Arcadia/Woodlawn Permaculture Project

1. The Permaculture
Gardens at Arcadia
GMU PDC 2015

2. Client Goals
Land
Preservation
Seasonal Food
Production Permaculture Education & Community
Involvement
Low
Maintenance
Walking Trails
Accessibility

3. Permanence at Woodlawn
• Ideal site for education of Permaculture through hands-on experience
• History
– Owned and visited by George Washington
• Most befitting as the future site of Permaculture education
– Inhabited by the Powhatan Indian Federation and the Algonquin tribe
– Long history of natural and industrial food growth and extraction.
• Native Americans were likely to have grown tobacco.
• This site has all of the key forces of nature required for permanent
sustainable systems of food forest, edibles, plant ecosystem...

4. • EXCEPT Water - Too much water! The
field is drowning!
• Currently lower field is a seasonal wetland.
• Very difficult to grow diverse and high yield
system in such an environment
• Suggest repairing the field fertility by
adding a pond/cistern/pump system on the
SE corner
Water Imbalance
Water drainage is impeding soil fertility and plant growth

5. Underground French Drains
Establish a permanent solution using Permaculture principles
• Simple series of drains (French Drains) will improve the soil fertility and
therefore the system permanence yield.
• Pond/Cistern catch can repump to the field during the dry season if there is
a natural spring
• If a natural spring exists on the property, the spring will be captured and
can be pumped back to the field for irrigation. (Natural spring flow can be
measured.)
• Upland water catch (off the current cite) can also be included.
• Cistern pump can be powered by solar pump or wind mill pumped.

6. Improve Soil Fertility
• Simple series of drains (French Drains) will improve
the soil fertility and therefore the system permanence
yield.
• Pond/Cistern catch can repump to the field during
the dry season if there is a natural spring
• If a natural spring exists on the property, the spring
will be captured and can be pumped back to the field
for irrigation. (Natural spring flow can be measured.)
• Upland water catch (off the current cite) can also be
included.
• Cistern pump can be powered by solar pump.

7. Existing/Observed Plants
Water problem is limiting plant diversity
• American Holly
• Aster ragwort
• Beech
• Black locust
• Blackberry Vines
• Brier vine
• Eastern Pine/Adirondack
• Golden Rod
• Grape Vines
• Grasses
• Hickory
• Honeysuckle
• Joe Pye
• Juniper Cedar
• Milkweed
• Nightshade
• Oak - Other
• Pin Oak
• Poverty Grass
• Privet
• Red Cedar
• Red Oak
• Russian Olive
• Snakeroot
• Sumac
• Sweet Gum
• Sycamore
• White Oak
• Wild onion
• Wild Strawberry
• Yarrow

8. Concept Design

9. Design Elements
● Water Feature
● Windmill and Windbreaks
● Food Forest
● Hugelkultur
● NAP Fruit Orchard
● Vegetable Garden
● Beehives/Chicken/Ducks
● Meadows and Pollinator Areas
● Gathering Areas
● Mushroom Logs
● Berry Maze

10. Water Feature, Mushroom Logs,
Tool Benches, Compost
• Daylilies
• Common Marshmallow
• Watercress
• Cattail
• Milkweed
• Mayapples
• Spicebush
• Ostrich Ferns
• Blueberry
• Elderberry

11. Food Forest
● Sugar Maple
● Paw Paw
● Spicebush
● Yarrow
● Comfrey
● Currents
● Wild Ginger
● Solomon’s Seal
● Snakeroot

12. Herbaceous
● Insectary meadow plants
Edible Hedge
● Black raspberry
● American Hazelnut
● Hedgeapple
● Wild grape
● Elderberry
● Wild Plum
Hugelkultur & Edible Screen Hedge & Vine Guild Maze
Evergreen
● Pines (Virginia Pine)
● Cedars (Eastern Red Cedar)
Deciduous
● Willow Oak
● Shellbark hickory
● Mulberry
Shrub/Bramble/Vine layer
● Raspberry and Blackberry
● Grape (Muscadine)
● Lingonberry --tolerates shade, likes cool
weather, evergreen
● Thimbleberry
● Maypop/Passionflower
RICHMOND HIGHWAY

