My tentative garden plans - any tips or suggestion

[sheisaeval]

The actual boundary is up to scale (I pulled from our land survey sheet) but the drawings I made may not be to scale.

Pictures of what the yard looks like currently (large images):
i.imgur.com/UzDAH.jpg (left of backyard)
i.imgur.com/RKjGW.jpg (right of backyard)
i.imgur.com/dqQ25.jpg (picture of front of house)
i.imgur.com/316qS.jpg (another picture of front of house)

The garden plan I have:


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I live in the DFW area, Zone 7B.
100+ and hot/sunny almost everyday in the summer, could be dry when it's a drought, but when it rains it downpours.
Doesn't usually get below 40-50s in the winter except for an occasion cold front.

***

Firstly, I know I'm quite ambitious and I know it'll take months if not a few years to probably transform my current yard into what I have in the plan, but just wanted to know if what I want is feasible or if you would suggest another plan, or if I should move some part of my plan to another part, or any tips/ideas you may have.

****

Purple letter notes on the garden plan:

A: I want to remove some/most of the hedges that are here and shrink the lawn back and build more flower beds. I am thinking of growing some native shrubs/flowers in place. The small shrubs next to the door I may or may not replace, not sure yet. I may also grow some native plants around the root of the tree.

B: I may replace this shrub.

C: I want to replace this huge bush/hedge eventually but not sure what to replace it with. There's an AC unit, electric meter, hose and water pipe, and other things that I'd like to hide behind.

D: There's a little crevice that kitchen windows open to, maybe grow some kind of shady flowers?

E: There's a shrub here as well. We'd like to cut it down and put our two rain barrels in its place, maybe also grow some plants next to rain barrels? Not sure yet.

F: Two green circles, we want to grow vines on the pergola. We're thinking grapes but does anyone have any other choices? Something that can provide shade in the hot summer and edible is a plus, and if it has nice flowers that's also a plus. (Pergola picture: i.imgur.com/DLwcEh.jpg)

G and H: Raised beds to grow vegetables. Was thinking about bending a cattle panel between them as a long trellis. Not sure if should build another one instead of fruit tree 4.

I: Chicken coop.

J: Our current shed.

K: Perennial fruits - blackberries, strawberries, raspberries? Not sure if I should do raised bed here or grow it in the ground. Thought about blueberry but it needs acidic soil so maybe either grow it in another place (in front instead of hedge?) or in a pot.

L: Paths - not sure what to make it out of. We'd like something that looks good and practical, but also cheap. Thought about either using gravel or mulch. Or maybe big stepping stones? Any other ideas? We also want to eventually replace our thick st augustine lawn with some kind of groundcover but not sure what yet.

M: I put a fruit tree here, but I am not sure if I want to put a fruit tree here or not. I may instead have another raised bed, a fish pond, or a flower garden? Not sure yet, any suggestions?

N: The red dot is where the faucet is currently. I'd like to do drip to the raised beds G and H but not sure if I should do it through the rain barrels on the left or if I should put a hose around the deck to reach it?

O: Not sure if you see it, but there's two circles where I'd like the compost bins to be. We already have one, made from a plastic trash container from Lowes with holes punched into it, but maybe we might get another one. (We also just got a worm bin as well for inside)

P: The circle and rectangle are the previous owner's stone birdbath and bench. They're extremely heavy and we're not sure if we want to keep it or get rid of it, not sure yet.



Red fruit tree numbers 1-5.
We want to grow fruit trees but we're not sure where to put which tree right now. The ones we are thinking about growing are:
Peach
Fig
Persimmon
Plum?
Apricot?



Right now my tentative plans-

This fall/Winter - remove hedges/shrubs/rosebushes/maybe the tree?, build chicken coop, build raised beds, plant fruit trees, sow native seeds
Next spring - order chicks, plant fruit bushes, sow vegetable seeds, hook up rain barrels, plant grape vines
Next year sometime - work on garden paths, replace lawn with groundcover



If anyone has any tips/ideas, it'll be great. Thanks!

