Plans, and the planning planner who plans them.

I apologize for the delay (to myself and the curious few who were awaiting them). I am a planner, not a professional Planner, but one who plans, and plans and plans, enjoying the creative investigation, ongoing inquiry, and organizing that is part of making a 'plan'.

With delight, I now present my Site Analysis and Proposal ("Plan") for my current residential project.

Site Analysis

 Proposal

I have been fortunate to be able to access this space at will, because I live here. As a result, whenever I had a question about the landscape, I defaulted to making a trip outside to investigate and gather primary research. This may have delayed the design process but is also quite an opportunity and one of only a few cases when one can do this. What I mean is, while I am woo'ing my neighbors, I'll proceed with the construction of my landscape design, which is, of course, part of the woo'ing process.

A few points of note:
1. The evergreen tree. This is a very healthy White Pine that none would want to cut down except an urban gardener or one who wants more sun on the south side of her home. I happen to be both of these. On the downside, if we cut down the tree, we might have to pay money to have this done, and we might find the tree provided a nice service, such as a wind break for the back yard. All in all, the tree may stay.

I'm trying to avoid paying for this service (Hey, anyone want some really nice and straight white pine wood that's great for woodworking!?) and if we should find there is a wind issue, I'll be prepared to plant something else in it's place. You may have noticed, I have not provided a planting plan. A task for another day; a plan for another blog.

2. The Plum tree problem. I recently visited our metropolitan area's fair botanic garden and learned that plum trees need to be planted in pairs in order to procreate successfully. I'm guessing our plum formerly had a mate in a nearby yard, when it was producing fruit successfully, and is now a desperate young widow throwing pollen to the wind in hopeless efforts for offspring. I have provided two options for planting a 'pair' tree for this plum: another dwarf plum tree in the yard or, a wall-trained plum tree against the south side of the house. I just need to insure that the two trees are compatible species and that they will flower at the same time.

3. The vegetable garden beds. This is not my original design. I sketched one on paper while standing in the yard, then designed another in AutoCAD where I had measurements to follow. The temporary cold frame (see previous blog) in this location would fit almost exactly into the northwest box you see in the drawing (keep in mind, north is up in the drawing and because it isn't exact, I will likely redo either the cold frame or the drawing). As the days of this season progress, I'm learning about winter sun patterns from observing the sun and from a housemate who has lived here longer than I have. There may be a few small adjustments made to accommodate the best lighting for the permanent garden beds.

4. Trees in general. Some of the issues with the trees in the Site Analysis are being resolved by simply pruning them more regularly. This increases sun access on the site and improves the health of the tree. Additionally, I intend to research organic pest control solutions for next season's crops.

If I have left out anything, dear readers, please don't hesitate to contact me. Your inquiry is my opportunity.

Cold Frame, Hot Materials

Hot not as in 'stolen', rather used here to mean 'found', and free, and useful for framing, mass and insulation. Now that's totally cool. A cold frame is a structure that surrounds a garden bed, allows light to penetrate, has an insulating mass on the interior, and thus allows gardeners to extend their growing season.

I set out this past weekend to locate discarded items useful for making a cold frame to cover one of my vegetable garden beds. I have never before made a cold frame and while I have a complete landscape plan for the lot (see upcoming post), I wanted to get something built NOW.

Today, I made a very simple cold frame that can be constructed in a very short period of time (depending on how well-developed your project is when you begin).

I began with a garden bed that has already been in use, and even had small plants that I grew from seeds several weeks ago.  My ‘found’ materials include:

• 2 windows (approx. 3’ x 4’)
• 2 wooden boards (2” x 10” x 8')
• several bricks

Cold Frame Framing

In this picture you can see where I put the boards, which will contain the soil, and the bricks, which will absorb heat from the sun and slowly release it through the day. Currently, the boards are being held up by other bricks but will soon be held together by nails with shorter wooden boards on the ends.

The board on the south side (right) is nestled into a trench about 2 inches wide and 2 or 3 inches deep, spanning the length of the board. This places the board lower than the other and allows the windows to angle just a bit southward, towards the sun. (For my ideal cold frame, the framing will be designed to place the windows at an angle appropriate to Chicago’s winter solar position).


Cold Frame Finished

It took me about two hours to build this cold frame. While it was designed to be a temporary structure, it’s one that I know has worked for others. When I’m enjoying fresh spinach in January, I’ll let you know.