posted 2 months ago
Hello, I am starting a food forest in the Tulsa (Oklahoma) area. I have a lot of Bermuda grass and I was thinking about removing it and growing guilds with tall plants so the shade provided would keep it away. I was told that swales don’t work in Oklahoma because we get a lot of rain in the spring and scorching conditions in the summer, so the swales dry out. Any advice to help? I also have dense clay soil, am in a zone 7a, I also have sheep manure and duck water (my ducks poop in the water), many cardboards (we just moved in) and bags full of dead leaves. I still don’t know if using cardboard is okay for lasagnas as some of its glue potentially contained chemicals. I was told to do solarization for the Bermuda grass, but I would rather work with the nature here than against it. Is it naive and idealistic?
What should I do to start my food forest? I have the anxiety of the beginner afraid to start and mess it up!