This was a really fun project – edible forest gardens, mandala gardens, meditation area, plants for the chickens, and TONS of beautiful, pollinator-attracting flowers everywhere. These were really fun clients to work with, very committed to regenerating the land, being good stewards, and growing their own healthy food in abundance. This will truly be a permaculture paradise!
Native, ornamental and edible plants provide a beautiful, enclosed sanctuary for this Alexandria residence.
This is a highly diverse, medicinal paradise – created as a center of production, a teaching demonstration garden, and an aesthetically beautiful home landscape for a local herbalist in Woodbridge, VA.
This is a really cool project we’re doing for a great friend of ours, Lauren Liess of Pure Style Home/Lauren Liess Interiors. We’re really excited to build this beautiful garden for her family!
©2013 by Jon Storvick and Organic Edible Gardens, LLC
Our previous article on ecological lawn care was an introduction to how the ubiquitous and toxic-chemical-addicted American lawn can be transformed in a safe, non-toxic, eco-friendly manner. Now we’re going to show you a little of what that actually looks like in practice.
We have been working with one of our clients in McLean for several years now, designing and maintaining various plantings organically. However, they retained their existing lawn service, which treated the lawn with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Despite all of the toxic chemicals, unsightly weeds still flourished in the lawn. They decided to try out our organic lawn maintenance service as an alternative. Here’s what we’ve been doing as part of the process of converting their lawn to an organic ecosystem.
First off, we needed a snapshot of exactly what the conditions were in the lawn ecosystem. We took several soil samples from the lawn areas, and sent them off to two different sources – one examined the chemical and nutrient levels, and the other analyzed the biological activity in the soil – bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, etc.
The chemical analysis indicated low levels of phosphorus, potassium and calcium, as well as a slightly lower pH than desirable. Organic matter was at 3.3%, where 6-8% would be more ideal.
The biological analysis indicated a much better microbial soil food web than we had anticipated – fungal and bacterial levels and diversity were good, but protozoa and beneficial nematodes were low. There were also higher levels of “pest” nematodes than were desirable.
We devised a strategy for increasing lawn health and converting to organic management based on these test results.
We arrived at the property in early April – we’ve had a belated Spring, so this was one of the first weeks where soil temperatures were high enough that we could proceed without harming the grass. Here’s a before shot of the lawn:
We began by organically removing much of the weeds in the lawn – hand removing taproot and bulb species like spring onions and dandelions, and flame weeding the rest (yes folks, this is safe, and we take all necessary precautions before using open flame in the landscape!).
We then gave the lawn its first mowing of the year, leaving the grass clippings in place. After mowing, we aerated the lawn to increase oxygen levels in the soil, decompact the hard clay, and allow for organic material to penetrate the soil surface.
After aeration, the next step is to topdress with lime and a good amount of compost.
We then spread the compost over the lawn.
After this is completed, we heavily overseed with our custom mixes (composed of various grasses, legumes for nitrogen fixation, and selected broadleaf species to fill open niches in the lawn ecosystem), and topdress with alfalfa meal, which slowly adds nitrogen and other nutrients through decomposition.
As we left, the lawn doesn’t look much different from when we started – but this will give it the initial start it needs to be healthy and organically maintained. In the future, we’ll be treating it with compost teas to feed the soil life, among other sustainable management techniques. We’ll keep you posted to show you how this new organic lawn turns out!
UPDATE 4/19/2013
After just 2 weeks, this is what the lawn looks like! Amazing!
For more information on organic lawn care, please visit the NOFA Organic Landcare website, or call Organic Edible Gardens LLC at 571-282-1724 for a free consultation.
This is an urban permaculture design combining edible, native and low-maintenance plantings into an enchanting space for a young Arlington family. Let us know what you think!
©2012 by Jon Storvick and Organic Edible Gardens, LLC
Lawns are a hotly contested subject these days. Lawns have become the major defining feature of the American landscape. Yet, it wasn’t always this way. Up until the development of the suburbs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the lawn was the sole province of the extremely wealthy, who could afford to spare the land for non-utilitarian purposes (e.g. food production). Lawns have become synonymous with home ownership, but there is a hidden cost to our obsession with the “living carpets” that surround our homes.
