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Welcome to Jennifer Carlson's Patch of Green
Welcome to Jennifer Carlson's Patch of Green
A sustainable garden, one that supports the local ecosystem and spurns chemical intervention, can be as beautiful as it is virtuous. Jennifer Carlson thought about how each part of her Seattle backyard garden could be engineered so that it would add up to one self-supporting loop. From rain barrels that harvest water for irrigation, to permeable paving that allows runoff to percolate into the soil, to a fence that composts garden clippings, every backyard element contributes to the landscape's sustainability as well as its beauty and productivity. Read on to see how it all works together.
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Study Your Surroundings
Study Your Surroundings
A landscape designer and teacher, Carlson moved to this home six years ago with her husband and two children and began by studying the big picture: where the sun fell, what the soil was like, how rainwater flowed, where it collected. Then, as soon as she had ripped out ivy and overgrown shrubs, taken down a dead cherry tree, and removed lawn to widen the planting beds, she started enriching the sandy soil with coffee grounds collected from local coffee shops. "They add organic matter, which breaks down slowly, and worms love the paper filters," she says of the cast-off grounds, which normally head for the landfill in plastic bags. "Plus, they smell great!"
Shown: Homeowner Jennifer Carlson, who runs her own design/build landscape business, holds Zelda, one of three hens she keeps to help aerate and fertilize the soil and to supply eggs.
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Planning Your Own Patch of Green
Planning Your Own Patch of Green
In Carlson's backyard, the fence and arbor are so handsome, the low-maintenance plantings so lush, that the property fits seamlessly into its gracious neighborhood of older homes. You'd never guess this earth-friendly haven, with its animals and edibles, is more akin to a working farm than a typical city garden.
Shown: Four ring-neck doves and a quail yield eggs and manure; they reside in an outdoor aviary Carlson built from salvaged shipping pallets, roof shingles, and sparrow netting.
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Green-Roofing for Rabbits
Green-Roofing for Rabbits
Carlson built the green-roofed rabbit hutch shown here. The alfalfa hay bedding and droppings of the fluffy Angora rabbit brothers, Peaches and Mocha, are collected for fertilizer, and Carlson gathers and spins their fur into yarn. The hutch's sedum-covered roof absorbs rainwater.
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Portable Pen for Fertilizing
Portable Pen for Fertilizing
Three Buff Orpington hens (the maximum number of chickens allowed on a Seattle residential lot) are moved around in a bottomless portable pen built from salvaged cedar and hardware cloth. This way, the chickens' tasks of fertilizing and turning over the soil is distributed throughout the garden. At night, the hens return to the safety of their brightly painted coop home. All the fowl provide eggs the family eats.
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An Edible-Ornamental Mix: Vegetables
An Edible-Ornamental Mix: Vegetables
Every inch of ground is either productive or pretty, and often both.
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Optimized Vegetable Growing Space
Optimized Vegetable Growing Space
Most of the vegetables grow in three raised beds nestled between the garage and fence, maximizing sunlight reflected off the outbuilding's wall to ripen tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers.
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An Edible-Ornamental Mix: Fruits
An Edible-Ornamental Mix: Fruits
In a tour de force of space saving, a 15-foot-long espaliered fruit tree fence yields Asian pears, apples, and Italian prune plums. Blueberry bushes are layered underneath, with a groundcover of strawberries shading their roots. Every shrub, tree, and perennial that doesn't provide food is vetted for drought tolerance, low maintenance, and resiliency.
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An Edible-Ornamental Mix: Asian Pears
An Edible-Ornamental Mix: Asian Pears
A short list of Carlson's favorites include Northwest natives, such as vine maple (Acer circinatum), red-flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum), and Pacific wax myrtle (Myrica californica). She favors small shrubs, such as evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum) and salal (Gaultheria shallon), mingling with Western sword fern (Polystichum munitum).
Shown: Asian pears
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Garden Harvest: Edible Flowers
Garden Harvest: Edible Flowers
A profusion of edible, flowering, and foliage plants grow in this Seattle backyard, including bee balm (shown here). According to the bee balm flowers attract butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, and other nectar-seeking creatures. Leaves and flowers from this plant can be used to make tea. The plant blooms for early to late summer and grows 2 to 4 feet tall. The plant is low-maintenance, multiplies readily, and tolerates wet soil. Select a site with full sun to light shade.
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Garden Harvest: Artichoke
Garden Harvest: Artichoke
Carlson also plants five kinds of artichoke. A perennial, the plant is edible and offers the dramatic visual interest of succulent plants. According to the the artichoke is a perennial in the thistle group of the sunflower (Composite) family and in full growth the plant spreads to cover an area about six feet in diameter and reaches a height of three to four feet.
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The Garden Plan: From Coops to Crops
The Garden Plan: From Coops to Crops
You can match the garden features on previous pages to their location on this plan of Carlson's 60-by-62-foot backyard to get a better sense of the entire space.