We moved into our homestead back in 2006 when it was just a blank canvas of lawn, with a couple old rose bushes here and there. After six years of major landscape changes, it’s about time I got around to making a decent planting plan of the homestead.
I used AutoCAD to create the above plan showing what we currently have growing on our 1/10 of an acre city lot. What isn’t shown on the plan are the ground covers. We have flowering bulbs and tubers like crocuses, alliums, tulips, daffodils and irises. There are also swaths of lamb’s ear, euphorbia and perennial herbs that I cut and divide each season to slowly carpet the ground. Any bare spots by late spring get filled in with vegetables like potatoes, squash, etc.
I’ve spent many long hours distracting myself with dreams of our perfect planting plan. Our homestead is filled with edibles, but this dream plan packs it even fuller. It is a real challenge to keep the plant palette small when you are a plant lover, so my list is a little too longer. However, there is still some good repetition to keep some sense of consistency in the garden.
The above plan is harder to read, but created with Illustrator. Sadly, this is a plan that will probably never come to full fruition. It’s fun to dream about, but I just don’t see myself having an extra $2,000 bucks laying around to actually fill the garden out according to plan. That said, having a loose plan keeps me on track with a few things. It prevents me from picking up random plants at the nursery that are not already on my palette list. It also helps me know where to plant new additions as I get them.
I love the process of creating residential garden plans and pulling plant palettes together. Graduation from my masters in landscape architecture program looms on the horizon this June and I am looking forward to many years of creating beautiful gardens and landscapes.
Wow, you put a lot of work into those plans! They are beautiful!
I’m curious…have you seen any change in the amount or type of wildlife and insects on your property since you began incorporating permaculture concepts and creating a homestead?
Absolutely! The homestead hums pretty much year round with wildlife of some sort – bees, butterflies, birds, those pesky squirrels, etc. It’s providing for many more creatures than just our family.
What is the size of your lot? We recently bought a house and I’d really love to do away with most the lawn and have an edible, somewhat wild, landscape going on. We also raise rabbits and chickens.
We live on 1/10th of an acre. Best wishes with your budding homestead!