Garden Update: When Life Started to Stir From the Soil

Back towards the end of March life started to stir and appear from the soil.

First were the spring bulbs in the Cut Flower bed.

The first to show was the hyacinths with lots of iris leaf growth.

The meadow plants started to put on new growth and the comfrey (left) appeared after being dug under when the irrigation system was put in.

I got the eagerly anticipated call from Verna at Fruit Trees and More that my order was in. I went straight away and picked up an Italian plum and many different shrubs and berry bushes.

I also did a thorough search of one of my favourite nurseries Le Coteau Nursery and found many of the trees and shrubs on my list.

At this stage of planting the beds, I am making the big decision about which tree will anchor the ecosystem in each bed. Next, I look for the compatible shrub layer. However, I was sidetracked by the beautiful condition of these hostas at Le Conteau Nursery and bought a collection for the new bed between the cedar fence and the hugelkultur beds. They settled in straight away and put on new growth within a few weeks.

The locals thought the Hostas looked delicious too but nibbled only a few of the lower leaves.

I had said to Sammy I wanted to plant native Dogwood shrubs. One day he brought around some sticks and pushed them into the ground. Already their lovely red stems are a feature in the bed.

While continuing to build up and protect the soil with a mulch layer, I was focused more on planting while the rains continued.

Backyard Project: Rocks - Rocks - Rocks, 'Use What You have'

One of the principals of permaculture is to use what you have on the site.

What we have in abundance is rock - hard granite rock.

Above shows one of the sites where a huge boulder (or was it bedrock?) was blasted - I posted about it here. The site needed to be levelled out before the pergola could be built.

The biggest rocks were moved out of the pergola area to a temporary place near where they are to be used.

The middle-sized ones - the maximum size I can carry - have been used to edge garden beds. I like making rock garden edges. Taylor placed bigger rocks under the cedar fence to stop baby deer from crawling under it.

The smallest rocks from the site plus all of those on the to-be pathways and those I dig out of the garden beds are collected up and wheelbarrowed....

...to make a random rock edge on the right side of the pathway going up the east side of the house to the front. For the edge on the left of the path, I am fitting the rocks together to define Gunilla's garden bed. This was the first rock work I attempted and my skill level has improved so much since then I will be going back to rework this little wall.

Rock from the blast site where the sheds are to be built was moved by Josh using the Bobcat to make a random rock wall along the track, post here. The rock wall had a lot of soil as well which I didn't want because the seeds in the soil would grow and cover the rocks.

I spent many hours cleaning off the rocks with the frequent rains helping the job along.

Once I had cleared most of the soil off I scattered about 15 different types of seeds hoping they would germinate in the remaining soil pockets. 

It has been a lot of work moving these rocks in place but with good planning, we haven't had to move them far and we are making use of all of them. We will not have to pay for any rock removal.

"Use what you have" - check.

Backyard Project: Irrigation - A Big Job

Irrigation installation equipment: measuring wheel for finding distances, coloured flags to mark zones, grubbing mattock to dig trenches.

Mike Isacson, the owner of Island Waterwise Irrigation and assistant David, arrived in February to install an irrigation system in the backyard. I first met Mike several years ago at an irrigation workshop he had volunteered to run for the CRD. I was most impressed with his level of knowledge and his irrigation philosophy. He had been a landscape gardener before deciding to specialise in irrigation when he found so few people really understood what it should be.  

There had been an extensive irrigation system before we started the Backyard Project but most of it got destroyed during construction. We did not try to preserve it because the whole area was to be reconfigured. New main pipes had to be installed in trenches.

It was tough going digging those trenches in the rocky soil. And the weather was cold.

The original system watered a huge lawn which covered most of the area that is now the Backyard Project. The new system focuses on new raised beds while the pergola, arbour, gravel bed garden and new paths do not need an irrigation system.

I had drawn a map dividing up garden beds into different areas with different water requirements. I walked around the site with Mike to explain the areas. Mike then walked around and visualised the different zones needed and marked them with different coloured flags.

We had made contact with Mike in the previous fall but he was very busy and not able to get to our place until February. I knew the garden beds would be dug up to lay the pipes so I planted only the tree in each bed and grew cover crops that needed to be dug in any way. By the time Mike arrived all of the cover crops had been killed off by the frost. 

Each zone has its own coloured flag. I asked Mike to leave the flags in place so I could become familiar with each zone once we started using the irrigation system. We will program each zone according to how often and how much water it needs during the dry months.

This is the spade David used to dig the trenches, called a trenching spade, obviously. I was so impressed with how carefully he dug out the soil then replaced it after the pipe was laid.

David is laying pipe along the top of the Feather Hugelkultur Bed. Mike works along the fence in the new bed. You can tell it is cold by how well dressed they are - hat/toque, gloves and winter jacket are required.

Flexible pipe is installed in the trench then different fittings are attached depending on the type of irrigation needed.

One of the control areas for the different zones. This is covered with the green lid so it can be accessed when needed.

