PNW guerrilla landscaping/perma culture species suggestions

Jan 21, 2013 21:54:26

I just cleaned up a local retaining wall with nobodies permission because the city did a schitty job!
It took about 3 hours to clean up and the area doesn't get much sun and the soil looks like crap.

Now it's January so I have some time to think but what would any of you suggest to plant to keep back the weeds (I know the sticker bushes will just have to be manually removed forever)
and maybe even produce something edible?

I don't own my own land yet but I love permaculure and I just want to get stuff going and people informed so I'm going guerrilla style.

I thought goutweed and ivy on the top could create a ground cover and hens and chicks to grow around the rocks and maybe some pansies would tolerate the area.

IDEAS please!

Jan 21, 2013 22:19:36

Please don't plant ivy in the PNW, it's horribly invasive to the point that foresters and volunteers have yearly campaigns to remove it from wild areas. Creeping raspberry, Rubus calycinoides, is a tough, hardy, fairly drought-resistant (once established) edible ground cover that will tolerate partial shade. You could also try native woodland strawberries, Fragaria vesca, and calendula is a cold-hardy self-seeding annual herb that tolerates less-than-great soil and partial shade, and it blooms almost year-round here in the Willamette Valley.

Jan 22, 2013 11:03:03

I never thought of ivy that way, but now that you mention it, ivy is without a doubt just as bad as the black berry briers I removed!

I love the woodland strawberry idea. Hopefully I can germinate enough from seed. thank you for your feedback

Jan 22, 2013 12:11:05

Fragaria chiloensis would give a good ground cover and some delicious, though sparse, berries. regular old garden strawberries spread well, too.

I like the hens and chicks idea. planted some of those in a rock wall at my home. not tasty, but they look nice.

trailing blackberry (Rubus ursinus) is a rather friendlier blackberry than the aggressive brambles we're used to around here. stays low, delicious fruit, native. dioecious, though, so you'll need male and female plants.

Jan 22, 2013 15:39:32

I live outside Portland, OR... so we're talking about the same kind of area.
I have some less than perfect areas of my property, similar to your pictures.

Here are some edibles that I like:
oregon grape, blueberries, huckleberry, indian plum, thimbleberry
salmonberry, currants, gooseberry, strawberry, rasberry,

Those should be able to incorporate into the area and kind of disappear... not attract too much attention.

It would be a good idea to incorporate some nitrogen fixers as well:
false indigo, goumi, sea berry, russian olive

If you want to be a bit more adventurous... maybe think about a couple of fruit trees as well.

Hope that helps.

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