I think I may have posted something about this last year on CS but heres an update. When we put our orchard in we dug holes about the size of a wash tub, filled the holes with compost, then planted the trees. The reason we did it this way is because we have no soil---only sand or rotten granite. When we finished we thot it looked kinda strange, the trees there but nothing green at their feet.

I sifted a bunch of compost thru a chicken wire screen, mixed some clover seed in it, then spread it around pretty thin, maybe 1/4"- 3/8" thick, then tamped it down with feet and watered it in. Because it was so thin and with all the rain last year some of it washed into common areas, the low spots, but all in all it came in pretty good. We let it go to seed, spread some more compost around for it to feed off of and thats how it went into winter. This year we have a pretty good stand of clover started. We filled in some more of the bare spots and with all the rain its starting to come up too. By the end of the summer the orchard should look pretty good.

We're doing the same thing with grass too but we're laying the compost in thicker---about 1". I suspect it'll take more water than "normal" till it gets established but its coming in nicely. We'll let that go to seed too to fill in the bare spots. Kind of a lazy mans lawn.

-- Anonymous, May 26, 2001

Answers

I've thought for a long time that the best "lawn" would be clover all over. Many benefits: -it only grows 6 or so inches high, so no mowing (yay), -it is a legume, so enriches the soil, -the flowers attract bees, -and it self seeds. What more could anybody ask for? Oh yeah, if I do decide to cut it, it makes nutritious animal feed.

One of the principals of permaculture is that each 'element' (clover, in this example) have at least three 'functions'. This plant does more than its share. I just shake my head when people call it a weed. Sandy

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2001