Our Herb and Flower Garden

After clearing the river rocks to prepare our veggie garden, I needed somewhere to put them.  So we created a herb and flower garden built around our storm water swale.

The Location

Our property sits beside a large hill and a storm water swale is located next to it.  So, it was always kind of a pain to mow and weed wack around.   It gets a fair amount of sun and was just grass.  I felt there was a way to make it more productive and beautiful.  Being a storm water swale, I needed to maintain its function while trying to make the most of the design.  Swales can be useful for slowing runoff and getting water to stay on a property longer so that plants may use it.  However, being right next to the house, I want to slow the water some but still allow it to stay out of the basement when it storms.

The Work

We moved all of the rocks from the veggie garden and dumped them in the swale.  Then, I laid out cardboard to cover the existing grass.  I spread around 15 yards of mulch over all the cardboard to surround the rocks.  The cardboard will prevent the grass from photosynthesizing and growing while allowing the water to filter through.  As the grass dies, it will feed the soil.  The cardboard will eventually breakdown and also build up the soil.  I used field stones from the bank to make steps and stepping stones through the garden.  This will be a useful path to help maintain the garden and make for more places to walk and appreciate it.

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The Plants

This garden is currently designed to grow herbs and help the pollinators.  We picked up most of our plants at the Horn Farm Center.  We planted 3 types of mint, oregano, dill, cilantro, 3 types of sage, lavender, rosemary, 3 types of basil, bay leaves, and chives.  We also planted several flowers including sunflowers, snapdragons, cone flower, zinnia, and echinacea.  Later we added comfrey, moon flowers, and blueberries.  I admit to not being a very good cook.  So, growing these plants will force me to learn some cool recipes to use them in.

I enjoyed making this garden and I think it really made the property look a lot nicer.  It certainly makes use of a previously bland, unproductive area.  Little by little, we will turn this place into our own little oasis in the middle of the borough.  I'm really enjoying the progress we have made in only a few months of work.  The more gardens we build the less I have to mow.  As I learn more, we can design this system to be pretty low maintenance with the principles of permaculture.