Bed and Breakfast Diaries Part 4: Garden Plan
The garden portion of my plan will actually be done in October, when I can get clearance fruit tree as from my local plant nurseries. First thing is that the ground needs to be turned over and then the holes have to be dug. I have to do calculations for my food forest as far as how many trees it can sustain in the space. The I attached the survey so you can see what the lot I’m working with is like. I calculate based on the type (tree, bush, herb or vegetation, and vine).
The strip on the side, before it hits the large square space, is about 90 feet long. This means it can support about 4 standard fruit trees (25 feet apart), 8 semi-dwarf trees (12 feet apart), or 12 dwarf trees (8 feet apart)—but I plan to mix and match. The rectangular space is about 30 x 50, so it can support either 1 standard fruit tree (possibly 2), 8 semi dwarf trees, or 16 dwarf fruit trees. I have one extra spot for another fruit tree which will likely be full size on the right side (two dying walnuts were there prior) but that may have to be after I install the new fencing.
My main plan is to provide some shade for the parking lot and the back patio, because the lot is south facing and gets a lot of sun in the summer (which makes the animal coop too hot), but not so much shade that blocks the sunlight from reaching the other plants.
The annual beds (tomatoes, peppers, basil, etc.) and invasives—Jerusalem artichokes, elderberry, raspberries/blackberries, (likely 6 total on the deck), greenhouse (at the back of the parking lot), and shed (back of the parking lot next to the shed), won’t take up any planting space.
In total, I plan to have 8 semi dwarf fruit trees (red), 4 dwarf fruit trees (green), and 3 standard sized fruit trees (blue).
The trees will likely be:
- 2 Fuyu persimmon (Standard)
- 1 Sweet cherry (Standard)
- 2 Plums (Semi Dwarf)
- 2 Nectarines (Semi Dwarf)
- 2 Asian Pear (Semi Dwarf)
- 2 Apples (Semi Dwarf)
- 2 European Pear (Dwarf)
- 2 Sweet Cherries (Dwarf)
Large fruit bushes (yellow) like goumi, bush cherries, hazelnuts, serviceberries, and beach plums need about 5 feet apart (30 total), while small fruit bushes (purple) like blueberries, currants, and gooseberries are fine 2 feet apart (35 total). Finally, perennial veggies, and herbs (orange), such as strawberries, rhubarb, edible chrysanthemum, etc. will be planted 1/2 a foot to a foot apart (190 total if one feet apart.)
Large Fruit Bushes will likely be:
- 2 Goumi
- 4 Hazelnuts
- 6 Serviceberries
- 2 Peppercorns (Sansho and Szechuan)
- 8 Bush Cherries
- 4 Figs
- 4 Beach Plums
Small Fruit Bushes will likely be:
- 6 Gooseberries
- 15 Currants (5 Black, 5 Red, 5 White)
- 14 Blueberries
Perennial and noninvasive herbs will be:
- 25 Garlic Chives
- 25 Onion Chives
- 30 Rhubarb
- 10 Thyme
- 10 Oregano
- 10 Rosemary
- 10 Lavender
- 10 Sage
- 10 Lovage
- 10 Tarragon
- 10 Savory
- 18 Edible Chrysanthemum
- 5 Horseradish
- 5 Mitsuba Parsley
- 2 St. John’s Wort
Strawberries are going to be a very special case in that I will allow them to run wherever they please, so I will just be transplanting as much as possible.
The full shade boxes at the front will be reserved for the invasive mints and balms, fish mint, valerian, sweet woodruff, myoga ginger (which requires full shade), and hostas and alpine strawberries (which also thrive in full shade.) The back boxes will be for Jerusalem artichokes, Elderberry, soapworts, nagaimo, groundnut, and annual veggies.
As for vines, I plan to have a pergola for the deck, which will likely include two grapes, and an archway with 2 Akebia.