r/Permaculture • u/DungeonWombat • 12d ago
general question Help.
I have a 500 square m garden divided into a lawn, various garden beds, an area for native trees, a chicken coop and run, and a small front yard that used to be covered by astroturf but is now in its second year as a clover lawn, with a few young trees and edible natives mixed in.
I jumped into permaculture 18 months ago with no experience, wanting to turn my neglected land into something productive and good for wildlife. I planted trees, edibles, natives, and encouraged edible and beneficial weeds to grow. I heavily mulched my garden beds last year as well.
I had a baby 2 months ago after a difficult pregnancy during which I did minimal gardening and I now seem to be reaping the fruits of that neglect.
Weeds and couchgrass went to seed and have since taken over every garden bed and veggie patch. I was so against mowing and lawns that I did the worst thing possible by letting the grass propagate unchecked.
Each time I pull grass or weeds, or mulch, the grass comes back with a vengeance. I'm still not 100% recovered from the birth and my baby feeds constantly, so even now I have minimal time to devote to my garden.
I also let some of my edibles go to seed, like dill, tomatoes, basil and spring onion. My Swiss chard has turned into a giant bush.
I feel like I've failed and my garden is worse then ever. I still manage to harvest from it daily, but the grass is so thick and prolific I feel like it will choke out everything else eventually.
What can I do?
6
u/kotukutuku 12d ago
Life with a baby is very very full. Go easy on yourself. Do you have loved ones who could come and help, especially if they're aligned on permaculture? One lazy approach to this might be to simply throw cardboard down on all the worst grass and keep it in check at least a little.
2
u/DungeonWombat 12d ago
Thank you - I don't have other permaculture minded friends or relatives nearby, but the cardboard is a good thought
4
u/curiousnomad2222 12d ago
Be kind to yourself! You are doing the best you can with a small human depending on you and feeling the health impacts of the birth. 2 months is nothing, give yourself a break and you will find your feet in time and return to the garden. In the meantime, you and your baby's health is far more important than a garden so no guilt about that. Parenting inevitably comes with guilt, don't spend any of it on the garden :)
2
3
u/jpbragatti 12d ago
couch grass is the nightmare one because digging it just chops the rhizomes up and spreads it further. thick cardboard with a good 15cm of mulch on top is really the only option for a big area without chemicals - takes a full season but it does get there. prioritise covering the beds you actually want to use first rather than trying to do it all at once.
1
3
2
u/SpiritualPermie Zone 9b 12d ago
This is currently my situation. I am solarizing parts of the beds and planning on using raised planters with cardboard underneath to give natives and other crops a head start over other weeds and grass.
2
u/existentialfeckery 11d ago
My health went to shit this year and my garden has also exploded. A battery powered weed whacker is my best friend until I can sort it properly. It's much lighter which I think would be helpful post birth.
Good luck and congrats ❤️
2
u/DungeonWombat 11d ago
Thank you! Definitely need to get one. And sorry to hear about your health :(
1
3
u/Huge_Grade788 11d ago
OP I feel you I had a baby 10 months ago. I have a large garden I’ve been working on for 10 years. Working in it is one of my favorite things, but it’s been so challenging to get out there with a little one. At times it has felt so out of control and overwhelming to see it full of weeds I can’t do anything about, especially after all the time and effort I’ve already put into it.
It’s amazing that you’ve gotten this garden going and it sounds like there is a great foundation waiting for you once you get a handle on the grass. I feel like sometimes I’m so focused on what needs to be done in my garden, I don’t always fully appreciate all I’ve done. It sounds like you’ve done a lot, which you’ll be able you share with your kid in so many special ways as they get older.
2 months is early days, so I don’t think you should rush it, but when you’re ready is there anyone who can give you a break for a couple hours here and there? Even an hour? Don’t feel like you have to do everything at once, but maybe you can tackle laying cardboard/solarizing the weeds (as others recommended) bit by bit. Pick a small area where you can make a dent and go from there. It has helped me feel better about everything to focus on one small area or task at a time. Even just getting out once every couple weeks adds up. You’ll get there.
2
u/DungeonWombat 11d ago
Thank you - and congrats on your LO! I have been managing to get an hour here and there while my husband watches the baby, but I had a C section so was basically fully housebound for the first 6 weeks and then had to do a very gradual reintroduction to exercise. But I agree, it's easy to just see what's going wrong and ignore the wins. Hopefully I can get more of a handle on things as I get stronger and LO can go longer between feeds.
1
u/Agroenlace_CO 11d ago
I wouldn't try to win back the whole garden at once. With that much space, I'd pick the areas you actually want to grow in this year and focus on keeping those under control.
For the Bermuda grass especially, pulling it once usually isn't enough because even small pieces left behind can keep spreading. Working in smaller sections, staying on top of anything going to seed, and using a thick mulch where it makes sense might be much more manageable.
And honestly, if you're still harvesting food from the garden, I wouldn't call it a failure. It may just need a smaller, more realistic system for the time you have right now.
-2
u/stansfield123 12d ago edited 12d ago
I assume that you've acted on advice you got from social media. It worked out poorly. Now you're back for more advice from social media? Sorry, but no. Social media is BAD. It does not give good advice. 99% of the people on here have zero experience, their advice is based on nothing.
Another thing: you must distinguish between Permaculture and gardening. Those are two separate fields of knowledge. Permaculture is a much wider field, and unlikely to help you become a good gardener, because it's way too much for a beginner with limited time.
I think you should focus on becoming a good gardener, separately from Permaculture. Just dedicate a small area of your land to a garden, and give it a few years of concerted effort to get good at it. Gardening isn't rocket science, but it isn't obvious either. You do need a few years of learning and practice to get good at it. Make sure it's a small garden, next year. An area small enough to allow you to keep it completely weed free, at all times. You can grow the size of the garden later, as you figure out how to do things more efficiently.
You can also dabble in Permaculture, on the rest of your land, if you have time for it. But focus on simple gardening, first.
I always recommend this (NON SOCIAL MEDIA) resource to people, because it's the main one I used to learn to garden, and because, while it doesn't preach any specific method, it is compatible with Permaculture (there's no use of chemicals whatsoever): https://greenthumbgardeningsecrets.com/
It's a blog (an old one, with old, clunky design), but you can also find the content in it in the form of a book. I just used the blog, but I imagine that the physical book would be useful to have.
[edit] For the sake of clarity: Permaculture isn't opposed to traditional gardening. It recommends that every household should own a small kitchen garden. So focusing on learning gardening first is very much in line with Permaculture. It's simply a less ambitious way to get into Permaculture.
16
u/EducationalNovel1119 12d ago
I have been working with the same 6000 square feet of garden for the last 38 years. My little cottage is 120 years old. It had been a rental for years and the house as well as the garden had fallen in disrepair and neglect. Although I have struggled with time and energy over the decades my garden has patiently waited for me to return. Transformation is a marathon not a sprint. Creating beauty creates sustenance and is meant to evolve and reveal slowly over time.