Turn Problems into Solutions

It’s one of Bill Mollison's most popular qotes:

“You don’t have a snail problem, you have a duck deficiency!”

If you see yourself confronted with a perceived problem, why not try and look at the situation from a different angle. Is there any way to use it to your advantage?

A common example is that low lying spot at the bottom end of your garden, where the water just won’t drain away.  Perfect location for a pond, or a bog garden with swamp plants. Thought about growing watercress, water chestnuts, or kangkong (a tropical water spinach)? How about iris, primulas and lilies? Many flowers are suited to boggy spots. The ducks you’re getting for eggs and to clean up your snails will love it, too.

Got an ugly wall? If it gets sunlight it’ll help you to grow frost sensitive species outside their range. The wall stores the heat from the sun over night and keeps your lemon or avocado tree warm.

So the builders left a pile of rubble behind? Any chance of turning it into a rock garden? Throw on some soil, collect a few better looking rocks to place on top of the rubble, and look on the internet for plants that like to grow on rocks. Now you have a feature instead.

When the builders cleared the area for my house, they left behind a huge pile of shrubs, trees, and grass mixed with soil. I don’t own any machinery to remove it and didn't want to hire any. Instead I planted a circle of coconut palms around it, (I live in a warm climate, just use species suited to your conditions), left an opening wide enough to back a trailer into it, and invited all neighbours to dump their ‘garden refuse’ there, instead of burning it or taking it to the rubbish tip. (Yes, that’s what they usually do with it.) The palms are thriving, I never have to mulch or fertilize them, and since I later interplanted them with suitable hardy shrubs and flowers you can’t see the pile anymore. Everybody is happy.

The principle of turning problems into solutions goes hand in hand with the idea of working with nature rather than against it. No point trying to create a lush tropical garden if you live in a desert climate. There are stunning succulents to add aesthetic appeal, and many useful plants that get by with very little water, like dragon fruit and pineapple, to name two delectable examples.

Don’t waste your money, time and energy by trying to force something that nature never intended to happen. Look creatively at what you have already got, try to see the benefits and look at ways to use the situation to your advantage.

By the way, this advice applies to the rest of your life as well. Next time you face a problem remember this principle and search for the good in the situation. It’s always there, all it takes is willingness to see it.

Comments

[Annette Backous]

I love your site! This bit about finding the positive reminds me of my own soil issues. I have clay for soil, and it sucks. I mean, when you try to pull something out of the clay, it tries to suck whatever back into the ground. I add a lot of compost to the soil for plants. However, when it comes to building a wall, or placing stepping stones, I love my clay! This stuff rocks. And it holds rocks in place like cement. I have also used it to line a raised stone bed to hold the good soil in. We have used clay as one of the ingredients in a cob bench, too. Clay is awesome!

Thanks for all the good info ~ Annette B

[Birgit]

Thanks Annette!
I loved the clay in my previous garden as long as I didn't have to dig it. It hangs on to nutrients so much better than the sand I am on now...

(But geez, I love the sand when digging trenches or planting trees...)