LAZY Gardening - Gardening with nature
I grew up in the north, Faro Yukon. My dad was a gardener, learning it from his parents in Newfoundland. Summer was short, we grew mostly potato and cabbage, or at least that's what I remember!
6 yrs ago in fall I decided to go after the life I wanted, after all, I'm in charge of me! I uprooted my family from our 7 year old custom built 'dream home' in the 'city' with its postage-stamp-sized yard where I was growing my veggies in rubbermaid totes. Within 2 months of starting our search we moved into a 35yo home that needed lots of lipstick, with a weedy sloped acre surrounded by trees and backed by 200 acres of forest. My friends & family thought I had truly lost my mind.
The transformation began! Turns out the house was a nightmare purchase, which I've since ripped apart and put much of it back together. I'll share some of those stories, it's quite incredible!
When spring rolled around I couldn't wait to tackle the yard. I was dismayed to discover it was mostly clay filled with rocks. Digging a hole for just one plant was challenging. What did I get myself into? A painstaking process with lots of hired labor!
Right, so I call it lazy gardening! Doing the initial work is not lazy, that's serious labor! I hired fantastic labor from Facebook groups, yes seriously, and had people do the digging etc while I worked my business. I know how to use my time & money wisely!
Maintenance is where I take a proactive approach to the common repetitive tasks. Pest control, Thinning, Weeding, Irrigating, Soil supplementation / fertilizing, prepping soil in spring, tearing the garden down in fall, planting annuals (hello self-seeding!). I'll share details on those processes in my blog & link them here once written. Here's a link to the Garden section of my blog
My garden:
🐝 is significantly focused on food for birds, bees and humans. My goal is to produce significantly more than we can possibly eat so that it can be donated.
💪🏽is heavily companion planted for lazy pest control
🌸 has flowers and veg interplanted in a flowing landscape way
🥦has no rows of vegetables, except corn. My garden is a polyculture. Rosemary, rhubarb and strawberries flourish under / around the apple and plum tree, for example
🌱 uses crop rotation to minimize pests and maximize soil nutrition
💦 has gutter creeks running through the start of my food forest
🥬 has an inground greenhouse for year-round growing and harvesting (yes, even in Canada)
💧 Has a 3 level retaining wall pond with food hydroponics
💪🏽Focuses heavily on reusing items in my environment
🐔 has a chicken garden with both food for the chickens & helpful pest repellent herbs
💦 Is watered by 1/4" drip irrigation despite having no in-ground sprinkler system
🧱 Uses unique plantings and structures as privacy screens
😄 Has a super fun squash & hammock arbor
The most common questions I get are: 'did you have this vision when you started' & 'What did you do each year to end up like this'. I totally DID NOT have this vision when I started. Each year another piece of it came into play. I knew I wanted certain things although I didn't have this clear picture of what that would look like, I'm often pleasantly surprised when I step out on my back deck and look down! So I'm including details here for those looking to tackle their own property.
Summer 1 - 2014:
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Hired an excavator to dig us 2 fruit tree holes & a 60' raspberry trench.
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I painstakingly dug out the soil to make garden beds along the path. That was one hard summer!
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Planted the Plum, a Nectarine (since died) and the raspberries.
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Added a shade screen along the path for a future hosta location.
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Mostly dealt with home renos and chickens. Tried a few veggies in a the open sunny areas to see what survived this new elevation a zone lower than before.
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Added the back patio swings and the old trampoline yard bed.
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Build a robust sun map of the property for future development
Summer 2 - 2015:
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Path changed from sharp rocks to soil /stones with plantings & mini rocks.
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Planted a dozen clumps of daylilies and tall white phlox throughout the yard, big showy anchor plants that look striking even when not in flower.
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Added my Hosta Garden
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Removed planter & lawn at front (30x15). Added paths and plantings.
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Had a few more veggies growing in 2 new raised beds.
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Added the apple tree. Made sun maps of the property & dreamed of what could go where!
Summer 3 - 2016: One heck of a year!!
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Leveled a parking lot where a slope dropped off with a tire retaining wall
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Had a Walapini dug & build (many disasters along the way!)
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Had a rock retaining wall constructed to level a 'lawn/garden' Finally soil I could dig into!
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Added a privacy screen/ grapes arbour (the cover photo on this page)
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Added a Butterfly/Bee/Dragonfly Garden - 25' long, 10 wide at back. Each hole took at least 20-30 minutes to dig
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Deeply discounted and near dead Rhubarb & Haskap planted
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Path re-done with pavers among the rocks, including a step down to the lawn.
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Added pool deck. Removed collapsing retaining wall and mini pond
Summer 4 - 2017:
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Spring - Gutter Creeks dug through my perennial food garden.
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Spent 1/2 of summer away.
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Was the first year growing in Walapini! Food was flourishing everywhere!
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In early Aug my pool had a blowout and we spent WAY too much time putting in a new liner.
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A late Aug forest fire & evacuation moved in an army of voles and most of my food crops were wiped out.
Summer 5 - 2018: My 50th Bday gift to myself was my 3 level waterfall hydroponics pond!
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Walapini roof changed. Front yard overhaul with rocks rather than mulch between plants.
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May - we dug a massive hole where the old small pond/retaining wall was, ready for the new pond...
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June - Tree falls on coop and it's crushed but miraculously all chickens live.
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I planted a small veggie garden of 'test vegetables' with their companion plants so I could see if the cats had culled the vole population. Since my whole yard was going to torn up by pond reno equipment any day, I really couldn't do much anyway!
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July: Remove the 100' feet of landscape ties dividing the path from the garden. Fill gap with soil & thyme sprigs.
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Aug: Pond Reno starts again with new contractor and it's a smashing success
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Sept: Path to Office redone again to line up with new pond lines (third times the charm!)
Summer 6 - 2019:
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Added Asparagus bed in a 5yr old pile of animal poop from the neighbors
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Added another new raised bed and a Hammock / Vines Arbor
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Pulled out all grass and changed to a clover Lawn, removing 8' of lawn to give me more garden
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Prune back juniper & discover a buried 4' deep planting bed! Turned that into a self-seed annual garden.
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Finally finished pool deck rails & cedar skirt
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Planted food in every square inch of space & harvested like crazy! Cats handled the voles!
Summer 7 - 2020 Goals
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Finish the steps off the pool deck and off the 'lawn' to the driveway
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Add a VERY tall privacy screen (20') along my fence line where the neighbors tres are being removed, and grow hops & Runner bean on it
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Spend WAY more time in my hammock and on my yard bed than prior years!
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Harvest a 'crap ton' of food!
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Add THIS ⬇ garden bed in the newly sunny area at the back of my property & do a test year with lentil and drying bean production.
