There are two types of gorilla gardening. One type is where people plant flowers in public places to make things pretty. The other type is the one I want to talk about today; ways to plant edibles or improve their condition. By “improving their condition”, I mean making it easier for them to retain moisture, maybe thinning the area out to elevate competition for resources.
Introducing New Species
One option is to plant new species of plants in various areas. A great way to do this is something I may have heard on The Survival Podcast. You take the seeds for the plants you want to introduce and put them in a clay ball and let it dry. When you go on a walk, you simply throw these clay balls in areas you think they would be well suited. Now you just wait for rain. When it rains, this will dissolve the clay and give the seeds an added boost of nutrients from it.
Native Americans used to plant three plants together that benefited each other. They have been dubbed the three sisters. The three plants are corn, pole beans and squash. The corn grows tall, the pole beans will climb up the corn as they grow and will also bring nitrogen to the soil for the other two plants. The squash will help protect the soil around the area, the leaves keeping the soil moist and blocking out sun, which can limit weed growth and help limit evaporation.
Some Things to Keep in Mind
When you gorilla garden you have limited control over what happens. Someone else could come along and destroy or harvest what you have planted and wildlife can also help themselves.
Because of this you’ll want to plant in places that are off the beaten path but are easy enough for you to get to from time to time. Keeping a journal of what was planted and where you planted it is a good idea.
I would not plant a gorilla garden and depend on its produce to sustain you and your family. I would take the approach that anything you may harvest from gorilla gardening is an added bonus.
Gorilla gardening could also be used to draw game into the area throughout the year.
Enhancing the Wild
Another type of gorilla gardening is simply enhancing what is already in place. For example, let’s say you’re on a hike and spot some wild blueberries. If the area is over crowded with them, you may remove a few bushes to give the others less competition for nutrients. If you see the path rain takes, you may create a little swale to slow the water down and retain more in the area.
Another option is to take leaves from the area and use them as mulch covering the bottom of the berry patch. You could also plant things that would help bring in nutrients to the area. For instance, beans tend to bring in nitrogen. Planting them near an area and then cutting them once they get to a certain height, leaving them to decompose; called “chop and drop”, returns nitrogen to the soil.
Again, with the wild edibles, I would make note of where you found them and look at anything you harvest from them as a bonus.
Do you have any ideas for a gorilla garden?