13. Windmill and Windbreaks
• Pecan
• Black Locust
• Hazelnut
• Comfrey
• Woodland Vetch
• Yarrow
• Groundnut
• Elderberry

14. Biointensive Annual/Perennial Vegetable Production
• Tomatoes
• Peppers
• Beans
• Cucumbers
• Kale
• Arugula
• Collards
• Thyme
• Savory
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Milkweed
• Watercress
• Artichoke
• Cardoon

15. NAP Fruit Orchard
•Nitrogen Fixing Trees: Black
Locust and/or Alder
•Fruiting Trees: Apple/ Pear
(Asian)/ Cherry/ Persimmon
•Plants: Anise/ Borage/
Chicory/Chives/White Clover/
Coriander/ Comfrey/ Currents:
Gooseberry and Jostaberry/
Lovage/ Daffodils/ lupine/
Rosemary/ Summer Savory/
Sorrel/ Strawberries/Thyme/
Creeping thyme/ Yarrow

16. Beehives & Compost Sites

17. Meadows and Pollinator Areas
• Aster
• Dandelion
• Goldenrod
• Ironweed
• Joe pye
• Milkweed
• Strawberry
• Wild onion
• Baptisia
• Bee balm
• Boneset
• Chamomile
• Chicory
• Clover
• Columbine
• Comfrey
• Coneflower
• Evening primrose
• Fennel
• Lupine
• Lavender
• Max. sunflower
• Mints
• Native grasses
• Queen anne’s
• lace
• Rosemary
• Rudbeckia
• Sweet cicely
• Thistle
• Vetch
• Violet
• Wild geranium
• Yarrow

18. Gathering Areas

19. Client Goals
Land
Preservation
Seasonal Food
Production
Permaculture Education & Community
Involvement
Low
Maintenance
Walking Trails
Accessibility

20. THANK YOU
Questions?

21. Backup Slides

22. Insectary Meadow: Suggested Plants
Multifunctional plants attract pollinators and have other functions (nitrogen
fixing, edible, medicinal, aesthetically pleasing, etc.)
Existing/Observed
● Aster
● Dandelion
● Goldenrod
● Ironweed
● Joe pye
● Milkweed
● Strawberry
● Wild onion
● Yarrow
Not Existing/Observed
● Baptisia
● Bee balm
● Boneset
● Chamomile
● Chicory
● Clover
● Columbine
● Comfrey
● Coneflower
● Evening primrose
● Fennel
● Lupine
● Maximilian sunflower
● Mints
● Native grasses
● Queen anne’s lace
● Rudbeckia
● Sweet cicely
● Thistle
● Vetch
● Violet
● Wild geranium

23. Natural Structures
Tool Shed
Gathering Space
Gathering Space
Tree House
Raised Bed

24. • Characteristically, the site is a seasonal
wetland: when snow/rainfall occurs, the
water accumulates beneath the wild grass
and conglomerates in the top layers of
soil, remaining until later in the season
when the southern sun’s exposure dries
out the soil.
• Wetland soil: Carbon-rich

25. Perennial plants that flourish in
seasonal wetlands
• Daylily
– Robust: ability to tolerate drought and frost
– Low maintenance
– Bloom twice per season for 1-5 weeks

26. Common Marshmallow (Althaea
officinalis)
– Leaves, flowers and roots have medicinal
properties that can be made into alleviants for
respiratory, gastric and circulatory systems
– Root extracts (halawa extract) is used to make
marshmallows and other ethnic delicacies

27. Watercress (Nasturtium officinale)
– Related to Mustard, Radish and Wasabi
– Cultivation feasible on large and small scale;
semi-aquatic plant, well-suited to hydroponic
cultivation, and thrives in slightly alkaline
water
– Large demand for hydroponically grown
watercress; keeps leaves wetted
– Highly nutritious (contains significant amounts
of iron, calcium, iodine, manganese, folic acid,
vitamins A, B6, C, K and several antioxidants.

