Enjoy this site plan of our heart-shaped Mandala Garden. This is for a four year rotation plan with each color representing a different zone. Each zone is purposely spaced out so we can spread out certain varieties of plants that may be vulnerable to disease and blight.
Traditionally, mandala gardens use a series of concentric circles with keyhole paths cut into each bed for access. This method utilizes space more efficiently than garden beds laid out in a grid. Our Design primarily utilizes concentric circles, but has a few straight beds put in there for varieties that are more easily managed as rows, such as lettuces, carrots, onions and radish. And after all…it’s heart-shaped. How cute is that?
Great design! What dimensions will you be using?
Hello Chris, thanks for stopping by. The garden fits into approximately a 70′x70′ square. Here is a nice picture of it in mid-season last year:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetlocalfarm/4783456631/in/set-72157624347301161/
Hi Luke, nice pictures! How did you go about watering? I imagine a sprinkler would be ideal. Why did you chose the zone layout in this manner? How did you decide on that plant grouping? Why did you mainly rule out perennials?
Lots of questions, it’s just such a cool design!
Hey Chris, we came up with this design because we wanted a combination of rectangle beds and circle beds. When i started drawing it out, I realized we could just make a giant heart to accommodate both. To water it, I ran an underground line to the center of it. We manually water the whole thing. It takes a while, but gives every plant the appropriate amount of water and reduces wasting water on parts that don’t need it. There are 4 zones spread out evenly over the whole design. We do a 4 year rotation cycle. We have been incorporating more and more perennials into the mix, which we spread out among the 4 zones.