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In the Salvage Brothers episode of Renovation Nation, host Steve Thomas visits a Boulder Colorado couple who give him a lesson in permaculture, and how to create a sustainable garden.
Bill Melvin, a landscape architect, and his wife Jen plan to build a permaculture garden. Using this method, Steve and the Melvins will plant a combination of trees, shrubs, fruits, flowers that complement each other. Building upon inter-relationships between plants, and choosing plants that complement each other means that the garden will require fewer resources, like water, fertilizer, etc. from its caretakers.
The Melvins and Steve planted chives, which like other species in the onion family is known to naturally keep away pests like dreaded aphids. Bill points out that the roots of the strawberries are covered in microriser, a fungus that recycles the nutrients in the soil and allows the fruit to thrive— a perfect example of a symbiotic relationship between plants.
Not only will the permaculture garden be beautiful to look at, it will grow and thrive sustainably to be naturally balanced, require fewer resources, and stay hardy enough to survive the Colorado winters.
The permaculture garden was featured in the Salavage Brothers episode of Renovation Nation.
See behind-the-scenes photos from this episode in the Salvage Brothers slideshow.
For more on organic, sustainable gardening see our Organic Gardening feature.
Check the Planet Green schedule to find out when to watch Renovation Nation.
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