I have seen his videos. He does this to an extreme. My designs for these systems are generally more diverse, because he doesn't use hardly any ground covers. In an ideal world your plants would die and become your mulch and so eventually it would become a stable environment.
I'm a big fan of...
They will grow however I ALWAYS recommend Heirloom seeds though, as they are usually very old tested varieties that you can save seed from forever and are for the most part untreated. Generally speaking buy them once and never again if you learn how to save seed, which isn't that difficult.
I...
Has anyone ever grown the famous Bonnie Best Tomato?
This will be my first year with this variety and I' curious if there is anything I should know about. lol
http://www.rareseeds.com/bonny-best-tomato/
I've downed bitter nightshade, stinging nettle, mustard is easy, crab grass is easy and many other plants.
The basic idea is this, can the plant go two years without sunlight? The cardboard prevents photosynthesis for about that long which kills the plant. With bitter nightshade, I cut it to...
I don't let my garden be work, I go into the garden to relax. And I am one of those lazy gardeners lol. If my tree can't survive with the tools it has and I've done everything I can for it without introducing external inputs than it becomes compost and I put a new tree there. That way I'm left...
I have had trees that could have benefited from spraying. To immediately resolve a problem sprays work, but to fix the environment that creates the problem takes time. Generally I've been able to fix issues that require spraying by mulching with diverse mulches, companion planting and giving the...
Full disclosure - I'm am not formally trained in horticulture and am only reporting what I have seen work in my garden(s). Also prepare for a long post void of any original ideas. :)
When I drive down the road and I look right or left I see where the forest edges is. If you look at that you'll...
My wife has been looking at jobs around Austin, so probably San Marco or another surrounding area. It is hard to know really though; my wife is at the end of her pH.d classes (way smarter than me...) and we will be relocating so she can find a university teaching position somewhere.
From a valid perspective any companion planting is a type of pest control. Whenever plant diversity interferes with a pests ability to easily move from food source to food source the population of that pest declines. But in the case of walking onions they are widely considered to be a aromatic...
I come from an engineering background and that stuff is easy compared to understanding the design & ecology of a living system. I'm a year round gardener in a cold climate. I expect to sell my garden with attached house in a few years to move to a place where I can garden year round outside...
Cardboard and straw (or other mulch) will kill any weed you have. There is no need to use sprays.
Throw regular brown cardboard on the ground where you want to kill a weed or till grass. Cover with straw or other mulch, take nap - because you are done, say goodbye to weeding for a few years...
and...
You are correct that they have root systems that exist primarily in different soil zones. It is generally only plants of the same species that compete for resources. Otherwise most plants are cooperative.