Permacultureglobal.org - the interactive map and database of the Worldwide Permaculture Network

Sixteenth Street

Details

Commenced:	01/04/2007
Submitted:	13/02/2011
Last updated:	07/10/2015
Location:	16th St. NE, Massillon, Ohio, US
Climate zone:	Cool Temperate

My Projects

(projects i'm involved in)

Mecca Lot

Mecca, SA

Followers

Back to Sixteenth Street

Pruned grapes and gooseberry bush

Project: Sixteenth Street

Posted by John Oberlin about 13 years ago

Grapes and gooseberries trimmed back, thinking about a better ground cover

In the last couple years, I have ignored both the grapes and the gooseberries as far as pruning went, probably because I do not live at the property, and was away doing other things. But finally this winter I pruned the two grape vines and the gooseberry bush quite far back. I left at least two buds on the grapes and trimmed the gooseberry down, cutting out branches growing toward the center as well as runners. My wife and I would like to try to make jam out of both.

I have been considering ground cover options, as my father, who own the property dislikes the random weeds that grow, which have been my no-maintenance ground cover. The strawberries should begin this year to be a good ground cover, and the sweet woodruff may grow out a bit, at least under the shade of the vines and bush. Otherwise, I think the full sun is too much for them to be substantial ground cover. I plan to look into some kind of short, pretty legume to interplant and add nitrogen to the soil.

My worm bin at my parents has been totally converted to worm castings. And I plan to use cast a lot of that onto the garden in early spring.

My dad started a compost pile/brush pile on one half of the garden, and we both plan to clean that up in the spring. I would expect that the pile has added to the soil health and life. I need to think of an attractive perennial to plant in that space.

Comments (2)

You must be logged in to comment.

Sven Horner : If you mean short in terms of growth height, then I could recommend you white clover (trifolium repens). Masanobu Fukuoka ("One Straw Revolution") had long experimented with ground covers until he concluded that white clover is best. It is of course a nitrogen fixing legume and it seems to surpress weeds. But I feel only using white clover is too mono. Im sure theres more than white clover that suits. It would be great, if you told us, what you found! (you could use pfaf.org, if you dont know it yet)

Posted about 13 years ago

jordan lowery : i find that gooseberries are very easy to restore an overgrown plant, simply cut it down to about 4 inches above the ground late fall before the frosts get heavy. in the spring it will burst into life from both dormant buds and from suckers below the soil. and its not uncommon for them to grow 4,5, even 6 ft in one season on an established root system. even giving a good crop as well. they are VERY hardy plants.

as for ground cover i have some that have white clover under, one under a pine tree, as well as some with "weeds". in order of productivity/overall health. the one under the pine tree grows best( as the same with how they grow in nature) but has only pine needles for mulch and a few dandelions, followed by the "Weedy" undercrop, and last the mostly clover groundcover.

overall i find the diverse groundcover to be best in most situations.

Posted about 13 years ago

Courses Taught Here!

Project Badges

Administrators

Team Members

(close)

Legend of Badges

Note: The various badges displayed in people profiles are largely honesty-based self-proclamations by the individuals themselves. There are reporting functions users can use if they know of blatant misrepresentation (for both people and projects). Legitimacy, competency and reputation for all people and projects can be evidenced and/or developed through their providing regular updates on permaculture work they’re involved in, before/after photographs, etc. A spirit of objective nurturing of both people and projects through knowledge/encouragement/inspiration/resource sharing is the aim of the Worldwide Permaculture Network.

	Member A member is a permaculturist who has never taken a PDC course. These cannot become PDC teachers. Members may be novice or highly experienced permaculturists or anywhere in between. Watch their updates for evaluation.
	Permaculture Matchmaker One of these badges will show if you select your gender and the "I'm single, looking for a permaculture partner" option in your profile.
	PDC People who claim to have taken a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course somewhere in the world.
	PDC Verified People who have entered an email address for the teacher of their PDC course, and have had their PDC status verified by that teacher. Watch their updates for evaluation.
	PRI PDC People who’ve taken a Permaculture Research Institute PDC somewhere in the world.
	PDC Teacher People who claim to teach some version of PDC somewhere in the world.
	PRI Teacher With the exception of the ‘Member’ who has never taken a PDC, all of the above can apply to become a PRI PDC Teacher. PRI PDC Teachers are those who the PRI recognise, through a vetting board, as determined and competent to teach the full 72-hour course as developed by Permaculture founder Bill Mollison – covering all the topics of The Designers’ Manual as well as possible (i.e. not cherry picking only aspects the teacher feels most interested or competent in). Such teachers also commit to focussing on the design science, and not including subjective spiritual/metaphysical elements. The reason these items are not included in the PDC curriculum is because they are “belief” based. Permaculture Design education concerns itself with teaching good design based on strategies and techniques which are scientifically provable. PRI PDC Teachers may be given teaching and/or consultancy offerings as they become available as the network grows.
	Aid Worker The individual with this badge is indicating they are, have, or would like to be involved in permaculture aid work. As such, the individual may or may not have permaculture aid worker experience. Watch their updates for evaluation.
	Consultant The individual with this badge is indicating they are, have, or would like to do paid permaculture design consultancy work. As such, the individual may or may not have permaculture consultancy experience. Watch their updates for evaluation.
	Community Project Community projects are projects that help develop sustainable community interaction and increase localised resiliency.