permaculture

[<permed@nor.com.au>]

Sean wrote
>I've found a place which I hope to
>rent for several years while I attend school. It has a big, south facing
>backyard with little else living on it but for patchy grass, thistles,
>dock, morning glory, buttercup and similar delights. Not even the birds
>come to visit.
>
>I have begun to put down on paper how I'd like this to look at the end of
>a decade. The most enjoyable prospect for me, however, is convincing my
>landlord of the feasability of the project (and the ease of clean up when
>I move on)--and then convincing my neighbour, with whom I share this
>duplex, to allow me full reign over the entire back yard.

I spent 10 years in various rental urban properties until I aquired 
Djanbung Gardens.
I managed to convince my landlords that if they didn't like the garden 
I'd move it with me and assured them that their weedy lawnscape would 
quickly re-establish. 
On 2 of these occasions I concentrated my gardens (deep sheet mulch, 
mainly because I didn't trust the soil or it was obviously in very bad 
condition or contaminated with lead fallout from busy roads) around the 
perimeter of the yard 1-2 meters wide next to the fence. The other 2 
yards I constructed a mandala garden complete with tyre pond (built on 
top of the ground in case I had to remove it) and planted a mix of fruit 
trees, flowering native shrubs and berry bushes around the fence line. I 
found most landlords were really paranoid about loosing all the 'lawn' so 
I always left an area of grass as a small compromise (there is a place 
for some recreational mulch meadow in most zone 1). In one of these 
gardens I also managed to keep 3 chickens in a mobile pen, handy for 
occasional tractoring and would let them free range only when I was in 
the garden to prevent damage.
I also had a substantial container garden of pet plants, dwarf fruit 
trees etc that I moved from place to place.
The interesting thing is that none of the landlords asked me to get rid 
of the garden when I left as the tennant following expressed interest in 
the property because of the garden.
I found landlord resistance crumbled when I said I'd be gardening on top 
of the soil and wouldn't be digging it up & I could easily remove it by 
hiring a small trailer to shovel all the mulch into to transport to my 
new site. I was selective in the trees & shrubs I planted to maximise 
their chance of survival. Most of the trees I planted in these gardens 
are still thriving 10-20 years later, most of the gardens have 
disappeared now but were continued by subsequent tennants for several 
years after I abandoned them.
Maybe - in terms of your neighbour - just propose to garden half of the 
yard, and with time as or if they show interest you can help them garden 
their half.
Robyn Francis

Djanbung Gardens Permaculture Education Centre
home to: 
Permaculture Education
ERDA Institute Trust
Nimbin Eco-Village Project Office
Robyn Francis - permaculture designer & educator
PO Box 379, Nimbin NSW 2480 Australia
Ph 02-6689 1755 Fax 02-6689 1225
permed@nor.com.au  www.earthwise.org.au