Native Plant Selection Modeling, Designing Coastal Green Roofs Part One

Native plants and wildflowers can contribute to the design of a permaculture garden, green roof or container garden on an apartment balcony.  This video shares many of my design hacks and tips for plant selection.  Though the video was made to be an aid to green roof designers, the fundamental design principles are important for any garden or landscape design.  Hope you enjoy and learn from the video.

Florida Permaculture Design, Reading and Understanding Garden Edges

Florida Permaculture, Edges Are Everywhere

The task of trying to read edges edges has always been a significant part of my professional life.  Before aortic dissection put me on hold, I spent decades as a biologist tasked with documenting natural edges across the landscape for design purposes.  Subsequently, after law school, I continued learning the language of edges and natural perimeters as an advocate for sustainable conservation and land use. I have spent thousands of hours out in nature examining tracts of land searching for significant preservation edges, such as; mature successional or native forests; wetlands and uplands; perimeters of protected wildlife habitat; changes in soil types, and so much more.  The years of hands on natural feature delineation have proven important to my own understanding of how perimeters play such an important role in urban landscape and survival garden design.

And so I believe that prior to installing a survival garden the initial permaculture design process should include identification and integration of existing perimeters and edges, both natural ones and those constructed.  Perimeter and edge concepts are necessary central components to successful survival garden design.

Thoughtful edge use is a primary infrastructure design tool capable of maximizing survival garden production values. 

Flat or farm, the concept of edges applies just as much to the tiny apartment balcony as it does to a large acre homestead.  There are many edges on a balcony, those obvious and those not so obvious.

Edges exist almost everywhere.  Some edges are pronounced and other edges are more nuanced and difficult to discern, but all edges are important considerations in permaculture and survival garden design.

During your initial permaculture site survey you will come across those prominent and then those not so manifest edge lines and perimeters.

Obvious edges can include: ground level topography; vertical edges such as buildings, walls, cliffs or dunes; watercourses like ditches, streams, creeks, rivers, lakes and oceans; foot paths, trails, curbs, sidewalks, driveways, roads and highways; balcony railings, fencing and signage; roof contours; rows of plants such as containerized plants, mondo grass, crepe myrtle shrubs and lines of canopy trees; telephone poles and street lighting and more.

Not so obvious edges may include: tree canopy variations; rainwater flows including drip lines, gutter downspouts and water stains, swales; changes in soil types; plant community transitions; shadows from adjacent structures; allelopathic buffering; shadows and light lines; reflections; animal and critter trails; bird flight patterns; prevailing wind directions and others.

In fact upon a comprehensive examination of your survival garden, you will probably find edges and perimeters covering your entire site.  Complexity is the appropriate way to think of your integrated plot, be it balcony, yard or farm. Survival garden complexity and lots of edges go hand in hand.  An understanding of these edges will provide you with design guidance and ultimately with a secure, beautiful, sustainable and productive homestead.

Most edges and perimeters have signatures left by bio and geophysical interactions with the space in and around your homestead.  Birds may share the same flight pattern across your yard or land in the same spot on a apartment balcony rail.  Rainwater pours off, pools and then runs off with similar flow characteristics with each passing storm.  Squirrels, mice, raccoons and feral cats usually enter your parcel time again through the same ingress point and leave via the same egress location.  Tree lines vary with height, texture and color depending on grove species and light exposure, as do shrub and groundcover splays.  Natural windrows become illustrated through the habit and forms of sculpted plant canopies.  Nature and civilization both sign their perpetual works of art across balconies, patios, yards and homesteads with 'edge art'.

Larger tracts of land will usually contain more edges and perimeters than apartment balconies but even small balconies may develop numerous edge influences.  Learning to recognize these natural and man-made edges can be an enjoyable and enlightening venture.  With each additional recognition of newly discovered edges we can gain a greater understanding of how our homestead and garden efforts function in the natural world.

