Nicola Jones

Hi all, I'm working on starting my site in zone 7b. I'm looking for plant suggestions and placement. I currently have 2 spots where I am considering hooking up drip irrigation, I did 2 sprinkler heads last year for my vegetables and it seemed to work alright besides the sprinklers needing repairing at the end of the season. I just recently purchased 3 paw paw seedlings, I also have an appletree, strawberries,blueberries, an established 30+ foot long grapevine, groundcherries and huckleberries that I am looking to improve on. I have limited space it seems and I would just like any input on how to use it the best. The sun will rise across the street and set behind the pond on the right.

Here is also what I think to be blackberries and a few other photos,one Is of the pond looking at the house, but I believe I can't grow food there due to the septic being behind the house and grey water that also diverts by the pond

Hey all, I have been reading up a little on permaculture and am finding it all very informative and connecting to my values. I just signed up on this forum as well.


So here is my story, I just recently purchased my home a few months ago and I am still relatively new to growing things. I did start my first garden two years ago and I have learned a lot since then. My new property is 3.75 acres with about .75 being a spring fed pond about 5 feet deep. It seems as the old owners who lived here their whole life had somewhat of a green thumb. There are grape vines that are 20 feet long by 6 feet high, strawberries, and I believe blackberry plants that are growing wildly. There are also Japanese maples, a crepe myrtle,iris and ferns also planted by the house. The backyard is wooded, with pine trees,oaks and others all over shading very much of the property. What I have noticed is old trees fallen and buried in the ground already.

There are a few things I need some suggestions with, one is my pond is brown which I believe to be from runoff because of limited vegetation around it. So I need help with fixing that. Two is I don't even know what I am looking at! It seems like the previous owners cared about the place and planted a lot, but I am unable to tell what is useful and what isn't and what I can do to improve it. I am listing a few pictures to see if any of these plants are anything of value.