[templeton]

Comprehensive plans.
My suggestion is be prepared to adapt your plan as you become more experienced with your micro climates and plant requirements.
There are lots of good design books around - the permaculture manuals are worth a read, but 'm sure there are plenty of others.
Start a bit at a time, try not to make irreversable or expensive to change decisions, at least initially. It's hard to make suggestions without knowing your patch quite well.
Best to start, and see what happens.

General design principles which are sometimes overlooked
Think of how much time you really have, not how much you wish you had.
Put the things that need the most attention close to where you spend the most time or are easiest to get at, or that you can check out incidentally.
See what everyone else in the area is growing, and where and how they grow it.
Think about micro climates in your garden there are always warmer/colder, exposed/protected areas in even the smallest garden, which can either cause problems, or be exploited to out of range or out of season things.
Good luck, and keep us posted.
T

[oxbowfarm]

Have to look more at the map to get my head around it but definitely try to keep any high maintenance items where you can see them so you don't neglect them. Put low maintenance things where they can thrive by being left alone.

[Leenstar]

I am on year 3 of my home gardening project.

While we had construction to contend with I have now finished/planted:
1. 6 permanent beds with brick pathways
2. 3 section compost bin
3. Raspberries
4. 2 paw paw plants
5. Blackberries with trellis
6. grapes with rellis
7. 2 dwarf apples
8. one dwarf cherry
9. 2 currants
10. 2 elderberries
11. 80 strawberries
12. 2 gooseberries
13. 4 blueberries

3-13 on that list was accomplished this spring with the help of my parents and a week off work. What did I learn (so far)? Don't bite off more than you can chew and don't commit too heavily to a plan made on paper. I am already planning on moving stuff around and am not satisfied with the placement of several things on that list.

I did all this while doing my usual seasonal gardening in zone 5b (ie I have all winter to work on my paper dreams) with indoor seed starting.

I think you have a great list there of ideas but once you get started, it will get overwhelming. I have a very demanding job in terms of time and while the garden is my recreation, it has constant upkeep issues from normal lawn care and garden care to what I plan I will have to do this fall and next spring with all the new plantings (pruning, training etc).

I can have chickens where I live and while it sounds nice, me and wife concluded they were too much of a hassle for us. We don't want to have to take care of them (can't take a day off from that chore), we don't want to work out feeding and watering with my work schedule to say nothing of vacation. Personally, if you really want chickens, I'd make that last on the list NOT first, assuming you are even zoned to have chickens. Try living with the time demands of fruits and vegetables first.

Start small. Seriously. If you are committed to some fruit trees and small fruits start there and with your raised beds. Make sure the vegetable beds work where you want them and that you like the paths. Start with mulch paths. Consider gravel or more permanent paths when you feel committed to the vegetable garden arrangement.

Its very nice to have a water cachement system. I am definitely an advocate for saving water, especially in your area of the country (I assume DFW= Dallas Fort Worth?). I have a rainbarrel and wish I had more but thats next Spring's project. You might consider planting your starter stuff and seeing just how much water you need to collect. It might inform how much/big you need you cachement system to be.

Remember you will need to be flexible. Stuff will change once you start. That's what i have learned.

Its a good idea to make sure you like to eat what you are planting. I know that sounds obvious, maybe even dumb. I was enamored with several vegetable varieties that I have planted for several years and have concluded, in a moment of brutal self honestly I just don't like them enough to waste the space with them. There is other stuff I'd rather have. I've personally never had persimmon and a few figs go a long way for me. Peaches on the other hand sound like tree I would get alot of use out of. Make sure you like what you are planting. Try them from a farmers market or a grocery store before making the investment in time, if not money, in a tree.

Best wishes on your project.

[castanea]

Fruit trees- jujubes

[sheisaeval]

Thanks for all the tips everyone!

