Difference between revisions of "Green garage gardens"

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* We ran our ideas by Susan McBride of the Detroit Historic Commission to make sure we had approval from her organization.
 
* We ran our ideas by Susan McBride of the Detroit Historic Commission to make sure we had approval from her organization.
 
* We began the search for plant sources, and narrowd it down primarily to [http://www.wildtypeplants.com/ Wildtype Plants] in Mason, Mi., and [http://www.nativeplant.com/ Native Plant Nursery] in Ann Arbor, MI.
 
* We began the search for plant sources, and narrowd it down primarily to [http://www.wildtypeplants.com/ Wildtype Plants] in Mason, Mi., and [http://www.nativeplant.com/ Native Plant Nursery] in Ann Arbor, MI.
 +
* Consideration for maintenance (include maintenance on turf slabs)
 +
 
==Design Studio==
 
==Design Studio==
  

Revision as of 20:02, 26 October 2012

The Green Alley in 2011.

Intro

  • When we bought the building, the property was surrounded by cement on 3 sides. The backyard consisted of weeds and trash.
  • We wanted to make the ground surrounding the building as permeable as possible to avoid water going down the storm sewer, co-mingling with the raw sewage during rain events, then heading out to our lakes and streams.
  • We developed gardens in 5 main areas around the building:
    • the green alley
    • the back yard
    • the front yard and parking lot
    • the rooftop farm
    • the interior greenhouse

Goals

Sustainability Goals

  • Our goal was to develop garden areas around the perimeter of the building (parking lot, front, back and alley) that contained at least 90% native species. (We are referring to plants that are native to Southeast Michigan). We also wanted to add appropriate plants (low-light) to the interior greenhouse that connected us to the alley.

Strategy and Conceptual Design

  • Our overall strategy is "Right plant in the right place."
    • Begin with examination of sites to be developed, particularly with regards to sunlight.
    • Factors considered in plant selection
      • native/non-native
      • sun requirements
      • moisture needs
      • plant height and width
      • season of bloom
      • color
      • manageability
      • soil pH
      • type of soil
      • urban tolerance
      • climate and micro-climate
      • salt tolerance
    • develop plant lists on Google Docs form
    • take pictures of plant selections and place on artist's sketch of building's exterior
    • search for sources of plant material
  • Plant Selections

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  • Supporting science: We used a number of resources to check which plants were indeed native. Our primary resource was Landscaping with Native Plants of Michigan written by Lynn M. Steiner. The author defines native plants as "...what was growing here naturally before European settlement." Other resources we used are below. We decided that if one source listed a plant as native to Michigan, that was good enough for us. It is especially important to use local suppliers for native plants. These growers will have plants that have the right genetics to be adapted to local conditions. They are also a very good source of information.
Proposed Materials / Suppliers

Plants

Suppliers

Design

Our design process:

  • We explored the land that our building is on: the front and back, parking lot and alley. We measured possible garden space and made note of the dimensions on our wiki.
  • We decided on our site realms, or what individual outdoor spaces we had to work with.
  • Using a number of source materials, we came up with plant lists for each of the designated realms.
  • We included other design elements in our overall plan, such as fencing and a kiosk.
  • We took all of the plant lists and put them up on our Google Docs Master Plant List. That way, we could order our ideas in whatever way we wanted.
  • We took sketches of the front and backyard, blew them up, and placed pictures of our plant/tree selections on the diagram, ordered by bloom times.

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  • We ran our ideas by Susan McBride of the Detroit Historic Commission to make sure we had approval from her organization.
  • We began the search for plant sources, and narrowd it down primarily to Wildtype Plants in Mason, Mi., and Native Plant Nursery in Ann Arbor, MI.
  • Consideration for maintenance (include maintenance on turf slabs)

Design Studio

Site Data

  • We started by trying to gather data. First, we measured the space for our potential gardens:
    • Front, strip between truck well and patio:
      • length, from drainpipe to sidewalk: 16 ft, 3 in
      • width: 1 ft
      • length, drainpipe back to building: 32 ft, 7 in
      • width: 1 ft
    • Full front of building:
      • length: 64 ft, 7 in
        • left of door: 18 ft, 7 in
        • right of door: 43 ft
        • door: 3 ft
      • width: 8 ft, 1 in
    • Alley
      • length (to our property line): 135 ft, 2 in
      • 3 ft and 5 ft beds
    • Back of building:
      • length: 122 ft
      • width: 9 ft to our property line
    • Back of building wall:
      • 4 window openings
      • 2 ft, 8 in between windows (4 sections)

Site Realms

Plant Lists

Plants that were under consideration during the research process....

Other Design Elements

  • wrought-iron fence
  • bench or table
  • flagpole
  • notice kiosk
  • trellises
  • rain barrels
  • fairy door
  • permeable pavements


Maintenance

  • Maintenance involves:
    • watering regularly
    • weeding
    • picking up garbage
    • splitting plants and planting sprouts elsewhere
    • keep record of plant health
    • deadheading and otherwise cutting some plants down when blooms are done
    • cleaning out and refilling bird bath
    • managing rain barrels, if necessary
  • Gardens involved:
    • front and parking lot
    • alley
    • back
    • rooftop garden
    • greenhouse
  • Other intern tasks:
    • Help design rooftop garden area
    • Work on Phase II of alley design and help plant (groundcovers, replacement plants, location of vines)
    • Help design garden education program for the public


Time involved: approx. 20 - 25 hours per week

garden club meetings archive

Resources


See also

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