Zones

V

E

C

T

O

R

VECTOR

Yellow – Solar

Red – Fire

Brown – Animal

Blue – Water

Green – Plant

Black Arrow - Wind

Sectors

   

   

Provide Food

   

Pleasing to Eye

Goals / Strategies

Worry Free

Restful/ De-stress

Catch Rain Water for use

Save Future Septic issues

Water Vegetable Garden

Functional

Zone 1

Zone 2

Zone 1 Zone 2

Zone 3

Final Design

Rain Barrel

Gray Water Compost Box

Bench

Bamboo

Dwarf Cattail, Sweet Flag, Yellow Flag Iris, Strawberries and Cream Ribbon Grass

Variegated Water Celery

Frogbit (American Sponge Plant), Anacharis, Lotus, Horsetail Rush in pots in pond

Local History and Geographical Info

• The eastern and central portions of Perry County lie on the western slope of the Highland Rim.•  The eastern part of the county is a series of ridges. All the ridges are covered with a dense

growth of different varieties of oak, chestnut, gum , dogwood, etc. The valleys and hillsides contain oak, poplar, walnut, beech, ash, etc.

• The soil of the ridges is thin, flinty and sterile, while that of the valleys is alluvial and sufficiently charged with flinty gravel and coarse sand to make it easy of cultivation. The latter soil is very productive, and well adapted to the growing of Indian corn, oats, peanuts, rye and the grasses.

• More than one-half of all the land in the county is charged with iron ore. There seems to be an almost inexhaustible supply of this mineral

• There is no account of settlements prior to 1818. John Siser, John Turner, Elijah Duncan and the Cobles were the first recorded settlers on Brush Creek

• Owing to the fact that only a small portion of the land was cleared, which left extensive forests, wild animals, such as deer, wildcats, foxes, coons, etc., and wild turkeys, were and still are plentiful. When the county was first settled there were plenty of bears, wolves and panther. There are none of the latter now remaining.

• The Chickasaw Indian Tribe were in residence when a Petition was signed by the General Assembly to give the land to the settlers because of improvements they had made to the land.

Current Species• Current Species- Plant• Red Maple• Japanese Chestnut• Box Elder• Pecan• Rose bush• Purple Iris• Tulips• White Peony• Cactus • Current Species- Animal• Deer• Rabbit• Dogs • Cats• Snakes – Usually Black snakes and some copperheads

Conceptual DesignConceptual Design

When I first started this class and we had to do the sector/zones of our property, I sat on the ground in my yard and visualized what I had now. From that I started to see the possibilities of what I could have in the future. I studied the slope of the front yard to the back and thought, hey I can catch the water that runs from there and from the ditch that runs along side my property. It all tends to stand at one point in my back yard anyway. After visiting Matthew and Jennifer’s place, I fell in love with the gray water pond. I could already visualize a pond where all the water would stand in my yard. I already practiced this theory except I wasn’t filtering or catching the water. I thought I could also use that water to supplement rain in a vegetable garden. After learning the rain water catchment formula, I decided to catch that water to also feed the pond. I talked to my son, he and his family live with me, about the possibility of making this vision a reality. He helped me identify the current species of trees on the property. He also gave me insight into what vision he had for the property. My interview with him helped me a lot with the placement of certain elements of my design. I wanted everything to be pleasing to the eye as well as functional. I then interviewed my Aunt, she had the property before I did, and asked her a little about the history of the property. She said they had purchased the property in the late 60’s but that the old house that was there before ours was built in the mid 1930’s. I believe they were people on the short side because I remember the house only had a little over 6’ ceilings. My sons were always knocking light bulbs out with their head. That house was destroyed in the tornado of 1999. We re-built in the 2000/2001 timeframe.

Principals & EthicsPatterns – Cloud form, spiral, Explosion

I thought about the principals and decided these fit my design best: Observe and interact – I observed the flow of my land and its slopes to best place my water catchments/pond

Catch and Store Energy – Rain Barrels and pond for water storage

Use and Value Margins/edges – utilized ditch as a boundary and water storage

Produce no waste – Gray water compost box and use of gray water to use instead of losing to septic system

Obtain a yield – Nut trees, fruit trees, and vegetable garden

Stack Functions – Compost box feeds garden soil, gray water pond and rain barrel water garden when needed, garden feeds family

Problem is the solution – water stood in back yard when it rained in one area – Solution – Gray water pond utilizes that area 

Ethics Self Care – Pond is peaceful and nice to sit by – refreshes self Earth Care – using water for multiple purposes, utilized existing material instead of incorporating new Fair Share – Garden feeds more than family People care – Well being of family is taken care of through food from garden and spirit lifting of beauty of pond 

 

Proposed Species/Water Pond

• Yellow Flag• Sweet Flag• Dwarf Cattail• Horsetail Rush• Variegated Water Celery• Anacharis – Brazillan waterweed• Lotus• Frogbit – American Sponge Plant• Strawberries & Cream Ribbon grass• Companion Cherry Trees