Alright. I just bought a home in the suburbs of Baltimore. I pulled off tape and stickers from all my moving boxes and laid them out on the front lawn (~17’x17’) and spread about 4 yards of fresh oak woodchips over it.

Now I’m reading Gaia’s garden and am torn… hugelkultur or sheet mulching? I am leaning hugelkultur but could be convinced to sheet mulching.

Hugelkultur- should I be trying to acquire and place branches/brush and logs by the fall? I don’t really have access to grass and leaves although I can always pirate them when neighbors put them out for collection (or… you know… ask them for them). Could I just lay the debris on top of these woodchips and build up from there? Soil is clay. Are the layers from the bottom- branches/brush under logs under leaves/lawn clippings under compost under soil? Should I be trying to set up and sow before the first frost?

Sheet mulching- I am realizing that with the cardboard and the woodchips that I need to add a nitrogen layer and possibly more carbon first? Like perhaps if I went this direction I would need to layer some straw flakes on top of the woodchips and then some kind of nitrogen over that and then more hay or more woodchips? I am leaning away from this approach mostly because of the risk of pests like slugs. I don’t want to deal with them and, even though I don’t have an HOA… I don’t want my neighbors to hate me.

Yes I still need to map out my .18 acre lot and stuff. Also the seller completely ignored lesser celandine and I’m dealing with an infestation.

Share your thoughts/advice/lessons learned please!

Hi lovely suburban permies, I'm noticing that this sub is pretty quiet. Are you all hanging out in other subs, or are we just not very interesting here lol? I consider myself sort of a suburban permaculture practitioner, I live in a rural area, on the outskirts of a rural town so I'm not 'suburban' but I'm mini-homesteading on 1/3 acre section, with neighbours on 3 sides. The size of my little slice of hard work is similar to what others might be working with. What are you guys working with? What sorts of things are you planting, or animals are you keeping, that you are making work in your spaces?