Once we recognize the edges that exist in our space we can then use proven permaculture approaches to increase overall homestead efficiencies.  For instance, if the cardinal lands on your apartment rail in the same place each time she visits, placing a pollinator attracting flower under her perch area can take advantage of her nitrogen rich droppings and spare you the effort of cleaning her plop off your balcony.  Similarly, recognizing stormwater flow across your patio or yard will give you a heads up about where to place those plants needing increased irrigation, and so forth and so on.  

I believe our agrarian and foraging ancestors intuitively developed a refined art of recognizing edges.  Perhaps through industrial commercialization and the electronic revolution we humans today have shifted focus away from our predecessor's edge tracking skills.  Nature has so much to offer once we learn to read her ways.

Finally, the decades of conducting ecosystem field analyses has provided me with many opportunities to learn first hand about patterns with edges in nature.  I want to share an interesting observation about the area where soil saturation ends and upland soils begin.  

Documenting agricultural tracts with large numbers of cows I noticed over the years a similarity between cow paths and wetland delineation lines.  After long discussions with farmers and others familiar with cows and their habits the correlation became clear.  Cows like to have access to water.  They often establish perimeter paths around ponds with varying access points.  When I would establish wetland delineation lines around the ponds, the wetland lines invariably corresponded almost exactly to the cow trails.  Turns out, according to the farmers, cows want to walk as close to water without walking through damp soils or muck.  Upland soils are easier to traverse for the heavy animals.  Now when I look from a distance across a cow field and see ponds I can almost immediately discern where the upland soils change into wetland soils.  The cows intuitively recognized the edges between upland soils and wetland soils and used this recognition to their advantage.

Although wetland and upland soil lines are just one part of integrated soil science a general understanding of edge forensics provides important insights for survival garden design.   It is so much more perceptive to look at plants, topography and animal tracks in the field than to have to pull out a soils map and translate the symbols.

We have just barely touched the surface of the practical importance associated with recognizing nature's edges.  Understanding what your plot is saying will help guide you in your survival garden ventures.

Always look for new edges, wherever you may be.  Even after years long familiarity with a plot you will find that nature changes previous perimeters into new edges.  Seek and search for changing edges.  A homesteader or bushmaster who is well read with the language of nature's edges has an advantage in creating a successful survival garden design over those who have not learned perimeter discernment.

You can start today conversing with edges simply by walking outside, wetting your finger, holding it up in the air and noticing the wind's direction and watch as leaves rustle in a breeze.

Once we begin discerning the language of edges around us, new and amazing permaculture worlds will manifest themselves  everywhere.

Survival Garden Perimeters and Edges; Southern Dewberry

Southern dewberry, Rubus trivilas, useful perimeter plant for gardens of all types

Garden edge and perimeter theory has long been studied and discussed in deep permaculture thought.  Edges are always rich in diversity and truly useful to gardeners.

To the yoyo survival gardener, edges provide a complex set of functions limited in use only to your imagination.

Barriers are one of the first edge plant uses that may come to mind.

Your survival garden perimeters contain potential for many levels of utilitarian barriers against wildlife and potential trespassing humans.  Using a variety of proven edge plants one can create a range of barriers, from light, visual based suggestive deterrents to impenetrable plantings.

Unlike corrosion degradation typical of metal fencing, plant perimeters grow stronger and more effective with each passing year.

Incorporating native plants into edges is a sustainable practice that can pay other dividends too.  

When designing and planting a yoyo survival garden perimeter one can choose from many different species.  I always recommend consulting with local nurseries to determine those varieties well suited for any specific location.

With respect to levels of garden fortification, flora deterrence works not only for the yard but also for the patio and balcony.  And while drawing boundaries is an important yoyo survival garden design criteria, it isn't the only factor to consider.

Curb appeal may seem irrelevant to some but in the long run the unexpected may happen and one may have to sell their homestead, townhouse or farm.  Consider planting those edge plants who contribute to the overall aesthetic of your garden perimeter.  Striking and attractive; color, hues, textures, gloss, translucence, shade, structure and form can be achieved in your garden edges with well chosen greenery.

