Review of spring polyculture patch

This bed was started in the spring of 2014.  Originally I just needed somewhere to transplant a number of perennial vegetables from my first bed in this garden (below) which was about to be covered over with an extension to the house.

First polyculture patch, September 2013

The original polyculture bed that I was about to lose had been ‘constructed’ the previous year  from all manner of organic materials found in the garden – decomposed leaves etc from the hedge, ivy from the hedge, lawn cuttings, hedge trimmings and more.  Over the first growing season it had taken on a reasonable texture and I wanted to re-use this material.

The spring polyculture bed lies on the southern border of the garden adjacent to an evergreen hedge.  The garden slopes down to the south and also to the west, so the corner of this bed that lies in the south west corner of the garden is damp and shady as it also lies in the shade of the neighbouring house and fence.  It is a curvy shape, about 6.5 m long and between 1.75 and 2 m deep.

On top of the lawn, without removing any turf, I first laid some decent sized branches that had died within the hedge and some that I had also cut out.  On top and amongst these I placed other woody, twiggy materials and then covered these with the material from the original polyculture.  I put an edge of stones taken from other parts of the garden and put a decorative edge of willow round it. To my mind the decorative edge was not strictly necessary, but knowing that the planting was going to be unconventional the edging was included to provide some reassurance to the neighbours.

 

Spring polyculture patch, just finished March 2014

Spring polypatch being planted May 2014

Over time the bed has been extended lengthways to where it meets an apple tree.  It has also been built up with upturned turfs removed from elsewhere in the garden and lawn cuttings.

The current aims is for this bed are:

• To grow leafy greens and fruits
• For the slightly newer westerly end, which is sunnier and better drained – to grow different onions and a few root vegetables.
• Across the whole bed to supplement the edible planting with herbs and flowers for both visual effect and for the insects
• To be as maintenance free as possible

The table below gives a comprehensive list of what is in the bed at the moment.  As noted in my previous review posts in the table the purposes the plants can have are:

• Edible
• Flowering
• Medicinal properties
• For biomass – at the end of the season, or sooner if they are too large for their space I cut back plants and mulch the ground where they grew, feeding organic material to the soil.
• To supply nitrogen
• To help break up the soil

My observation is that every plant that flowered attracted a good deal of insect life and was also visually delightful so my notation of ‘flowers’ in the table is intended to reflect this dual purpose (unless noted otherwise the flowering period is summer).

Name	Purpose	When sown and notes
Root vegetables
Jerusalem artichoke	Edible root Biomass	Probably planted 2014 Will harvest later and replant for next year.
Mashua	Edible root	Not yet harvested.  Remains of last year’s crop not intentionally planted in this area as it gets a bit big.  Have been cutting / pulling it back through the summer.
Oca	Edible root	Not yet harvested
Salsify	Edible root Flowers	Replanted from other borders where they were too congested.  To leave to flower.
Skirret	Edible root Flowers	Planted 2014/5 Not harvested yet, will be digging up and splitting the plants at some point.
Onions (alliums)
Chives	Planted along the edge for decoration as well as for cutting.
Perennial leek	Edible	Planted 2014/5 Not harvested this year, produced flower heads and large collections of bulbils.
Three cornered leek	Edible leaves and flowers	Some planted in previous years, self seeds and increases each year.
Welsh onion	Edible	Transplanted from another bed in 2015, being left to grow and multiply.
Wild garlic	Edible leaves and flowers	Planted along the back edge in 2016 to help prevent grass and buttercups growing over the bed.
Fruit
Blackcurrant	Edible fruit	Maturing bush, has buds on for fruit next year.
Gooseberry Hinomaki red	Edible fruit	Young plant from cutting not mature enough to fruit yet.
Jostaberry	Edible fruit	Maturing plant, should fruit next year.
June berry	Edible berries	Planted 2015 Still a young plant, no fruits yet.
Wild strawberry	Edible fruit	Small plants along the edge produce small quantities of fruit through the summer.
Edible greens and herbs
Buckshorn plantain	Edible leaves	Sown from seed in 2015.  Small plants struggling a little bit in the damp, shady end.
Cardoon	Edible leaves and flower buds Flowers	Young plant, still small.
Fennel	Culinary and medicinal herb Flowers	Transplanted from elsewhere. Fantastic for insects, harvested for seeds, blue tits also eat seeds.
Good King Henry	Edible greens	Trying again in 2016 after finding out this is palatable if soaked in salt water before cooking.
Lamb’s lettuce	Edible greens Spring flowers	Self set 2016
Land cress	Edible greens Spring flowers	Originally sown in 2014, has been re-seeding since then.
Lemon balm	Culinary herb
Marjoram	Culinary herb Flowers	Planted 2014 Not harvested, has attracted insects and looked lovely.
Sorrel	Edible leaves	Planted 2014. Substantial perennial plant.
Sweet cicely	Culinary herb Flowers	Planted 2014 Attractive flowers
Wild rocket	Edible greens Flowers	Probably self set one or two years ago. Not harvested, more in the garden than we need.
Flowering plants
Bugle	Flowers, not edible	Transplanted from elsewhere in the garden for edging.
Buttercup (creeping)	Flowers	Already in the garden.  I always pull this up when I see it.
Calendula	Flowers	Has been re-seeding itself each year
Clove root	Wild flower	Already in the garden.  I always pull this up when I see it.
Daffodil	Spring flowers	Planted 2014 Attractive flowers
Dandelion	Wild flower	Here already
Forget me nots	Spring flowers	Self set 2015 Attractive flowers
Foxglove	Flowers, not edible	Spring flowering plant.
Honesty	Flowers, not edible	Spring flowering plant.
Nettle	Edible leaves	Already in garden.  I pull it up from this border.
Parsley	Culinary herb Flowers	Donated plant from a friend, half dead on arrival.  Planted and left to flower to get more plants next year.
Pulmonaria	Flowers, not edible	Spring flowering plant.
Radish	Flowers	Has been in the bed for several years, self seeding each year.  Not grown for root but for flowers which are amazing.  Flowers are edible as are young pods and flower shoots.
Self heal	Medicinal herb Flowers	Transplanted in 2014 from elsewhere in garden
Wild marjoram	Culinary herb Flowers	Has been in the bed since the beginning, lovely!
Yarrow	Flowers
Others
Dock	Wild plant Tap root to break up stony soil Leaves for accumulating nutrients	Here already Leaves pulled when too large / encroaching on other plants and mulched on bed
Spring pea	Garden plant bought for early flowers and nitrogen fixing.
Ground ivy		Spread from next door and is prone to over run this and other beds.  I will be removing it as far as possible next year.