There were a couple of days during the installation when conditions were miserable. This day first the roofers stopped because they couldn't get the bitumen warm enough. Then Mike and David left because they couldn't see what they were doing. Josh and his crew left not long after because of the same problem. It was an unwanted Snow Day holiday.

Backyard Project: New Studio Footwear and New Garden Bed

I wrote a couple of posts about the shoes I wear going to and from the studio and inside the studio here and here.

With the past snowy winter I had to add another pair of footwear - waterproof rubber boots with New Zealand wool liners. These are also my gardening boots. It is usual to wear longer boots when gardening in forest areas to protect the legs from deer ticks.

Recently I added a pair of Skellerup 'Red Band' flip flops/jandles/thongs to my studio shoe collection. I purchased them in New Zealand where they and 'Red Band' gumboots are de rigeur when in the countryside. Now the paths have been leveled and covered with gravel it is no longer hazardous to walk to and from my studio and these are perfect for slipping on and off during the warm months.

Finally the lumber Josh ordered came in and he was able to finish the cedar fence with the top beam.

In theory that meant there would be no more construction activity in the area between the fence and the studio. Finally I could get going on making the new garden bed.

The soil is in rough shape. It has been driven over, walked over, turned into mud over the rainy season and dust in the dry season. It is thoroughly compacted, full of rocks and stones and has little organic matter - so I need to provide the conditions for the soil organisms to make new soil.

First I dug it over taking out all of the rocks in the first few inches. Then I covered it with a thick layer of all the paper and cardboard I had collected from the house and from dumpster diving.

This paper is the 'Party Time' signal for the earthworms, woodlice/slaters and hundreds of other bugs to start partying/eating. 

Normally this layer has to be soaked with water using the hose but the outside water has not been turned on for the season yet so I made this first layer the day before rain was forecast. As predicted, it got thoroughly drenched.

I measured out the path and started construction of the rock edge using rock blasted from the pergola area.

Next layer - coffee grounds courtesy of our local coffee houses/cafes. As I have posted about before - the coffee is the green and the filters and coffee cups are the brown in the compost mix.

Then the muscle moved in dumping wheelbarrow loads of a 'cooked' spent hops mash from a local brewery and the shreddings from a nearby landscaper - a potent mix.

Tah dah - new garden bed. While the soil organisms do their work transforming the layers into soil  I have the pleasurable task of planning the plantings.

Taylor placed the rocks along the bottom of the fence so the bambi deer could not squeeze under it and get inside the backyard. The mother deer on the other side do crazy things when this happens.

 I think of this as a bonus garden bed. I didn't have it in my original concept design and I didn't know how big it would be until the fence was in place and the path was marked out. Not only is it a big bed it is also a pleasing shape.

Backyard Project: Machines Prepare the Ground for Foundations and Make a Wall

Heavy machinery has been brought in to prepare the ground for the sheds' foundations.

Josh is checking the work so far.

James is operating the digger to lift out the large chunks of blasted granite.

The angle of the deer fence in the background shows how much material needs to be moved to get an area of level ground to build on.

I have plans for these rocks but I don't want the soil on them. However, I am OK with leaving the rain to do the job of washing the soil off.

Then I saw Josh and Taylor hand loading the choice rocks into the Bobcat bucket while leaving the soil behind.

They took many bucket loads of rocks down the path to the Back Track.

Josh did such a great job building the stone wall I wanted. 

The Back Track now has a randomly-placed stone wall on the downhill side leading down towards the road, stopping at the tree. On the other side of the tree is where we make compost. The piece of cardboard in the foreground is the marker where the wall was to stop at the uphill end.

I wasn't keen on having the dirt with the rock because as soon as things start to warm up all sorts of wild plants will grow on the wall. I plan to get in ahead of this natural process and scatter plants seeds of my choice between the rocks. That will keep the unwanted plants at bay and I won't have to 'weed' the wall. That is the plan anyway.

Backyard Project: 3 Garden Structures Currently Being Worked on

Garden Structure One. Kyle has set up a work area to make formwork.

The forms are stacked on the patio near where the Garden Sheds are to be built.

Garden Structure 2. Another delivery of lumber is carefully unloaded...

...then stacked under the arbour and protected by a tarpaulin. A temporary tarpaulin roof further protects the stacked lumber from the heavy rains.

The lumber will be used to make the Propagation Room.

Garden Structure 3. Taylor has spent days digging a trench in the rocky ground from the new Pergola ...

...to the nearest source of power. 

The electrician arrived and installed the cable and the power outlet on the nearest pergola post.

 

Taylor took great care while he was digging to keep the different soils separate. The power cable has been laid and he is now just as carefully replacing the soil in the right order back in the garden bed.

I was interested to see just how deep the topsoil layer in the Rock Garden beds has become after building it up over the past 3 seasons. It will be ready to plant with perennials in the spring.

Work is currently going on in 3 different sites. It is Josh, the team leader, who keeps the supplies coming, decides on the tasks each day and keeps his team working efficiently. He is doing a great job.