Food production too is a real advantage of thoughtful edge and perimeter planting.  The art sketch above is my visual interpretation of our Florida native southern dewberry bramble, Rubus trivialis, a thorny shrub who doesn't allow for easy passage but also provides a bountiful, nutritious harvest for jams, snacks, pies, canning and freezing.

Thoughtfully chosen perimeter plants may also produce desirable goods to be used in commerce, such as bamboo poles or pineapple guava fruits.

Potential uses for your yoyo survival garden edges are limitless, bounded only by your creativity.

You can start with just one plant, seed, cutting or even your imagination today!

Best Plants for Survival Gardens; Top 120 Patios, Yards and Balcony Permaculture Plants

Best Plants for Survival Gardens in the Southeastern U.S.

My top seventeen survival garden plant types and my top one hundred twenty survival garden plants are included in the following lists.

To be clear these plant selections are my opinion only.  What you end up putting in your survival garden is appropriate for you.  There are no wrong choices other than not planting anything at all.

Please note these plants may be grown across America but they are specifically chosen for the southeastern U.S.  

Most of these plants can be planted in containers and so are appropriate for balconies and patios as well as larger plots of land and could be brought inside shelter during inclement weather.

Benefits received from the plants below include not just those uses listed but also include; visual art, songbird music, sense of place, increase in property value, fresh clean air, commerce and much more.

I started to write a 'why I chose these plants' section however the post started to become very long.  I'll share my reasoning soon.  To summarize selection criteria though, I included plants:

• from all three photosynthesis pathways (C3, C4 and CAM) as risk management for unexpected climate effects (yes the unexpected can occur for sure),
• tolerant to a variety of sunlight exposure levels,
• adapted to both saturation and drought,
• offering pollinator attraction (a side note here is that over the years I've had so many people tell me they've had no luck growing vegetables or fruit.  When I ask them if they have an abundance of flowers in their growing area they reply,'some'.  We must think in terms of pollinator perspectives if we are to have a successful survival garden.  Without pollinators our garden won't produce.  If I am a pollinator and there are two yards I am considering visiting, one has a nice selection of flowers and the other is crammed with blooms I am heading for the fullest buffet.  Bottom line is the more flowers there are the more produce you will harvest),
• resilient to allelopathy and plants that do not allelopathicate,
• including varieties that are wind desiccation adapted for windbreaks (slow steady winds can destroy a garden through desiccation),
• that are of use to us humans from a number of perspectives,
• offering nitrogen fixation,
• providing seed production for use, commerce, food and forage,
• and are adapted to the Southeastern U.S.

The above are just a few of the selection criteria available for determining what plants are best for the survival garden.  I'll elaborate more in a future post.  Over the decades of us growing plants, running a nursery and creating gardens of all types we encountered many variables that can impact plant selection.

Importantly though, the best plants for your survival garden are those you feel you need.

So here are my lists:

Top Seventeen Survival Garden Plant Types

1. Aloe vera; medicine for sores, cuts, burns, ulcers & skin

2. Bamboo, clumping; food & structural material & perimeter protection

3. Berries, blueberries, blackberries, mulberry; food, perimeter protection

4. Echinacea spp., Purple coneflower; medicine & pollinators

5. Garlic chives; food, medicine (sulfur) & pollinators, this plant will always be there for you

6. Ginger family, Zingiberaceae, turmeric & ginger; food & medicine

7. Leafy greens; kale, shiso, Okinawan spinach, collards, amaranth, cilantro, arugula, chenopodium. etc.; food & nutrition

8. Sprouts, all types; food & nutrition

9. Grain; rice, oats, ancient wheat, barley, rye, sorghum, teff, amaranth; food & nutrition

10. Root vegetable, sweet potato, yam, cassava; food & medicine

11. Seeds; chenopodium, sunflowers, cilantro, squashes, amaranth; food & nutrition, oils

12. Squashes, Cucurbita spp., especially Seminole Pumpkin; food & nutrition

13. Plantain & bananas; food & medicine

14. Prickly pear cactus, food & perimeter protection

15. Sugarcane, food

16. Asters, Sunflowers, Helianthus annus, sunflower and Bidens alba, Spanish needles; pollinators, food, oils & nutrition

