creating paradise garden...

[1FinickyOne]

Hi - I am not a gardener but live with Thai farmers. We have 3.3 rai that I would like to make into an attractive garden and maybe put a small house there too. It borders a large pond, maybe 5 rai big. I would like to put fruit trees, and grow organic veggies, can put a greenhouse, can put in a pond to combine aquaponics w/hydroponics… I am not interested in profit but if my nephews could make some money selling produce then fine. I am more interested in making a paradise setting to enhance my life.

Are there any good starter books - I did search and found a ton of books available but could use a recommendation of a good one or two, for beginners, and considering I am in North Central Thailand. In addition to books, if there is anywhere I can visit, any particular garden store selling trees and plants, that would be great too - even communicating w/a person who would not mind sharing some advice or help on this project is terrific.

Thank you.

[Jotham79]

Just curious, where are you located? Are you in Kao Koh?

[jvs]

We have been doing just that for about seven years in the Cha-am area.

The first thing you should do is to plant some fast growing trees to create shade.(raintrees do really well)

A lot of herbs and special plants need shade during the first years,raintrees planted as seedlings will provide a lot of shade after three years or sooner.

Also you should visit nurseries and just buy what you like,we found out not all plants will grow everywhere.Just need to try.

Books are nice ,we have some but the internet has a lot more information and since i can not read Thai i just try and get the Latin name and go from there.

The main thing is just go ahead and plant,you can always move plants around later.You have a pond so water should not be aproblem?

We have acquired a lot of rare and special plants in the last years and many older Thais have been a great help.

We also have hydroponics and grow a lot of lettuce but not in the summer because it is too hot.We started again about two weeks ago and will be able to eat our own lettuce in a few weeks again.

We also have a few cows and we do not use chemical fertilizer.The chickens take care of a lot of insects and they provide us with enough eggs.

A lot more things to mention but i am sure there are a lot more members who will chime in.

Good luck,it is a great plan.

[islandguy]

It is possible to grow hydroponically heat sensitive plants when it is hot if you have cool water, possibly from a well? Otherwise lettuce does not do well in the hottest parts of the year. The shade tree suggestion is good, and some trees will enrich the soil at the same time. The specialty forums on Thaivisa are full of good information and are much friendlier than the general forums.

[inzman]

Love to see some pictures of what people have done.

[Rimbuman]

I saw this ad some time ago.

http://www.chiangmainews.com/classifieds_job/view.php?id=56078

[penwithcris]

We are just completing a house outside Nangrong in Buriram Province. On the road from Nangrong to Khorat there are some very extensive nurseries that seem to run forever

I'd almost consider the garden and the landscaping as important as the house itself but this is not a view shared by most Thais

I must have a look at 'raintrees' as our plot looks rather exposed at the moment

I would agree with some earlier posts to plant lots of what you like. Some plants will thrive others won't but hopefully, through trial and error, you'll achieve 'your earthly Paradise'

[troysantos]

I always forget the English name but one tree that will grow quickly, provide shade and delicious little fruits is called ตะขบ Takop. There's an English name that has the word Strawberry in it. Maybe it's Singapore Strawberry. I forget. Grows well in north central region.

Aside from raintree จามจุรี there are lots of other leguminous trees that are good to plant. Lead Tree กระถินบ้าน, Sesbania grandiflora แคบ้าน, Moringa มะรุม and others that don't come to mind right away. These are all tropical "nitrogen fixing trees" and you can look up this term on the internet and find tons.

If you don't know about Permaculture / permaculture, please please please look it up on the internet. So so sensible for creating a little paradise. Systematic way of going about things, that takes into account about as many things as you could ever conceive of. There are farangs here in Thailand who will give you (sorry, sell you) a consultation and help you out afterwards. You can take a two week course to learn about it yourself and design your paradise by yourself. I have a friend in Chon Buri province, Sri Racha district (not so far from Phattaya) who teaches this and knows just about everything about everything. You can take the course at other places here in Thailand. If you're intersted to know where, either look up "permaculture Thailand" or ask.

Some lettuces are apparently heat tolerant. There's one that grows well in Thailand called Asian Lettuce / Indian Lettuce. Some Thais know the name ผักกาดเบตง. Seeds are rare here in Thailand but you can get them for a dollar via ebay from China. Also, Mignonette Lettuce is apparently heat tolerant. I got seeds just yesterday from Australia, through ebay.