28. Cattail (Typha)
– Pollination by wind dispersal
– Durable: thrive in varying temperatures; contain
well-developed air channels (aerenchyma) which
enable them to survive submerged in water
– Invasive species
– Multiple utilizations: used in culinary practices,
building material, paper, fiber, agriculture, etc.

29. Milkweed (Asclepias)
– Larval food source for Monarch
butterflies, beetles, moth, tree bugs, etc.
– Various uses: hypoallergenic material,
fibers are used to clean up oil spills,
cordage (rope making), plant beneficial
(repellant to several pests such as
wireworms)
– Over 140 species
• For Arcadia, Poke milkweed, Swamp
milkweed, Four-leaved milkweed, Sullivant’s
milkweed, and Green milkweed are
preferred choices because they are native to
the Northeast and thrive in a variety of
temperatures and prefer moist soil

30. Paw Paw Guild
Plant Ecological Function Human Use/Crop
● Sugar Maple ● Insectary, Nectar, Food,
Shelter, Habitat
● Food, Medicine,
Lumber
● Paw Paw ● Insectary, Food ● Food, Insecticide
● Dye, Fiber
● Spicebush ● Insectary, Nectar, Food ● Food
● Yarrow ● Green Manure, Insectary,
Cover Crop
● Medical
● Comfrey ● Green Manure, Insectary ● Herbal Tea, Medicinal
● Currents ● Insectary, Nectar, Food ● Food, Medicine
● Wild Ginger ● Insectary, Nectar, Food ● Food, Medicine, Fiber
● Solomon’s Seal ● Insectary, Nectar, Food ● Food, Medicine
● Snakeroot ● Insectary, Nectar ● Medicine

31. Sugar Maple
PawPa
w
Spicebush
Comfrey
Yarro
w
Currents
Solomon's Seal
Wild Ginger
Snakeroo
t

32. Client Goals
Primary
• Diverse, Season-long Food
Production
– Provide food for Arcadia’s
mission
– Provide food to upscale
restaurants
Embody Permaculture Principles
Serve as Demonstration Site AND
Working Production System
Low (ish) Maintenance
Requirements
Secondary
• Network of walking trails
– Aesthetically Pleasing
– Informative
• Meeting place/spot for
bonfires (firewood
production?)
• Aesthetics important in key
areas – access points,
entrances to trails, etc.

33. Legal & Social Issues
• Major digging & earthworks not feasible due
to archaeological considerations
• Long-term maintenance of the site is
uncertain – best to design for lower overall
maintenance
• Cost a major issue – reduce costs, especially in
terms of infrastructure
Align with Arcadia’s mission statement:

34. Historic Considerations
The site was inhabited by the Virginia Algonquian until the 1800s
Native foods and crops
included:
● Beans
● Maize
● Tobacco

35. Plan Goals
• Minimize disturbance
• Maintain mowing laws
• Establish a low-impact trail system for leisure and
educational purposes
• Plant a low, maintenance forest garden to yield
seasonal fruit, wicker, and herbs
• Attract pollinators
• Buffer road noise
• Create

36. Trees Observed

37. Herbaceous Plants
Observed

38. NAP
• Nitrogen Fixing Trees: Black Locust and/or Alder
• Fruiting Trees: Apple/ Pear (Asian)/ Cherry/
Persimmon
• Plants: Anise/ Borage/ Chicory/Chives/White
Clover/ Coriander/ Comfrey/ Currents:
Gooseberry and Jostaberry/ Lovage/ Daffodils/
lupine/ Rosemary/ Summer Savory/ Sorrel/
Strawberries/Thyme/ Creeping thyme/ Yarrow

