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My housemate and I decided that we wanted to start a permaculture garden based on Jackie French's mandala design.
We are renting but have a large enough backyard that we can fit several garden beds, and as we won't be building anything permanent it won't be hard to restore the garden to it's former state (grass, grass and more grass).
I did a lot of research and eventually found that a 'geodesic dome' is the most structurally sound, portable and spacious form to build. As we don't have a huge amount of space, I needed to modify the design a little to ensure that it was tall enough and had a suitable diameter for our plans. So we now have a chook dome loosely based on a geodesic design, which is light enough to move around the garden.
If you read on, I'll explain how to do it all. Apologies for the crappy diagrams - I only have the Word suite to work with! Ah, if only work had forked out for Illustrator :)
Firstly, materials:
This wasn't a particularly cheap structure as we had to buy all the materials new. If you can scavenge a bit and find some bits and pieces, the cost will plummet. We also figured that building it new wasn't too bad an investment, as it will be around for years to come.
- electrical conduit piping - this was the best combination of strength, flexibility and uv tolerance as compared to PCV or rubber pipe. It's also fairly cheap at around AU$3.50 per 4-metre length. I bought 12 x 4m lengths. Don't forget that this may not fit in/on your car if it's small (like mine). I had to have the pipe cut down into 2-metre lengths, which I re-joined with pipe glue later. Also, the pipe I used happened to be orange, but you can also buy it in grey.
- joiners - conduit piping has a bell end and a flat end, but if you are joining flat ends you will need some plastic joiners. Just straight ones from the hardware store will be fine, mine cost about 90c each.
- pipe glue - your hardware store should be able to advise what is best for the pipe you are using.
- cable (or zip) ties - buy a few packs of different sizes - I ended up using nearly 400 in total, ranging from 40mm to 200mm in length. Wire could be used instead, but I found that cable ties were easy, quick and simple to adjust or remove.
- chicken wire - I used 2 x 15m rolls of new chicken wire. If you can scavenge some, even better!
- small to medium sized tarpaulin - mine is about 2.5mx1.8m. Heavy duty is best as the silver side reflect sunlight and it is more waterproof.
- shade cloth or similar - a couple of metres should do. I've got plans to use an old tent instead, again cutting down on costs.
Tools:
- drill, preferably cordless
- hacksaw or pipe cutter
- tin-snips or pliers
- markers (2 colours is helpful)
- yourself!
We are renting but have a large enough backyard that we can fit several garden beds, and as we won't be building anything permanent it won't be hard to restore the garden to it's former state (grass, grass and more grass).
I did a lot of research and eventually found that a 'geodesic dome' is the most structurally sound, portable and spacious form to build. As we don't have a huge amount of space, I needed to modify the design a little to ensure that it was tall enough and had a suitable diameter for our plans. So we now have a chook dome loosely based on a geodesic design, which is light enough to move around the garden.
If you read on, I'll explain how to do it all. Apologies for the crappy diagrams - I only have the Word suite to work with! Ah, if only work had forked out for Illustrator :)
Firstly, materials:
This wasn't a particularly cheap structure as we had to buy all the materials new. If you can scavenge a bit and find some bits and pieces, the cost will plummet. We also figured that building it new wasn't too bad an investment, as it will be around for years to come.
- electrical conduit piping - this was the best combination of strength, flexibility and uv tolerance as compared to PCV or rubber pipe. It's also fairly cheap at around AU$3.50 per 4-metre length. I bought 12 x 4m lengths. Don't forget that this may not fit in/on your car if it's small (like mine). I had to have the pipe cut down into 2-metre lengths, which I re-joined with pipe glue later. Also, the pipe I used happened to be orange, but you can also buy it in grey.
- joiners - conduit piping has a bell end and a flat end, but if you are joining flat ends you will need some plastic joiners. Just straight ones from the hardware store will be fine, mine cost about 90c each.
- pipe glue - your hardware store should be able to advise what is best for the pipe you are using.
- cable (or zip) ties - buy a few packs of different sizes - I ended up using nearly 400 in total, ranging from 40mm to 200mm in length. Wire could be used instead, but I found that cable ties were easy, quick and simple to adjust or remove.
- chicken wire - I used 2 x 15m rolls of new chicken wire. If you can scavenge some, even better!
- small to medium sized tarpaulin - mine is about 2.5mx1.8m. Heavy duty is best as the silver side reflect sunlight and it is more waterproof.
- shade cloth or similar - a couple of metres should do. I've got plans to use an old tent instead, again cutting down on costs.
Tools:
- drill, preferably cordless
- hacksaw or pipe cutter
- tin-snips or pliers
- markers (2 colours is helpful)
- yourself!
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Signing UpStep 1Preparation, Stage One of Construction
Step One:
Once you have all the materials at home, it's best to start by glueing all the pipes that need to be reattached.
You will also need to attach 2 lengths of pipe to form the base circle of your dome.
As the glue needs time to cure, simply glue the 2 lengths together at one point, then move on to step 2.
Step Two:
Cut the remaining lengths of pipe to size with your hacksaw or pipe cutter. For this dome, I required:
- 5 lengths of pipe at 4m
- 5 lengths of pipe at 3m
Step Three:
- drill holes just large enough for your cable ties to thread through at each end of the 10 lengths of pipe from step 2. The holes need to go straight through both sides of the pipe.
Step Four:
- the glue from step 1 should be dry now, so gently bend the 8m length of pipe into a circle and glue the ends together. You may need a hand with this step as it needs to be held firmly in place for about a minute.
Step 5 - measuring around your circle:
(a) - you will need a tape measure or ruler to divide your circle into 5 equal parts. For an 8-metre circumference circle as I had, this means you have 5 x 1.6m sections. See the diagram.
(b) - next, measure 10cm lengths on either side of the marks you have already made. Again, see the diagram.
(c) - drill holes through the marks at 5(b).
(d) - go around the circle labelling each pair of marks A and B (A on the left of the first marks, B on the right).
Once you have all the materials at home, it's best to start by glueing all the pipes that need to be reattached.
You will also need to attach 2 lengths of pipe to form the base circle of your dome.
As the glue needs time to cure, simply glue the 2 lengths together at one point, then move on to step 2.
Step Two:
Cut the remaining lengths of pipe to size with your hacksaw or pipe cutter. For this dome, I required:
- 5 lengths of pipe at 4m
- 5 lengths of pipe at 3m
Step Three:
- drill holes just large enough for your cable ties to thread through at each end of the 10 lengths of pipe from step 2. The holes need to go straight through both sides of the pipe.
Step Four:
- the glue from step 1 should be dry now, so gently bend the 8m length of pipe into a circle and glue the ends together. You may need a hand with this step as it needs to be held firmly in place for about a minute.
Step 5 - measuring around your circle:
(a) - you will need a tape measure or ruler to divide your circle into 5 equal parts. For an 8-metre circumference circle as I had, this means you have 5 x 1.6m sections. See the diagram.
(b) - next, measure 10cm lengths on either side of the marks you have already made. Again, see the diagram.
(c) - drill holes through the marks at 5(b).
(d) - go around the circle labelling each pair of marks A and B (A on the left of the first marks, B on the right).
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