Anyway, chickens are actually quite important for us, because we eat a ton of eggs (we buy organic free range and it adds up). In our city the coop has to be 50 feet from nearest neighbor house and when we house hunted we measured our the yard to make sure we can have a coop.

And I grew up eating persimmons from the Asian store and we love figs but can never find them so that's why we choose those and i also love peaches. I also thought about paw paw (it look like it's on your list) but I've never had one and dont know where to find one so I wasn't sure about that.

[sheisaeval]

Sept 15, 2012 16:09:03 GMT -5 castanea said:

Fruit trees- jujubes

I've always had the dried jujubes, how does fresh jujubes taste?

[templeton]

One other point, Sheisaeval. Grow enough of each thing to have enough to eat. By that I mean spending some of your limited time and space on something that only gives you a taste is not in my opinion worth the trouble. I don't grow raspberries for example - they will grow here, but I haven't got enough spare room to grow more than a half a small handful that are ripe at any one time. Total harvest is more, but I want enough to make a decent serve in one go.
T

[raymondo]

All sound advice so nothing to add except my very best wishes for you success.

[steev]

To me, green or undried brown jujubes are not so good. Dried, they have more flavor.

[castanea]

Sept 15, 2012 16:17:19 GMT -5 sheisaeval said:

Sept 15, 2012 16:09:03 GMT -5 castanea said:

Fruit trees- jujubes

I've always had the dried jujubes, how does fresh jujubes taste?

Very good. A little bit like apples. The trees are small, most fruit at a young age, they are very drought and heat tolerant and do well in neutral or alkaline soil. They are ideal for north, central and west Texas.

[mountaindweller]

At our old house I made a plan for the garden on paper. Unfortunately I used some gardening design books from the library and I changed my initial plan. The initial plan was simply divide the whole garden in equal beds and make a strip of fruit trees all around the garden. Everything rectangular and boring - this would have been much better than the nicely wound paths I did instead. That said I would start by digging a bed or two and maybe change the location later. I am very convinced that you only can partly plan a garden on paper. The plan helps you to gat an idea what you can put in but it is really better to start with flexible things like beds. I would put fixed things like paths in at the end, other than these gardening books suggested. Because as your experience grows so will certainly change your plans.
I would prefer to have a system were the chickens rotate over the beds, we can'T do that because we need a fully enclosed vegetable garden and it would be too expensive to include the chickens, otherwise I would have four sections and have always one section for the chicken to scratch and the other ones to grow. If you have a fixed chicken pen you have bare ground in no time and all the good fertilizer is wasted.
Consider to put some ducks in too. They lay well and convert their food better into eggs and meat.
I would always put in a pond.
Rain barrels are a joke unless you live in a high rainfall area. You need something substantial, but that depends on what you can afford.
On your plan there is a lot of space left over. Is it lawn? Then what do you want to do with that lawn, it is not big enough to play footie otherwise you could convert it little by little into beds, but leave a more substantial part of lawn in one big piece instead of small pieces,which are difficult to mow.
Don't forget small space saving fruit like strawberries blueberries rhubarb and currants.

[Deleted]

Seeing the temps, I would recommend more Mediterranean-type stuff.

When people don't water their loquats around here, they get sour peels on a pit. When people don't water established pomegranates, they get nice, fat fruits.

Our local orchards are grafted onto stock, which I would associate with riparian habitats, in nature, which makes sense, because, at the time, farmers were allowed to open up a city water main and flood the whole thing. It seems to me that you would want shallow, lateral roots, with that kind of system. When wholesale rates ended, the farms became firehazards, for reasons which people assume to be mysterious. I'll be playing with hardier grafting stocks, and, whenever I hear of temps like mine, I suggest others do the same.

I had also gone to the desert, noted that cacti were biggest, next to parking lots, asked whether they were being watered more. An ecologist said they were not. Moisture naturally accumulated there. It makes me think of ways to use hardscape to my advantage.

[kazedwards]

How did things turn out?