17. Elderberry; because anyone can grow this plant & it is full of medicinal, drink & food uses

Top One Hundred Survival Plants

1. Aloe vera; medicine

2. Apples; food

3. Bamboo; clumping, food & structural material

4. Bananas & plantains; food & medicine

5. Basil, Sweet; food, tea & medicine

6. Basil, Thai; food, tea & medicine

7. Basil, Africa blue; food, tea & medicine

8. Beans, yard long bean (Red noodle or green); food & nitrogen fixer

9. Beans, cow pea; food & nitrogen fixer

10. Beans, pole beans; food & nitrogen fixer

11. Beans, limas; food & nitrogen fixer

12. Beans, pigeon peas; food & nitrogen fixer

13. Beans, cold weather beans; food & nitrogen fixer

14. Beautyberry, attracts birds for pest control

15. Bidens alba & B. pilosa; food, pollinators & medicine

16. Blackberries, raspberries and dewberries; food & perimeter protection

17. Blackeye Susan’s, Rudbeckia, cut flowers and pollinators

18. Blackgum, tupelo; pollinators (esp. bees for honey) & structural material

19. Blazing star, Liatris; pollinators

20. Blueberries; food

21. Broomsedges, andropogon grasses; fabrication material

22. Butterfly  weed, Asclepias tuberosa; pollinators & butterflies

23. Cannabis; medicinal

24. Carolina jessamine; early spring pollinators & evergreen screening, medicine

25. Catbrier, saspirilla, Smilax spp; food, perimeter protection, larval food

26. Coral honeysuckle; pollinators and evergreen screening

27. Citrus, Myers lemon; food & medicine

28. Citrus, ruby red grapefruit; food & nutrition

29. Citrus, satsuma; food & nutrition

30. Citrus, kumquat; food & nutrition

31. Citrus, calamondin; food & nutrition

32. Comfrey, bone knit; fertilizer and medicine

33. Corn, grits, cornmeal; food & nutrition

34. Coreopsis; pollinators & bees

35. Cucumber, Cucumis sativa; food & medicine

36. Datura, Jimson weed and Angels trumpet; medicine & night pollinators

37. Dollarweed, Hydrocotyle; food, medicine & clean water

38. Duck potato; food, clean water & pollinators

39. Echinacea, Eastern Purple coneflower, medicine & pollinators

40. Elderberry; medicine, food & drink, pollinators

41. Eggplant; food

42. Fennel; food & medicine

43. Fig trees; food, heat island moderation

44. Gaillardia, blanketflower; pollinators

45. Garlic, Allium; food, medicine & pollinators

46. Garlic chives; food & persistent border plant with beautiful flowers

47. Ginger, Zingiber officinale; food and medicine

48. Grapes, sugars, wines; food and medicine

49. Gourds, Luffa sponge; commerce

50. Gourds, birdhouse, dipper; commerce, utensils, wildlife

51. Grasses for weaving, sweetgrass, muhly grass, juncus; fabric material, nets

52. Horsemint, Monarda punctata; tea & pollinators

53. Inland sea oats, Chasmanthium latifolium; food, wildlife

54. Iris, Louisiana; cordage, water purification

55. Jerusalem artichoke, Helianthus tuberosus; food, pollinators

56. Leafy greens, arugula; food, seeds, pollinators

57. Leafy greens, cilantro; food, seeds & pollinators

58. Leafy greens, collards; food, seeds & pollinators

59. Leafy greens, kale; food, seeds & pollinators

60. Leafy greens, spinach; food, seeds & pollinators

61. Leafy greens, cabbages; food, seeds & pollinators

62. Leafy greens, Swiss chard; food, seeds & pollinators;

63. Leafy greens, lettuces; food, seeds & pollinators

64. Leafy greens, amaranth; food, seeds & pollinators

65. Leafy greens, Malabar spinach; food, seeds & pollinators

66. Leafy greens, Okinawan spinach & shiso; food, seeds & pollinators

67. Leafy greens, Egyptian spinach; food, seeds & pollinators

68. Lemonbalm; tea & medicine

