Magical Garden
Food Forest Keepers: Laura
I purchased my home in 1997. The front yard was a traditional front yard of grass, a tree and foundation plants. After several years of off and on drought, my front yard and my pocketbook needed changes.
In 2017 a friend asked if I would join her at workshop hosted by Sustainable Solano. This workshop was fantastic. The speakers spoke about expanding single community gardens into food forest yards thoughout the community. Reclaiming water from the roof by installing swales from the downspouts and diverting greywater from the washers were some water-saving techniques discussed. Also, the use of native plants throughout the landscape was another water-saving option. I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and I totally agreed with the concept.
Site Details
Installation Date:
May 2019
Size:
900 square feet
Sun Exposure:
8 hours
Soil:
Clay
Number of Swales:
1
Secondary Water:
Lawn Conversion
Rainwater
Roofwater Diverted to Swales
Total annual water impact:
70,648 gallons
Design:
Designer: Kathleen Huffman
Plant List:
Apple (Honey Crisp), Cherry (Lapins), Lemon (Meyer), Lime (Bearss) and Pomegranate
Coreipsis (Early Sunrise), Goji Berry, Lavender (Munstead), Pineapple Guava, Pineapple Sage, Raspberry (Fall Gold, Wilamette, Canby), Rosemary (Trailing and Tuscan), Salvia (Bees Bliss, Greggi, Chamaedryoides, Wendy’s Wish), Scabiosa (Kudo Pink), Service Berry
Achillea (Moonshine), Agastache (Ambrosia, Blue Boa, Golden Jubilee, Peachy Keen), Blanket Flower, Borage, Dragons Head, Feverfew, Green Globe Aritichoke, Lemon Balm, Lemongrass,
Lemon Thyme, Mexican Marigold, Pepino Dulce, Penstemon (Cabrillo Purple, Firebird), Rhuarb, Scarlet Monkey Flower, Tree Collard, Yarrow
Strawberry
Malabar Spinach
Installation:
It took me two years to take the plunge to convert my front yard into a food forest — the beginning of my “Magical Garden.” It was the best thing I ever did. It was a two-weekend project to transform my front yard. When the project was done my yard had transformed from a lawn to the following: an apple tree, a cherry tree, a pomegranate tree, a lemon tree, and a lime tree. Along with several varieties of tomatoes, green and yellow squash, string beans, cantaloupe, Chinese eggplant, cucumbers, lemon cucumber, spinach, several strawberry and raspberry, and a few more. The pollinators plants were scattered throughout the yard, and brought in bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
Magical Garden Slideshow
Vision for the Future:
This was such a fun project. I am amazed how much my neighbors enjoyed all the fresh fruits and vegetables.