I would do this, specifically for pollinators (i.e. honeybees, hummingbirds, butterflies, bats). They co-habitate fairly well and vertebrate pollinators help keep insect pest populations under control.
A nice bonus would be to add a sizeable water feature to encourage dragonfly growth. Of course, this all depends on the geography.
Unfortunately things are not that easy. At least in western europe, if you let a patch of land sit there for decades, it will eventually turn into a forest. While forests are nice, they are not necessarily the most biodiverse places.
Some regular destruction of plants (mowing, animals grazing, etc) is beneficial for biodiversity.
Raised beds for planting food, which surely will be cheaper than buying food. Right?
Why can't you design the landscape? Corner blobs flowing into side blobs and then a smokeless fire pit on a brick or paver patio in the middle or a corner, pergola over top of you want. Slap a tree in the middle of the fattest parts of the blobs, bushes around those, and then link between those with flowers, then you put ornamental grasses where blobs meet, and finally a bunch of small flowers that you will have to buy every fucking year just so your bitch of an ex-wife and her retail manager boyfriend can enjoy the backyard that you put in blood, sweat, and tears to afford.
Could always get a chicken coop. Chickens are fun, they poop food and fertilizer that is great for nitrogen heavy greens and vegetables. I'd probably do chickens and a food garden. You wouldn't really be able to do anything until next year, so you have time to save and do research. Start small though, having a half acre of crops can be a bit much to go all in on your first year.
How about a butterfly garden? That is low maintenance and the cost is fairly reasonable if you can't find a local org that helps supply the seeds.
stop using weedkiller and insecticide – save a little money and save your own health
add in inoculated clover seeds – “inoculated” adds in bacteria that makes the nitrogen more available to other plants – pick a clover that is relatively native to your area – up until WWII and the proliferation of modern weedkillers, healthy lawns were a mix of grass and clover
leave the dandelions alone – ALL parts of a dandelion are edible – the leaves are a classic bitter green (goes really well with a dressing made from walnut oil, mustard, and balsamic vinegar) – roasted roots used to be a coffee substitute – early buds can be pickled as an alternative to capers – and yes, dandelion wine is actually a thing
throw in lots of native flowers – attracts the pollinators that keep the rest of your garden going strong
if you must mow, don’t mow shorter than 6 in / 15 cm – encourages stronger, more robust growth
take up scything instead of mowing for personal exercise
Goats will eat everything and still look for more to eat.
Neighbors on both sides of us had goats when I was younger and their backyards were always dry, dirt deserts with only one particular flower they’d never touch because it was poison. Even trees weren’t spared as far as the goat could stand on its hind legs or could pull down.
I was tilling my garden a month or two ago and got to one end, turned around, and casually strolling right through the middle of the plot, literally 10 feet in front of me and a very loud tiller, was a young buck. Completely unafraid of me or the tiller.
On another day, I was using a chainsaw to cut down some buckthorn and that same buck was within 5 feet of me eating the leaves on the trees I just cut down. Again completely unafraid.
I put up a small net around the perimeter a few days before I put my plants in and they knocked it over, tore the net, and bent the poles. There wasn't even anything in the garden! And to top it all off, there were several fresh piles of poop.
So I put in 8 ft. T poles every 4 feet around the perimeter, doubled up the net, secured it at the top and the bottom, and they haven't gotten in yet (although I watched one of them biting at it). Unfortunately the neighbors are feeding these deer, so they have almost no fear of people.
Feeding deer is illegal in some places. In Pennsylvania it's illegal because of the wasting disease that is going through the population. You'd be doing the deer a favor if you called the game warden and reported if it is illegal in your area.
Oh very interesting! Can you give some background about the hugulkultur bed? When did you make it? What kind of logs and how deep are they? Well rotted or more fresh? Is this the first year?
Logs and filler were from a pine we cut down, pampas grass and various fallen branches, and lots of trimmed wisteria. There's a paper bark birch just off camera on the right along with a crepe myrtle.
The flowers are from on of those seed blankets. I didn't have time this year to cultivate perrenials so went with an easy colorful first year.
Eventually expanding this little garden to turn that side yard into a miniature native plant meadow.
Basically a drought-tolerant garden that needs very little to 0 irrigation. Lots of gravel, no lawns (fuck lawns entirely), native plants to the area you live, etc etc.
It's super interesting, I definitely recommend looking into it.
Thank you. Didnt know that, but somehow almost the same as my garden. Just not like Gravel and so. My is made for insects so it looks wild for some, but for me it måles sence 😃
I usually do stuff like marigolds and coneflower among stuff to keep them out, but I got lazy this year and they've been pretty merciful until the night before last
So it looks like I'm right. Most from US. Its not a problem, I think its interesting to see what grows at your place, and when . right now I can harvest Strawberry's ,peas (?) And soon some Kale. Imworkinhg om a ecological garden. Where no poison is used, and allwhats the garden produces stays in thecircle of the garden. 🙂
This was my first. I'd read about them in various gardening and permaculture posts, had the materials, and the result for essentially digging a ditch and filling it with yard waste was well worth it. It should help nourish the paper bark birch, dwarf arbor vitae, and crepe myrtle we have nearby for years to come.
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