In this case study, I want to share with you part of a design I created for one homeowner who wanted to overhaul her long, lawn-covered garden. It is designed to provide a restful and reasonably low maintenance space, which can be enjoyed by the family, and yet will allow for plenty of food production.
Goals:
This design aims to:
- Allow for permaculture in practice.
- Grow food (and other yields) for the family abundantly and in an eco-friendly, organic and relatively low maintenance way.
- Improve and maintain the soil ecosystem over time.
- Sequester carbon (carbon gardening).
- Create a lush, beautiful space for people and wildlife.
The Site
The site has a lime-rich loamy and clayey soil, stony and with slightly impeded drainage, though very high in fertility. It is a long and relatively narrow garden, broadly level, and approximately 6.5x 30m. The south part of the garden is shaded by the house to the south, though the rest of the site is relatively sunny throughout the day.
In Stevenage, average summer highs are around 21 degrees C, and winter lows are around 1 degree C. About 632 mm of rain falls annually, and though water shortage is not usually a major issue, periods of drought in spring/ early summer are increasingly common.
I suggested a slow and steady approach, and an implementation plan that would allow the client gradually to turn the garden from a dull and grass-dominated space to one full of life and full of food.
If you want help with turning your lawn over to permaculture abundance, or would like any more information about anything you see in the overview image above, please do get in touch.
I can offer more information on how and why you should reduce grass cover around your trees, for example. I could also help you with turning your lawn into a wildflower meadow appropriate for where you live. Or share no dig gardening techniques to create new kitchen garden beds on an area that was lawn.
Do you have a boring lawn that needs a makeover? Send me a message – I can offer consultancy, or create a full permaculture design for your property.
EWSP Consultancy 