Oddly, I feel most people hiring me are intuitive about creating a garden. What they lack is a garden education, a garden vocabulary. And are smart enough to ask for help. Which is quite bold.
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This garden, below, perfection. At the front end of my career, I would not have understood this garden. Pure architecture. More than a backhand down the line winner, it is taking the net for an overhead smash, and better than catching your opponent wrong footed, your ball hits them in the solar plexus, knocking the air out of them, they fall backward on their rear, struggling for breath. You've won the point. Yes, this garden, below, feels that good.
Pic, above, here.
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However, that's not where I'm going, how-wonderful-it-is, with this garden, above. Instead, a practice garden design for you. Mentally remove your entire landscape. Next, with the garden design style, above, use only this style design to plan your new landscape. Do not worry about specific plants, put in the shapes.
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Take it a step further, doodle it on paper, with your house & property line drawn. Go. Have fun.
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Garden & Be Well, XOT
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Yes, I was a competitive tennis player, won district singles 4A twice, then skipped my senior year of high school to go to college. Never played tennis again. Oddly, I was never a good tennis player, merely competitive. Yes, I made tennis a contact sport, story above is true. Gladly, left behind 'competitive'. Ironically, it's what I love greatly about gardens, there is already a winner, Nature. She lets me play, by her rules, and happy for my winning, by her rules. Teamwork.
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Beloved has commented more than once about how I walk. It's plain, streamlined, calm, the exact walk perfected on tennis courts across Texas, the same walk I used to turn away from a gagging girl, before she got up, 'walking' to the baseline, as if zero had happened, I have a tournament to win, don't slow me down.
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Why not play tennis? Could never do social tennis, only what I knew. Love watching Serena Williams play tennis. Whoa, curtsy to the queen !
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Garden, above, designed by Quincy Hammond.
12 comments
Robin saysOctober 25, 2014
Thanks this was very helpful. I would like to see more very practical well laid out guild ideas like this!
Red Brady saysNovember 3, 2014
We’ve just planted the first two native apple trees in what will, we hope, be our forest garden (currently a large grassed paddock). Working out the rest of it is proving to be fun!
dhalsey saysDecember 8, 2014
Here is a polyculture page at the Natural Capital Plant Database:
http://permacultureplantdata.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=488&Itemid=237
http://permacultureplantdata.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=488&Itemid=237
Another implementation of a polyculture guild.
http://southwoodsforestgardens.blogspot.com/2013/07/patio-polyculture-orchard-design.html
http://southwoodsforestgardens.blogspot.com/2013/07/patio-polyculture-orchard-design.html
Ground cover whatever the plant is important in all these guilds. Occupy the soil space and absorb the sun into organic matter. Dan
Keshet Miller saysDecember 8, 2014
Mmm some very useful knowledge here…. they didnt mention the importance of a gazebo though! Heheh 🙂
Jock McClure saysJanuary 17, 2015
My tree might certainly benefit from this info! I owe it some consideration.
Betsy Beard saysJanuary 17, 2015
What kind of guilds are they talking about here? Do they mean to say ‘guides?’
Bernice saysJanuary 17, 2015
Would like a natural way to spray or keep worms from cherrys and to keep robins out of my cherrytrees
haecklers saysApril 11, 2015
How do you prevent insect pests by picking up dropped fruit to break the lifecycle with all those plants under the trees? How to you get to the fruit to harvest it? Those two are what’s been keeping me from planting guilds under my trees!
Anonymous saysSeptember 20, 2015
Very helpful.I have learned much
Thankyou
Thankyou