like they are dead, but they are not. They will be back next year after year after year with very little care.

Thanks for sharing your wonderful project.

Thank you. I’ve experimented a bit with lantanas. Something about the scent of the foliage really bugs me, and they trend toward invasive. I’ve used a few in my 2 big galvanized containers and the butterflies do like them. Same with some of the annual salvias.

I’m still getting used to the unpredictability of the weather here. But it sure beats having ice, snow and a short growing season.

Thank you so much!

I couldn't see the photos until now, but I was eagerly following your narrative. Very beautiful edible landscape design with the hardscape highlights and defines the trees, shrubs, and herbs beds. I had a yellow ranch in the country just like yours when I was very small. So charming!

You have incredible patience too. Finding the right place to settle in and doing the soil prep to the extent that you did. I see your neighbors with the marlin house are nature lovers too.

New England explains the want for blueberries! They look so healthy. Do you get multiple pickings in the south?
An aside, I had an amazing low bush in southern New Jersey (I lived all over the northeast as a civilian in the DOD before getting stuck here in O.) The soil and water is so alkaline here that no amount of soil prep will keep down the ph. The orchard master at a popular u-pick ripped out the entire blueberry section after several years of preparation and investment in time and money for the bushes to mature. They were small, weak, and didn't produce, and his orchard was otherwise amazing. He said that was his last hurrah as by the time another section matures and turns a profit he will be retired.

- Lisa

[QUOTE=greenthumbomaha;721414]I couldn't see the photos until now, but I was eagerly following your narrative. Very beautiful edible landscape design with the hardscape highlights and defines the trees, shrubs, and herbs beds. I had a yellow ranch in the country just like yours when I was very small. So charming!

You have incredible patience too. Finding the right place to settle in and doing the soil prep to the extent that you did. I see your neighbors with the marlin house are nature lovers too.

New England explains the want for blueberries! They look so healthy. Do you get multiple pickings in the south?
An aside, I had an amazing low bush in southern New Jersey (I lived all over the northeast as a civilian in the DOD before getting stuck here in O.) The soil and water is so alkaline here that no amount of soil prep will keep down the ph. The orchard master at a popular u-pick ripped out the entire blueberry section after several years of preparation and investment in time and money for the bushes to mature. They were small, weak, and didn't produce, and his orchard was otherwise amazing. He said that was his last hurrah as by the time another section matures and turns a profit he will be retired.

- Lisa[/QUOTE]

Hi Lisa,
This project had been fermenting in my head all the time we rented, and for the whole first year in the house. Then I ordered the fruit trees and the initial 6 blueberries and kept them in fabric pots for a year while we actively planned the project out. I also made lots of vermicompost that year.
We do love blueberries. I’ve just given them a bit of vinegar water from time to time in addition to the sulphur amendments when I planted. I added 4 more southern high bush last fall and may try to squeeze a few more in. Enough for us AND the birds, lol.
The plants bear over multiple weeks and growing different varieties extends the harvest quite a bit. Too bad to hear about the orchardist pulling them out; that’s a major bummer. I’m in Jacksonville and my soul is also alkaline, but I’m determined!
New Jersey grows great blueberries (and tomatoes!)

And cranberries!!
You can't beat Jersey Fresh!

I wonder if those farms (southern/central Jersey)are housing developments now :(

Good luck with your amendments. I'm routing for your blueberries.

- Lisa

Very nice! I look forward to seeing the plants fill out the space. In north Florida, do you have to worry about "chill hours" for your fruit trees? We do in my area. I don't have any fruit trees, but peaches, grapefruit, and lemons and limes are popular.

Donna, Texas Gulf Coast

[QUOTE=SpookyShoe;721487]Very nice! I look forward to seeing the plants fill out the space. In north Florida, do you have to worry about "chill hours" for your fruit trees? We do in my area. I don't have any fruit trees, but peaches, grapefruit, and lemons and limes are popular.

Donna, Texas Gulf Coast[/QUOTE]

Hi Donna,
I do have to worry about chill hours, except on the citrus. I spent weeks researching that topic alone when I planned what trees to get.
My 2 apples are right on the edge but I chose them because of disease resistance. What I really want are sweet cherries! Luckily there are breeding efforts underway in that direction.

lantana/be careful
 

[QUOTE=PlainJane;721064]Thank you. I’ve experimented a bit with lantanas. Something about the scent of the foliage really bugs me, and they trend toward invasive. I’ve used a few in my 2 big galvanized containers and the butterflies do like them. Same with some of the annual salvias.

I’m still getting used to the unpredictability of the weather here. But it sure beats having ice, snow and a short growing season.[/QUOTE]


I love them, but I have only one, in a front yard bed. Our vet told us they are poisonous to dogs. And our dog Rusty would eat the leaves. But there are varieties that can be grown in hanging baskets.

Donna

Donna, I did not know they were poisonous to dogs. Good to know.
Hanging baskets look nice but I’ve never been successful with them for some reason, so I stick with containers.
- Joyce

Update on fruit tree guilds.

Cerinthe aka Honeywort: decent bee plant, ignored by hummingbirds and butterflies. Reseeds easily and looks great in spring but fades away once heat sets in. I pull the plants out once they get to the straggling stage.

Borage: good bee plant, and the apples and blueberries seem to like it as a companion. It flops all over the place and looks awful by summer but comes back via self-seeding. Once it melts away the remains are composted.

Nasturtiums: beautiful and edible until the heat does it in. Truthfully, I’ve never seen a bee or any other insect going for it. Re-seeds each year.

Herbs: dill, cilantro, basil, arugula are allowed pretty free reign wherever they pop up. I was surprised to see that arugula attracts the most bee traffic, and by a large margin. What I don’t use or give away, gets pulled once it looks too ratty. Everything re-seeds exuberantly.

Each fruit tree has several clumps of chives and some daffodils under it. The daffs do their thing and in late summer once the foliage has mostly melted away I remove the rest of it. The chives are a type that don’t bloom but the clumps spread slowly. Earthworms love to hang out around them.

Truly impressive effort and result. I am in the same mode, if you can't eat it or feed birds and animals why plant it. Help all things natural. And throw in a few beautiful flowering plants for effect.