Permaculture and Growing Your Own Mulch
Episode: # 11 16/06/07
Presenter: Phil Dudman
Phil visits a magnificent permaculture garden nestled in the hills of the Sunshine Coast in South East Queensland. It is a part of the world that is deep in the most terrible drought but this place is almost a green oasis.
There are a few things that have helped it along and one is the design. The swales that have been formed across the gradient of the slopes help to capture the moisture when it does rain which means it soaks deep into the soil so that plants can access that moisture in dry time.
On top of that, the owners have incorporated extensive water storage facilities to keep their garden thriving through the dry and much of their orchard is kept in top condition recycled water that comes from a bio-filtered system.
They use a lot of mulch too which is essential but on a property of such size, the cost of buying mulch is simply out of the question. So they came up with a terrific solution. They grow their own mulch.
Under the trees in the fruit orchard, pumpkin vines have been left to scramble all over the ground. They act as a kind of living mulch chocking out grass and weeds that compete for nutrients and moisture. The big leaves do a pretty good job at reducing moisture loss from the soil as well and of course, they provide you with a terrific crop.
You can do the same thing with other clambering plants like nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus) and their flowers provide great colour. Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) makes very good living mulch too and its roots go incredibly deep, drawing valuable nutrients to the surface so as the leaves break down they help to enrich the soil.
There is a range of other the plants that are also grown so that they can be harvested for mulch throughout the year. Arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea) has edible rhizomes and the leaves are incredibly fleshy also so they break down beautifully. It is just a matter of chopping it away and throwing it on the garden bed.
If you grow bananas there is nothing wrong with growing a few of those leaves as well. They are nice and wide and would do a great job at choking out the weeds and holding in moisture.
So there you go, a few ways to be waterwise and save money on mulch, the permaculture way.
Presenter: Phil Dudman
Phil visits a magnificent permaculture garden nestled in the hills of the Sunshine Coast in South East Queensland. It is a part of the world that is deep in the most terrible drought but this place is almost a green oasis.
There are a few things that have helped it along and one is the design. The swales that have been formed across the gradient of the slopes help to capture the moisture when it does rain which means it soaks deep into the soil so that plants can access that moisture in dry time.
On top of that, the owners have incorporated extensive water storage facilities to keep their garden thriving through the dry and much of their orchard is kept in top condition recycled water that comes from a bio-filtered system.
They use a lot of mulch too which is essential but on a property of such size, the cost of buying mulch is simply out of the question. So they came up with a terrific solution. They grow their own mulch.
Under the trees in the fruit orchard, pumpkin vines have been left to scramble all over the ground. They act as a kind of living mulch chocking out grass and weeds that compete for nutrients and moisture. The big leaves do a pretty good job at reducing moisture loss from the soil as well and of course, they provide you with a terrific crop.
You can do the same thing with other clambering plants like nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus) and their flowers provide great colour. Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) makes very good living mulch too and its roots go incredibly deep, drawing valuable nutrients to the surface so as the leaves break down they help to enrich the soil.
There is a range of other the plants that are also grown so that they can be harvested for mulch throughout the year. Arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea) has edible rhizomes and the leaves are incredibly fleshy also so they break down beautifully. It is just a matter of chopping it away and throwing it on the garden bed.
If you grow bananas there is nothing wrong with growing a few of those leaves as well. They are nice and wide and would do a great job at choking out the weeds and holding in moisture.
So there you go, a few ways to be waterwise and save money on mulch, the permaculture way.
AS SEEN ON 
