View attachment 1232 I think I purchased the last, or one of the last Linda Woodrow books, it seems to be out of print now. However, I am trying to adapt the system to my current situation, and this seems to be where I am going with it. I am still nervous about a bramble fedge with regards to deer, but I know deer hate going through blackberry bramble. Thoughts, comments, concerns?
I'm not familiar with some of the species (different climate zone) but it sure looks good! The system works well for me.
Which plant(s) are you unfamiliar with? I am having a problem finding something to replace the pigeon pea in the system, I am unsure if it would do well here.
Hi, In "Gaias' Garden", Toby said he had made a deer deflecting hedge with the following On the deer side. Manchurian Apricot,Nanking Cherry, Wild roses, Osage orange,gooseberry,currant,Siberian pea shrub,manchurian plum,buffaloberry. On the 'house side'. wild plums, apricots and cherries grafted with edible cultivars, berry bushes. I have absolutely no idea what alot of those are but hopefully you will be able to find them.
D'oh! Fedge is cute actually... And the sunchoke I know as Jerusalem artichoke. If you can grow that you should try yakon.
I am trying to grow it (yacon) but 1 problem. Slugs. Hence the adaptation of this system. Adaptation is becoming harder with each passing day also. I have been setting up an estimate for all this so I know how much to save through winter, what seeds to buy to start for transplanting, etc. Not to mention I need materials for that pond in the middle, the plants around that, etc. My largest problem is finding suitable dwarf fruit trees & finding money.
Pakanohida, looks like a plan! I'll tell you what happened to me I had 6 mandala circles, and getting from one to the next became an issue. To only have one entrance to each circles means walking in and out, or in, out and across (Plus around the pond) and it's a lot of walking. I ended up putting two entrances to one circle. Deer might not attempt your bramble fence, but rabbits will be thrilled with some nice thick overgrowth over their heads. They love being under those, and they can dash from lovely vegetable to their hiding places, to lovely vegetable. I used to watch them run back and forth all day from the wild berries that grow here. We also cleared some new roads, and piled the brush we cleared away, and they also love those piles. Needless to say, this year we have more rabbits than I've ever seen. And now the coyotes are coming in to get them, also the bobcat and the buzzards. You might have read my previous remarks about my mandalas that became impractical, and I switched back to rows that I can mow, move among easily and keep cleared so that the mice, voles, rabbits have to run a long distance in an open space, so they tend to go the other way now. I have one mandala remaining, 30 feet across, 90 feet around that I keep in solidarity with the idea, but I'm about to spin it around in an undala kind of shape, two half circles back to back so I can mow and move in and out of the circle more freely. I also had trouble with the center circle of the mandala not being big enough to hold the tools I was working with, a wheelbarrow or tarp and me. I was always tripping over everything. You know, fall is the time of year a lot of seeds go on sale, usually half price, so if you can stock up now it's a good idea.
Oh, BTW, my mandalas had inner paths, and I know other folks here don't have that kind. Their are about 8-10 feet across and completely planted. I've never tried that, and I've always planted the perimeter, as that was part of the efficiency of a circle, so that's why it became an enclosed thing that created more walking. I think the kind that Purple Pear and others have don't have those issues.