An urban oasis on the edge of the Mangawhai Village

Design brief:

Clients wanted a mini organic orchard set up so when they move up they have fruit to harvest.  They need an easy care orchard and low in height as they are not getting any younger. They wanted a diverse range of fruit throughout most of the year.

1. The designated area was knee high in kikuyu. To manage it, we mowed it down. I used dazzle and bamboo stakes to peg out the orchard.  We sprayed the design out once to kill the kikuyu before forming the new beds.  Trees and posts were removed where necessary.

2. Cultivation from a tractor gave us fluffy soil to make our mounds for the fruit tree positions, raising them up out of what is a wet area in winter. Weed mat was placed down throughout all of the designated areas. Shade/wind break installed on both fence boundaries for protection from outside kikuyu.

3. 19 fruit trees were planted into their correct positions, keeping in mind the different soil types & wet areas as these were the deciding factors to where each tree can go.  All beds were planted with over 350 ground cover grasses and shrubs to give some colour interest and low fertility living mulch.

4. Gate was constructed to give it a cottage feel and to keep the grazing animals out.

Next is to add more trees into the remaining positions next season.

Overview

Special features:
Sheltered all day sun, gentle sloping block with easy close access to house site

Planted so far:
• 19 fruit trees various types with emphasis on all year round fruit
• Ground cover grasses x 350 & ground cover shrubs