Assessment

This bed very quickly established itself, looking very good and producing harvests in its first year.

Spring polypatch, August 2014

Spring polypatch, August 201

It has continued to be easy to look after, productive and attractive!

 

Spring polypatch in August 2015 (second year)

Harvests

• Lamb’s lettuce which self seeds from year to year. Harvests can start early in the year and last for several months until the plants run to flower and seed.
• Land cress – some plants stay in situ and new ones are self set. Harvests are from early in the year for several months.  Later, larger leaves can be cooked.
• Wild rocket – harvests are from spring to late autumn every year.
• Leaf beet – some plants stay in situ and new ones are self set. Harvests are from spring until the plants send up flower shoots.  I let the seeds ripen and collect them to share with others.
• Variegated Daubenton’s kale does not flower and is potentially ‘harvestable’ all year round. This year has been a very good year with harvests through much of the summer.  I take cuttings in autumn and winter to propagate more plants.
• Other kales – currently Taunton Deane and Asturian kale. Harvestable in the spring, autumn and winter.
• Herby harvests have included chives and lemon balm. The former for salads and the latter for herbal tea to help me sleep – for which it is very effective.

Asturian kale, spring polypatch August 2016

 

Fertility

This bed is elevated above the level of the underlying stony, clay soil and has a high proportion of organic material within it.  It has developed a lovely textured soil, full of worms that seems very fertile and produces good, healthy plants. It doesn’t need any additional edging to hold it in place.

I have tried growing peas in this bed for additional nitrogen fixing, but they don’t grow at all well.  I will try with more field beans next year, which I think I have used here before.

Spring polypatch, August 2016

Flowers and biodiversity

This bed has lots of flowers in the spring – wild garlic, three cornered leek, sweet cicely, forget me nots, pulmonaria, honesty and more.  In the summer it is awash with radish and marjoram flowers but could include more variety, which is something to think about for next year.

Because of the dampness here I have several times spotted frogs and toads lurking just beneath the soil surface.  There are no ponds or streams very close so it is good that this provides a suitably damp habitat for them.

Maintenance

This bed looks after itself very well apart from the need to keep on top of the buttercups that would surely over run it in this damp corner if I did not remove them.  They still grow in the lawn behind the bed, so will continue to be a ‘problem’.

There is not a problem with slugs here, though you might expect that given the damp conditions.  This is due at least in part to them not really being present when I started this garden.

Cabbage white butterflies are a problem later in the year.  To begin with I do take off either the eggs or the affected leaves, but after a while they get ahead of me and I give up.  This year when we went on holiday in September there were lots of caterpillars all over the kales, but by the end of October the plants had re-grown and I was harvesting

Spring polypatch, November 2016

Spring polypatch November 2016

This is what it looked like this morning on a glorious, sunny, frosty, clear November day!