“The American Lawn uses more resources than any other agricultural industry in the world. It uses more phosphates than India, and puts on more poisons than any other form of agriculture… A house with two cars, a dog, and a lawn uses more resources and energy than a village of 2000 Africans…. The lawn and its shrubbery is a forcing of nature and landscape into a salute to wealth and power, and has no other purpose or function.” – Bill Mollison, Introduction to Permaculture
, p. 111
Americans dump fertilizers and pesticides on their lawns in tremendous amounts. Since lawns do not infiltrate water very efficiently, most of these toxic chemicals run off into nearby storm drains and make their way into local watersheds where they poison ecosystems, animals, and humans. We will not give you statistics here, they are readily available with a brief Internet search. It suffices to say that lawns have a very large and very destructive impact on the environment.
An argument often put forward is to eliminate the lawn entirely in favor of lower-input landscapes, food forests, etc. While we certainly approve of these ideas, they are not the only option. Lawns do have their appropriate uses and functions, and we believe that they can indeed have a role to play in the sustainable landscape. As permaculturist Paul Wheaton says, “I think I have heard ‘grow food not lawns’ about a thousand times. I wish to advocate that the lawn is where children play, and where we put chairs to enjoy nature, and the place for yard sales. From a permaculture perspective I prefer ‘grow food in your lawns’: there are lots of edibles that would thrive there and tolerate the occasional mowing.”
While the edible lawn is somewhat beyond the scope of this article, we do wish to make clear that lawns in general can be sustainable and organically maintained. We’re going to tell you a little bit about how we do it here at OEG.
Grasses are plants too, and the ‘Right Plant Right Place’ mantra applies to the lawn as well. Most commercial seed mixes are based on a ‘one size fits all’ attitude, and species/cultivars of grasses in these mixes are rarely if ever tailored to site conditions – soil type and pH, climatic conditions, etc. Whether starting a new lawn from scratch or overseeding an existing lawn, it is important to select species and cultivars of grasses that are appropriate to the site. We use a mixture of several different grass species and cultivars, including tall fescues, American Buffalograss, Perennial Ryegrass, and Zoysia – all cultivars specifically selected for local site conditions, drought tolerance, and root patterns which partition the resources in the soil more effectively than monocultures. We also include small amounts of selected species of broadleaf plants in our lawn mix which do not interrupt the appearance of the lawn when mowed, and further utilize the soil resources, keeping water and nutrients in the soil where they belong. Seeding at the proper time of year ensures establishment with minimal resource inputs.
Weed control is a major issue with lawns in general, we’ve mentioned that lawn pesticides (including herbicides) are a major source of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere. The organic/ecological approach to weed control is quite a bit different than you might expect. It isn’t simply a matter of replacing toxic chemicals with slightly less toxic chemicals which come from “natural” sources. We try to understand the ecology of both weed species and of the lawn ecosystem as a whole, and design our strategies accordingly. Our lawn seed mix effectively partitions the resources in the soil, leaving no niches where weeds are free to grow. When weeds do appear, we remove them with either heat sterilization (destroying plant cells and preventing photosynthesis) or with hand removal where appropriate. We then seed the weed-free patches with our custom seed mix to immediately take advantage of the open niches. As a pre-emergent solution, we use an application of organic corn gluten meal in the early Spring, which prevents weed seeds from germinating, and has the great side effect of acting as an organic, slow-release nitrogen fertilizer for the lawn.
Fertilizing is another issue. We’ve already mentioned the use of corn gluten meal as both a pre-emergent weed control and as a nitrogen fertilizer. Other than that, there is really no need to fertilize the lawn, unless soil tests reveal severe deficiencies of other nutrients such as phosphorus or potassium, all of which can be remedied by the use of slow-release organic materials which break down naturally at the soil level. Topdressing the lawn with good, biologically-active compost in the fall also adds nutrients organically.
