• Design Questionnaire

• Location of the compost area

• List of Garden Birds

• Soil microbiome

• Permaculture Zones

• Locations of the vegetable beds

• Useful books

• No-dig gardening

• Closed-loop design

• Websites

The following questions have been taken from The Earth Care Manual: A Permaculture Handbook for Britain and Other Temperate Climates. by Patrick Whitefield

Vision - My vision for the garden is to be able to grow picking salad leaves and a selection of traditional and some more unusual vegetables, fruits and salads for use in the kitchen. The garden needs also be visually impressive to the eye giving me pleasure when walking to and from the house as well as looking through the kitchen window.   

Tenure - We have bought this house and we have no plans on moving.

Wants

What to get rid of - We are wanting to get rid of the lawn.

Produce for home use - We would like to be able to grow a selection of vegetables and salad leaves for use in the kitchen.

Other outputs

Beauty - I would like a place to be able to sit in the morning sun and read. The site is a sun trap and is often free of wind creating perfect conditions to relax.

Wildlife - The kitchen window looks directly into the garden, a bird table would, therefore, be a great addition not only providing a food source for the birds but also bring enjoyment in observing what’s feeding when working in the kitchen.

Any other wants - I would also like to have an area for composting both garden and kitchen waste

Order of priority - A designated compost area would be handy to have straight away, we are currently pilling our waste up in the corner of the garden which is not ideal. The creation of a salad bed would be a great place to start when it comes to growing food, bringing a quick return into the kitchen. The beds for the longer growing vegetables would be needed next.  

Resources

Time - I’m very keen to get working on this design. It will mostly be evenings in summer, weekends and holidays from my full-time job for the rest of the year. Once the beds are complete maintenance for the garden will be minimal. 

Skills - I’ve had an allotment for a few years and have gained experience growing vegetables and creating different beds. I’ve also composted at the allotment and also have a wormery which is now in the garden.  

Money -  There are very limited funds for the garden i.e. no budget due to the inside of the house coming first. A little money here and there will be fine probably looking no more than £100 for the first year.

Equipment - The main requirement for equipment is a spade.

Any other resources

Off-site - I have several pieces of timber boards that have been used as a raised bed. I also have several bags of compost which I have brought from the allotment that I have now given up.

General - What I particularly like about the site is the micro-climate created by having a very sheltered area with residual heat given off from next doors house wall. It would have been great if the site was flat but I’m looking forward to working with the challenges of the slopes in the garden. The large trees do pose a problem for sunlight reaching the garden during certain times of the day. Overall it will be nice to replace the lawn with a food crop.

Client interview

The following client interview questions have been taken from the permaculture association knowledge base.

 https://knowledgebase.permaculture.org.uk/design-methods/group-survey-client-interview

1. Name(s) of client(s) (Maybe a person or a project.) - Stephen Andrews
2. Address, email, phone, fax details. N/A
3. Property size (square metres / acres / hectares.) - 55 square meters
4. The number of people on the site. - Two
5. Groups that use the site (e.g. user groups, staff, volunteers, schoolchildren.) N/A
6. Physical challenges that need to be considered (blind, wheelchairs, etc.) N/A
7. Occupations and skills - IT Support, skills – gardening, plant knowledge, general outdoor maintenance. 
8. Lifestyle/ethos of the group. - Healthy, Organic, sustainability, learning, creative, passionate.
9. Eating habits - Organic, mostly vegetarian, seasonal, foraging, low carb high good fat, homemade.
10. Age ranges - Mid 40s
11. Financial situation and budget for the project. - Working full time, very limited budget, £200 per year.
12. On-site resources - Rainwater, outside mains water tap.
13. How the site is owned/rented (freehold, leasehold, rented from council, etc.) - House is owned.
14. Any restrictions on how the land is used (detailed in lease agreements etc) No restrictions.
15. Potential catastrophes, known problems and site difficulties (frost pocket, fire, flooding, persistent vandalism.) - None known
16. Plans and drawings available. - Only self-drawn plans.
17. Level of food production wanted. - Supplement diet for two people with fresh produce throughout the year.
18. Existing energy efficiency measures, and energy usage. -  none
19. Privacy (views, neighbours, respecting other people’s privacy where site is overlooking others) - None required
20. Priorities for the site - Food production, composting area, visually stimulating, visually tidy.
21. What do you most like about the site? -  It’s next to the house and overlooked by the kitchen window.
22. What would you most like to change? - Remove the lawn
23. Water catchment (quality and amount) - Rainwater from the house roof
24. Water general. -  There is an outside tap, the water is not metered.
25. Soils -  Heavy clay soil, the soil contains stone and builders rubble
26. Erosion - none
27. Aspect -  South facing slope.
28. Clients wants and needs (PASE sheet) N/A
29. Names and addresses of supportive groups and people (councillors, voluntary service support, etc.) N/A
30. Utilities (gas, electricity, mains water) - Manhole cover set on the main path to the house.

Concerns

• Unwanted smells
• Wormery getting too hot/cold
• Encouraging pests into the garden
• Aesthetics (visual attractiveness)

Deciding the location of the composting area a few considerations were needed to be taken into account.

Both for ourselves and our neighbors benefit having the compost location furthest away from the house was always going to be an important factor to consider as well as not ending up with an eye saw that everybody ends up constantly having to look at.

At the allotment we had issues with rats and mice in the compost heap Here rats should not pose a problem due to having not seen any signs of them. We do have mice, so enabling access for the local cats should help control any population boom due to an abundant food source suddenly arriving.

During the colder months worm activity in the wormery slows down, therefore by keeping the worms warmer the more return they will bring to the garden. If the worms get too hot they will die and create a very bad smell, having a negative impact all around.

The only place in the garden where all these needs are met would be looking from the house, the far right hand side corner, the direct left when entering the garden from the street. Here the wormery can be placed against the wooden panel fence providing shade in the summer and warmth in the winter. I do not plan on having strong smells coming from the compost area but in this location, if it did happen it shouldn’t cause too much of a problem before I deal with the situation. Using the outside edges of the garden for the compost heaps this will help with the aesthetics and give access for the cats to hunt from the top of the fence.

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