69. Lemongrass; tea, medicine, fabric material

70. Loquat; food & nutrition

71. Marjoram/Oregano; tea, medicine & food

72. Mints; spearmint, peppermint, chocolate mint; tea, medicine & food

73. Moringa; food, medicine, nutrition & water purification

74. Morning glory, moonflowers; pollinators, heat island mitigation, larval host

75. Mulberry; food, wildlife, shade

76. Oak, acorns and tannins; structural materials, tannins, medicine, food

77. Oats; food

78. Okra; food

79. Onions; food, medicine

80. Parsley; food, medicine

81. Passionflower, maypop; butterfly larval, pollinators, food, tea, medicine

82. Peanut; food & nitrogen fixer

83. Pecans; food & structural material

84. Peaches & Plums; food

85. Pears; food

86. Peas, snow peas; food

87. Peas, sugar snap peas; food

88. Peppers; banana, bell, chili, poblano; food & medicine

89. Persimmon; food

90. Pickerel weed; pollinators, water purification

91. Pineapple guava; food, screening

92. Pine tree; fuel, structural material, nutrition, resin, pine nuts

93. Poison ivy; perimeter protection

94. Prickly pear cactus; food & perimeter

95. Pumpkin, seminole pumpkin, butternut squash; food, seeds

96. Radishes; food

97. Rice; food

98. Rosemary; food & medicine

99. Roses; tea, perimeter, medicine

100. Sage; food & medicine

101. Saw palmetto/cabbage palms; food, medicine, structural material

102. Sprouts; food, nutrition

103. Squash; food

104. Sugarcane; food

105. Sunflowers; food, pollinators, seeds

106. Tobacco; medicine, pollinators

107. Thyme; tea, medicine

108. Titi; bees, pollinators, screening

109. Tomatoes; food

110. Turkey tangled frog fruit; erosion control & pollinators (esp. butterflies)

111. Turmeric; food & medicine

112. Turnips; food

113. Vanilla plant; Carpheporus odorata, incense, tobacco

114. Virginia creeper; fast growing screening plant, cordage

115. Walnuts; food, structural material, shade

116. Waxmyrtle; wax for candles, evergreen screen

117. Willow; blood thinner & aspirin

118. Witch hazel; skin tonic

119. Yarrow; promote blood clotting, stop bleeding

120. Yaupon holly; wildlife value & caffeine tea, perimeter protection

Rooftop Gardens, Lightweight DIY Designs for Preppers & Homesteaders

Green roofs, Florida Rooftop Gardens on Sloped Roof

People used to tell me that it was impossible to successfully design a lightweight DIY system for sloped residential roofs.

Here in Florida the challenge can be exponentially complicated due to the influence of tropical weather systems and unpredictable rainfall patterns.

After years of testing  can say with certainty that DIY lightweight rooftop gardens can be successfully constructed for placement over asphalt shingles.

I love the line, "you build it and they will come".  Wildlife seek out green areas in the urban core.  Here two mourning doves are enjoying a visit to the rooftop garden.  Vertical green creates balanced wildlife ecosystematics.  Balanced ecosystematics leads to healthy pest control, good biodiversity and native plant seed distribution.

As a prepper survivalist I also enjoy the camouflage beauty plants offer from aerial perspectives.  Covering dwellings have been long associated with human communities.  From grass covered homes in Scandinavia to Everglades Chikee huts, plants have long provided insulation, camo and beauty for endemic peoples.  My DNA recognizes the house-plant association from generations ago and I smile.

Know no boundaries.  Listening to others say 'impossible' is a waste of time.  Your imagination and the plants you grow are a powerful combination of food, fiber, shelter and medicine.