You've probably heard the saying: "Start with the end in mind." That is certainly true when landscaping. Consider how you intend to use the space around your dwelling before starting work. In permaculture they call your home Zone 0 .
Zone 1 is what you are standing in once you step out your door. How do you intend to use the space immediately surrounding your house? Typically in this space folks plant flower or food gardens and place recreational areas. This space is yours and should be managed regularly to provide a beautiful buffer between you/your home and the rest of the great outdoors.
Zone 2 is further away from the door. I suggest you consider zone 2 as a transitional area. Here you may plant larger beds, green grass, orchards, etc. Consider placing a water feature here. In the space you may park your vehicles or build a shed for storage. You will have bugs in this zone and find evidence of animal activity. This is a place where nature will visit looking for food and other resources but probably won't stay. You share this space with the creatures of the great outdoors.
Zone 3 is now the furthest away from your home and a great place to build your wild spot. The size and character of the wild spot should compliment the landscape around your home and others to appease neighbors. Make sure the boundaries of this spot fall within your property line and focus on aesthetics of the fringe. That way when others look at it from a distance they can see an attractive and productive space. Invite your neighbors over and explain to them the importance role this space place in the neighborhood ecology and encourage them to introduce wild spots of their own.
Our backyard started with traditional green grass for young child play and for a swing set. As we cleared more land we added cut logs for children to stand on and rocks for them to scale. Once we put in our retaining wall we found the kids love to play in front of it so we planted fairy gardens and invited them to investigate the soil for potato bugs, worms, and beetles. As our kids grew, we built a tree deck for them to climb up onto. From their new perch they could escape from adults and plan adventures with other neighborhood kids. We added berry canes and strawberry plants to encourage children to forage for snacks.
Then we took it to the next level by adding a small pond to collect our natural rainwater runoff. Immediately we marveled in visiting frogs and dragonflies. We added goldfish we had kept in a bowl and marveled how bright and big and fast they became. To keep the pond clean we added a waterfall that brought birds to bath and deer to drink. To help us enjoy this scene we built a small ground deck and placed outdoor swivel chairs. This new visiting spot is under tall trees which provide dappled shade and is a cool spot when afternoon breezes blow. Its a quiet, serene spot that has become a place for adults and kids collect and hang out. My wife and I meet out there to talk over our day and relax together. We have had friends over and chatted the afternoon away eating popcorn and drinking lemonade. These life moments happen because of our social use of this natural space.
Currently we are rehabbing the back part of our backyard by removing a jungle of honeysuckle and replacing with a shed and valuable orchard trees. We added three different sets of stair steps to help us climb up the elevation to access the back. Now it is safer and much easier to access this back space which means we can spend more time in it.
So if you are ready to rethink your use of your Zones 1-3, start with a plan that meets your needs now with the flexibility to adapt for the future. Build structures and create natural spaces that support this plan. Start small and go slowly. Nature will let you know if your plan is good if your plants thrive and creatures support it. No doubt you will tweak your plan over and over again as you learn what works best. You will have many successes and no doubt a few failures along the way. But if you let nature bare the cost and if you are patient with its evolution, you will be rewarded with many free wild plants, trees, and insects birds and animals that you never expected.
So work with mother nature and she'll work with you to create a beautiful backyard.
Zone 1 is what you are standing in once you step out your door. How do you intend to use the space immediately surrounding your house? Typically in this space folks plant flower or food gardens and place recreational areas. This space is yours and should be managed regularly to provide a beautiful buffer between you/your home and the rest of the great outdoors.
Zone 2 is further away from the door. I suggest you consider zone 2 as a transitional area. Here you may plant larger beds, green grass, orchards, etc. Consider placing a water feature here. In the space you may park your vehicles or build a shed for storage. You will have bugs in this zone and find evidence of animal activity. This is a place where nature will visit looking for food and other resources but probably won't stay. You share this space with the creatures of the great outdoors.
Zone 3 is now the furthest away from your home and a great place to build your wild spot. The size and character of the wild spot should compliment the landscape around your home and others to appease neighbors. Make sure the boundaries of this spot fall within your property line and focus on aesthetics of the fringe. That way when others look at it from a distance they can see an attractive and productive space. Invite your neighbors over and explain to them the importance role this space place in the neighborhood ecology and encourage them to introduce wild spots of their own.
Our backyard started with traditional green grass for young child play and for a swing set. As we cleared more land we added cut logs for children to stand on and rocks for them to scale. Once we put in our retaining wall we found the kids love to play in front of it so we planted fairy gardens and invited them to investigate the soil for potato bugs, worms, and beetles. As our kids grew, we built a tree deck for them to climb up onto. From their new perch they could escape from adults and plan adventures with other neighborhood kids. We added berry canes and strawberry plants to encourage children to forage for snacks.
Then we took it to the next level by adding a small pond to collect our natural rainwater runoff. Immediately we marveled in visiting frogs and dragonflies. We added goldfish we had kept in a bowl and marveled how bright and big and fast they became. To keep the pond clean we added a waterfall that brought birds to bath and deer to drink. To help us enjoy this scene we built a small ground deck and placed outdoor swivel chairs. This new visiting spot is under tall trees which provide dappled shade and is a cool spot when afternoon breezes blow. Its a quiet, serene spot that has become a place for adults and kids collect and hang out. My wife and I meet out there to talk over our day and relax together. We have had friends over and chatted the afternoon away eating popcorn and drinking lemonade. These life moments happen because of our social use of this natural space.
Currently we are rehabbing the back part of our backyard by removing a jungle of honeysuckle and replacing with a shed and valuable orchard trees. We added three different sets of stair steps to help us climb up the elevation to access the back. Now it is safer and much easier to access this back space which means we can spend more time in it.
So if you are ready to rethink your use of your Zones 1-3, start with a plan that meets your needs now with the flexibility to adapt for the future. Build structures and create natural spaces that support this plan. Start small and go slowly. Nature will let you know if your plan is good if your plants thrive and creatures support it. No doubt you will tweak your plan over and over again as you learn what works best. You will have many successes and no doubt a few failures along the way. But if you let nature bare the cost and if you are patient with its evolution, you will be rewarded with many free wild plants, trees, and insects birds and animals that you never expected.
So work with mother nature and she'll work with you to create a beautiful backyard.