I am new to permaculture and have a large area I am looking at turning into a orchard/food forest. I live in zone 6a in Reno, NV with a poor sandy alkaline soil. I'm looking to sheet mulch the whole area I plan to grow things in. The whole property is covered in dense juniper bushes. I see that sheet mulching recommendations state to slash vegetation and then sheet mulch over the top but it seems like that is generally referring to things like grass, dirt or weeds not a heavily bushed area. Before I get into sheet mulching such a large area I was just wanting to get some advice on if our plan sounds ok.
We are cutting bushes off at or just above ground level and then leaving small stumps, sticks, and bush debris on the ground and then following general sheet mulching recommendations. In my mind this seems like it should be ok based on principles similar to hugelkultur, limiting soil disturbance and building organic matter with available resources. Would appreciate any insight into this matter. Thanks!
