Urban Abundance in Long Island
Client’s Goals:
To produce food from mostly perennial plant sources. The client does not want the food forest to be burdensome but has the potential to grow a few annuals should they choose.
Scope of Work:
All of the back garden and some of the front garden are to be converted into a food forest. The front garden should remain very presentable. All the lawns in the back garden can go, to be covered in woodchips.
Additional Notes and Recommendations:
Front Garden:
This garden consists of a flower bed and a permaculture fruit tree trio. A few Cherry trees have been added as an option. A Permaculture trio, which consists of 2 dwarf
fruit trees and a nitrogen-fixing shrub. The nitrogen-fixing shrub takes nitrogen from the air and puts it in the soil to aid in feeding the fruit trees. The plant list has listed options to account for supply and we need 5 in total.
Shaded Front Garden Bed
This flower bed has shade-loving Hosta’s, Comfrey, Lavender, and Chamomile. The rest of the bed will be planted with native shade tolerant flowers which are available locally. I have attached a native flower guide for the New York Area.
Side Kitchen Garden
The side kitchen garden is at the kitchen doorway. This has 2 pots for mint and also a garden bed for salad crops and shade tolerant herbs.
Back Garden
The lawn will be completely covered in wood chips which provides a large and unrestricted planting area. The large 6-foot fence to the south has created a shaded area on the south side. This had Hosta’s, Ferns, Comfrey, and native flowers.
The back garden has a Potted Food Garden. This aligns with the back patio and will be a good spot for sun-loving annual plants like tomatoes, and peppers or herbs like basil.
There are 4 beds along the west-facing wall on the eastern side of the back garden. These are for Asparagus, Raspberries, Blackberries and an annual bed. The raspberries and blackberries will need yearly maintenance and having them in a bed will help keep a visual check when they begin to spread.
The annual bed is for annual crops should the client decide to grow any. Annual crops could be Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Broccoli, or kale.
Permaculture Utility Area:
Composting Area of optional 1 to 3 bays. Rainwater storage is also in this area as well as a potting bench.
The installation links on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cgh9x81DwZr/