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Jay Angler wrote:I've heard that a role of spring bulbs in forests, is to support trees. I would see if you can get bulbs that flower at different times, crocus is early, Fawn lily (different names in different parts of the country - Erythronium ) comes later, and I think daffodils later yet. These hopefully will come up year after year, if the squirrels don't take them. Then I'd look at any other flowers that easily self-seed.
Alternatively, I would try to make people smile! Make them love that little patch of dirt, by making it stand out. Heck, plant a circle of yellow flowers with the darkest flowers you can buy making up eyes and smile for a traditional "Happy Face" shape and see if *that* will get noticed?
Planting edibles that close to a road isn't the best option anyway with dogs peeing etc. That said... if the tree does manage to flourish, bud-grafting some edible cherry varieties could work. It's not like the city can't just cut those branches off if they create too much mess. I suspect the birds will get every cherry before mess can happen.
Riona Abhainn wrote:If you plant something then the soil won't be bare and thus weeds won't be so plentiful. What about some sort of groundcover native to the area?
Mk Neal wrote:Depending on your chaos tolerance, you could put Apios americana, aka groundnut/ hopniss in next to the currant. It’s a tuber-producing native edible perennial from the legume family, so probably some nitrogen fixing. Vines and flowers are pretty, but will climb all over the fence and everything else.
Nancy Reading wrote:Black currants tend to reward a well fed soil. I think this is because we tend to prune out the old wood, so they are always having to replace it. I think you will probably want to add organic material - your composted green waste, or leaves, grass cuttings etc. each year. I really like having edibles hiding in plain sight, so having your currants right by the sidewalk I think is great. As you say though it would be nice to cover up that bare soil. As Nicky suggests, a nitrogen fixer would be a good idea although you really want one that returns to the soil, rather than a cropping bean or pea, maybe a few alfalfa? It has small attractive flowers for pollinating insects and is perennial.
I'm thinking if you are going to be digging the bed to remove plants every now and again, then an edible tuber that you can dig at the same time may be appropriate. You don't want something too tall to compete with the bushes, so maybe a bulb that increases, like potato onions or chives. Erythroniums are tasty and really ornamental for a front garden, flowering in spring and disappearing in summer. They may prefer a bit more shade perhaps, as you will get fairly warm in the afternoons I guess, and they are a woodland plant. We've got a thread about them here
Poached egg plants (Limnanthes Douglasii) are insect attracting plants, not edible but very pretty and good for attracting insects. They are shallow rooting so would not compete with the currants and would probably self seed around happily for you (maybe too happily!?)
An edible that I am wanting to grow much more of that might be happy there is Scorzonera. Usually grown annually for it's roots, it actually is perennial and has really tasty leaves and flower shoots. It's a bit tall when flowering, but the root is a tap root, so again won't be too competitive.
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I'm trying to do something not entirely dissimilar around Aronia bushes, so you may want to see my plan here. I'm probably quite a bit cooler and damper in summer than you however, and I'm planning for a long term bed rather than a nursery bed.
Nicky Schauder wrote:Hey Chris!
Way to go with this polyculture design! I think the mint is fine as long as you are always harvesting from it. And yes, who doesn't love a rose. The number of currants you put may need to be edited as one currant can get as wide as 5 feet. So maybe fewer currants (Though you can certainly start the twigs there, let them grow and the repot elsewhere.
I think it's lacking a nitrogen fixer to help the currant along. That's my first take on it. If I keep looking at it, I will add too many things for a tiny space.
Just wanted to share our permaculture design app at https://www.permaculturegardens.org/sage where we use a guild building wizard to help us design.
is a video intro to Permaculture Guilds and a sneak peek into how the app does it in case it helps you along your permaculture journey
#permacultureguild
#guilds
Timothy Norton wrote:I'm not sure if you have encountered it, but I find mint to be a rather aggressive spreader in my zone. I would just keep that in mind in case you see it starting to bubble out of where you intend to grow it.
My property is too cold to keep figs outdoors year round unless I dig them into the ground but perhaps a smaller fig variety might be up your alley? Lovely plants really.
I really like asparagus plants, but they take a few years before you can really get them into production. I just worry the fronds might be too big or overtake part of the space. You could put them to one side IF you wanted to but that is kind of touch and go depending on your vision.