Cultural practices are important, too. Mowing is not a one-size-fits-all practice, either. Frequency of mowing should change with the growing season of the grasses, as should mowing height. In the Spring, when growth is lush and quick, more mowings at a lower height may be desirous, while less frequent mowings at a greater height are preferable in the summer, when growth is less vigorous and water needs are higher. Mowing higher in the summer allows the plants to grow deeper and more extensive root systems, which lessens the need for irrigation. Speaking of water, we think a well-designed and planted lawn should not have to be irrigated by anything other than rainwater, except in drought conditions. Healthy and biologically-active soil and proper plant selection should eliminate or significantly reduce watering needs.
Our region is known for its plethora of lawn pests and diseases, as well. From an ecological standpoint, it is plants that are already stressed that are more susceptible to pest and disease infestation. By keeping grasses healthy, we can significantly prevent most occurrences of pest and disease problems. For problems that continue beyond acceptable thresholds, there are organic chemical solutions that can be used as a last resort.
To summarize, it is possible to keep lawns as an integral part of a sustainable landscape, and through proper study and technique, to care for them in an ecological and organic matter. It really boils down to viewing grass as we do other plants in an ecosystem – healthy soil, proper plant selection, and growing in polycultures helps keep plants healthy and flourishing. For advice on growing your lawn organically, shoot us an email or give us a ring at 571-282-1724!
©2012 by Jon Storvick and Organic Edible Gardens, LLC
I’ve been doing lots of reading of late, especially in the field of agroecology. Agroecology attempts to view farming through the lens of ecological thought, viewing farm fields and so on as ecosystems. Much of this information is very similar to what we find in the permaculture literature, though agroecology is much more academically and scientifically based. One of the key elements of both approaches is the idea of growing in polycultures.
This is a healthy polyculture.
A polyculture can be defined as growing multiple species of plants together in a stand or patch. This stands in contrast to monoculture (growing a single plant species in a stand), which is the way we typically grow plants. A lawn is a monoculture. A corn field is a monoculture. A row of lettuces is a monoculture. The problem with monocultures is that they are unnatural – you simply don’t see stands of single species of plants growing anywhere in nature. The reason for this is pretty simple – groups of single plant species are highly vulnerable to pests, diseases, and other problems. A monoculture in nature would be decimated pretty quickly and would not survive.
This is a sterile monoculture.
Ecosystems are systems, obviously. They are networks of multiple species of plants (polycultures), animals, microscopic organisms, and other elements. While there is a food chain – life must eat, after all – generally no particular element suffers too much. Overall, the system is stable. This is why gardening in polycultures is a pretty good idea – we are lessening the possibility of our desired plants being overtaken by insects, diseases or competition from weeds.
Here are some of the benefits of growing in polycultures:
Decreased pest and disease problems– Including different plant species can confuse pest insects, leading them to ignore our crops. Since disease organisms also generally infect a single plant species, by including “buffer plants” between crop plants we block the vectors of infection. By including various flowering plants, we can attract beneficial insect predators that prey upon pests.
Increases in yields – While the yield of a single crop may be less than in a monoculture stand, if we include multiple crop species in our polycultures we can obtain total higher yields per square foot.
Decreased competition from “weeds” – By filling ecological niches in our gardens, we leave no room or resources available for undesired plants.
Increased plant health – By looking at how different plant species interact, we can design polycultures where each plant has a positive effect on the other (this is sort of an ecological version of “companion planting”). By including soil-building plants like nitrogen fixers (plants which form a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria to convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form usable by plants) and dynamic accumulators (plants which “mine” nutrients from the subsoil and concentrate them in their tissues, making them available at the surface), we can create healthy soil for our plants. By choosing plants which have similar water requirements and complementary root patterns, we can effectively partition the available plant resources (soil, water, nutrients) so that each niche is filled and no plant needs to compete with its neighbor.
This is, of course, a very basic and incomplete treatment of the subject. For those that are interested in learning more about polycultures and how to design them, I strongly recommend you read both volumes of Edible Forest Gardens