Natural paradise without work: expert gives tips for “do nothing garden”

Create it once, use it forever: An expert recently gave tips in Wolfratshausen on how to manage such a garden.

Wolfratshausen - Doesn't that sound like paradise? A garden that smells, that is varied, in which berries, fruits and vegetables are abundant, in which herbs and medicinal plants have space alongside a flower display or potatoes.

"Do nothing garden": little work - a lot of joy

A garden that does not have to be watered, that shows its beauty and diversity when it is extremely dry, that does not dig or weed, and that bees, bumblebees and butterflies frolic. So a garden that does little work and is a lot of fun.

This “do nothing garden” actually exists. That explained - even before the outbreak of the corona pandemic - Ulrike Windsperger in a lecture at the Wolfratshauser Gartenbauverein in the Flößerei inn. The university lecturer, garden designer, herbalist, beekeeper and author has been running a permaculture garden for many years and has written the “Permaculture Handbook”.

The beginning: change nothing in one piece of meadow

The creation of the utility and natural garden starts well: It's best not to change anything on the piece of meadow that is available to you. The only way to loosen the soil a little with a spade fork is to get a crumbly structure. Wintersperger warned that if you buy earth, then you shouldn't buy peat soil. But garden friends knew that.

After that, you sow varieties of several years (no hybrids) such as wild rocket, borage, calendula, spinach and a wide variety of flowers. Everything that sows itself - including the unpopular nettle - serves an important purpose. "The substance in the roots of the nettles promotes the taste of the fruit of the tree around which they grow, such as apples," said Windsperger.

Every weed has an important job

Every "weed" has an important task for the soil. A little moss goes well with blackberries and raspberries. Basil and tomatoes protect each other, as do chard and chamomile. A small wild hedge made from boxwood, privet and other local shrubs serves as a windbreak. "The whole system is basically based on the jungle," said the speaker.

The 30 or so listeners who came to the rafting facility happily noted that they did not have to water in the permaculture garden. "The most important thing is that the beds are covered - with leaves or chopped wood, but not with bark mulch, because the nitrogen is removed," said the gardener. Once these preparations have been made, the gardener's only task in the spring is to find a nice place for a hammock and to wait in peace, said Windsperger.

"The most important thing is that beds are covered"

She gave many tips on how the plants thrive best in permaculture and what you do or don't do about pests. So she advised to put potatoes in the ground under a haystack. This saves you from having to pile up. A humus rich soil with lots of earthworms help against slugs. Wintersperger added: "I get humus growth by covering the ground again and again."

"Don't need more than five minutes for my garden"

Aphids should not be harvested from plants, as difficult as it may be. "The plant does not look for the aphid, but the other way around." A louse has 37 opponents. You just have to be patient until they show up. The art is to interfere with nature as little as possible. Windsperger: "I don't need more than five minutes a week for my garden in Munich." TANJA LÜHR