Our Maine homestead will be my first and hopefully last big scale garden and already it has presented some planning challenges. Our property is pretty wooded, fairly rocky and a little oddly shaped and with our big plans that include orchards, tiny homes, and a hill garden, planning is very important.
For the past few months I’ve been working through a permaculture certification course to become a permaculture teacher and freelancer. While working through the course, I’ve been doing exercises with permaculture maps. These maps have been so helpful in figuring out where I’d like garden items to go, what plants should go where and they’re so fun to draw.
So far, I’ve mapped out the areas directly next to or near the house and have gone in depth with some of them in terms of structures, types of plants and water features. Some of these have wacky additions that may not reach the final planning stage but my permaculture-related goal is to find a balance between function and form.
Even if you don’t plan on drawing maps and being a freelance permaculture-ist, these maps can be really helpful and give you an excuse to buy some sweet colored pencils and relax with some of Maine’s recreational greens~
With my maps, I’ve broken them into sections so I can focus on one part of the property at a time. I start with drawing a rough approximation of the area and include pre-existing features like stone walls, utilities, trees and stumps among other things. Ideally, you’d want to take rough and refined measurements of the area so you can get a better idea of scale. Considering there’s a foot or so of snow and it feels like -1F outside, I’m waiting for a longer thaw to get measurements.
Once I’m happy with the layout, I think about what this part of the property is being used for, what sun/shade conditions exist and where the wind primarily blows from. (LINK- This can be helped by keeping a local weather journal) After the set up, I can now go crazy with ideas, layouts and specific plants I want in this area.
Going into March, I’ve drawn six maps of growing areas around our home and already I’m thinking of ways I’ll need to adjust and omit some things in my designs. Thinking about implementing small water features, vine fences and secret garden areas has been so fun and I really recommend giving them a try.