39. Black Locust
Persimmon Tree
Comfrey
White Clover
Gooseberry
Creeping Thyme

40. Trees and Plants Ecological Function Human Use/ Crop
Black Locust Produces flower, attracts
bees, fixes nitrogen, pods
feed livestock
Long-lasting fence posts
Alder Nitrogen Fixer Wood
Apple Insectary/ wildlife food Food / Fiber/ Wood
Pear (Asian) Insectary/ wildlife food Food / Fiber/ Wood
Cherry Insectary/ wildlife food Food / Fiber/ Wood/ dye
Persimmon Insectary/ wildlife food Food / Fiber/ Wood
Borage Aromatic Pest Repellent,
Insecticide
N/A
Chicory Insectary/ accumulator/
mulch
Biomass/ compost/ Dye/ Food /
Medicine
Chives A pest confuser, insectary Food
White Clover Nitrogen Fixer Medicine, Food, Cover Crop
Comfrey Chemical Barrier/animal
food/ Insectary/
Biomass/ compost / Food/ Medicine

41. Trees and Plants Ecological Function Human Use/ Crop
Lovage Edible - food
Daffodils Insecticide Cut flower/ Dye
Lupine Animal forage/ nitrogen
Fixer
Fiber/ Food/ Soap
Rosemary Pest confuser Food
Summer Savory Food - herbs
Sorrel Insectary, Nectar, Food Food
Strawberries Insectary, Nectar, Food Food and Medicine
Thyme Erosion control and
biomass
Medicine and spice
Creeping thyme Ground Cover N/A
Yarrow Aromatic Pest confuser/
nurse/Insectary
Cut and dried flower/Dye essential
oils/ food / medicine
Currents: Gooseberry
and Jostaberry
Insectary, Nectary,
Nitrogen Fixer
Medicine, Food

42. Edible Hedge
Black Raspberry
Native, deciduous shrub, reaches heights of 36 to 60 inches tall with a 24 to 36 inch spread, requires sandy
loam soil, lots of sunlight, provides food for insects, birds, people, harvest mid to late summer.
American Hazelnut (filbert)
Native, deciduous shrubs that grow quickly to between 15 and 20 feet tall, partial sun, food for wildlife and
people.
Hedgeapple
Native, deciduous, can adapt to various soil types, medium to large tree depending on how often pruned (26
- 49 ft) can use pruned limbs for kindling and hugelkultur food for wildlife, and seeds may be consumed by
people. Great for education and fun “monkey brains.”
American plum
Native, deciduous shrub, reaches up to 15 feet, requires partial to full sun, adapts to various soil, provides
food and shelter for wildlife and people, harvest mid to late summer.
Elderberry
Native, deciduous shrub, growing 5-12 ft, likes sun and moist soil, provides shelter and food for wildlife,
provides food and medicinal purposes for people, harvest in early Fall.
Wild Grape
Native, perennial, high climbing, sprawling vine, likes moist soil with partial to full sun, provides shelter
and food for wildlife and people, harvest August through October.

43. Sound Barrier/Visual Block/Hugelkultur hedge
Evergreen
● Pines (Virginia Pine)--yearlong blockage, edible/medicinal, wildlife habitat and food
● Cedars (Eastern Red Cedar)--Yearlong blockage, wildlife habitat
Deciduous
● Willow Oak--grows fast, likes floodplain environment, edible
● Shellbark hickory--slow growing, likes moist soils, edible nuts
● Mulberry--Grows fast at first, edible fruit
Shrub/Bramble/Vine layer
● Raspberry and Blackberry
● Grape (Muscadine)
● Lingonberry --tolerates shade, likes cool weather, evergreen
● Thimbleberry
● Maypop/Passionflower
Herbaceous
● Insectary meadow plants