Ever heard of "wicking beds"? Very interesting. Google it or ask and I'd be happy to tell more. Very water-frugal. Also well-suited to someone who isn't going to water regularly because of the built in water reservoir at the bottom of the bed. It's a style of raised bed. I just started a few small beds to try some lettuces. Wondering if this will keep the roots cool enough so the plants do well. Plus, I'll probably cover the bed to provide shade.

Look into the Thai king's Sufficiency Economy ideas. Very cool.

[HappyinNE]

I am in Nong Khai and have been growing lettuce all year. Two years ago I had difficulty getting the seeds to germinate but lately have not had a problem. Have successfully grown seven different types and the best are Paris Island Cos and Red Redina. I got the seeds in the United States and am going to pick up more when I go back for Doctor visits this September.

String beans also do great and I have had some varied success with Sweet 100 Tomatoes.

Good luck

[jvs]

We stopped growing lettuce for about three months,too hot here.

We used to buy seeds but now we just grow our own,very easy and very cheap.

Also had seven different kinds gowing and we found the best are Oak leave and Butterhead.

To keep growing in the hot season we would have to cool the water but that seems not very logical to me.

All kinds of Thai veggies do really well and we enjoy eating them very much knowing there is no poison on them.

[jvs]

Troysantos,i think thr tree you mean is called,Manilla cherry.

[RedQualia]

Not specifically related, but a few of you seem to know something about trees, so let me interject, please...

I would love to have a garden as the OP describes, but there's little land around this house. It belonged to my wife before we married, and things were obviously done to keep the cost low. There's one meter or so of soil between the the front porch and the street, for example, and two meters in front of the bedroom next to the front porch, creating a space there that's maybe two meters by 3.5 meters. There's also one meter of space on the side of the house, where that bedroom is, with a concrete block wall between our land and the neighbors. There's a septic tank over there as well. The back of the house is irregularly shaped and was paved over to create a Thai kitchen/laundry area (kitchen since moved indoors). There's a bit of soil on the fourth of the house, but again, not much, as there's a driveway over there as well. Things grow in that area, in any case.

So, a couple of problems that someone here may be able to assist with.

First, the one meter of space by the bedroom, where the septic tank is: there are the equivalent of leach lines on that side of the house as well, which does "interesting things" to the soil. Nothing much wants to grow over there, nor does anything want to grow in the larger patch of soil in front of the bedroom. I think that may be being used as a leaching area as well. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what might be growable in this extremely marginal and small area of "soil?"

Second, the sun likes to cook that bedroom in the afternoons, and so plants to block sunlight would be helpful. We did have good luck growing the flat, "fan-shaped" palm trees. Too good, I guess. The root systems became much too large in a very short amount of time and began damaging the concrete block wall separating our land from the neighbor's, so we had to take them out.

Of course, I'd like to move some day, to a house with more soil/yard, etc. But that's not going to happen for a while.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

[troysantos]

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Troysantos,i think thr tree you mean is called,Manilla cherry.

That sounds good. Sweet, tiny fruits with a whole lot of super tiny seeds in them. Amazing that most of those seeds, millions on a tree, could become a new tree.

First, the one meter of space by the bedroom, where the septic tank is: there are the equivalent of leach lines on that side of the house as well, which does "interesting things" to the soil. Nothing much wants to grow over there, nor does anything want to grow in the larger patch of soil in front of the bedroom. I think that may be being used as a leaching area as well. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what might be growable in this extremely marginal and small area of "soil?"

Are you gonna get those leach lines fixed? If nothing's growing there, I wonder if there's too much nitrogen in the soil. You could make a raised bed there and see what happens, but you might really want to get the leach lines fixed instead.

Second, the sun likes to cook that bedroom in the afternoons, and so plants to block sunlight would be helpful. We did have good luck growing the flat, "fan-shaped" palm trees. Too good, I guess. The root systems became much too large in a very short amount of time and began damaging the concrete block wall separating our land from the neighbor's, so we had to take them out.

Ask around at nurseries for a shade tree with a root system that your space will accommodate without damaging whatever sits upon it. Instead of a tree, you could try a wooden trellis about a foot from the wall, and grow perennial vines. Or, if the heat is only unbearable at certain times of year, then grow plants that grow at that time of year. Ivy Gourd is one that comes to mind. Terrific vine. Amazing. But keep it trimmed (your wife will be happy to take the shoots and cook them up) or else it'll take over.

[Jotham79]

I would try papaya, bamboo or bananas......as long as there is moisture they should grow.