Gardening, as a science, includes many features that may not be readily apparent until you pay close attention to the natural dynamics on your site.
In a permaculture garden, a well-developed design is the central feature leading to a rich successful garden. Many gardeners fail to plan out a specific property design, which can result in frustration, confusion and less productivity. In permaculture, we use a process to create a natural landscape that captures heat, wind, sun and water in a way that develops all the necessary structures and systems required to successfully bring fertility to the land.
In this article, I am borrowing key instructional points from a book by Toby Hemenway titled “Gaia’s Garden,” which I highly recommend.
To design your garden, there are five steps: observation, visioning, planning, development and implementation. Each plot of land possesses specific resources to be used and needs to be satisfied. Let’s take a look at each step.
1. Observation. To create a design, you must be aware of many elements present on your property. Just a few include structures, animals, utility lines, views, type of soil, areas of sun, shade and moisture, wind, and neighborhood activities. Make a written list or a video or a sketch of what is present on your property.
2. Visioning. Write or record how your landscape will look and what it will provide for you. Aspects can include food, wildlife, privacy, play space, flowers, a pond, medicinal plants, firewood, mulch, wildlife habitat, market garden and more. Defining elements by function instead of concrete description will help spur your imagination to utilize features, flora and fauna that are already available on site.
3. Planning. From your visioning notes, make a list of priorities. What problems need solving? What is personally satisfying or spirit-lifting? Are there environmental challenges? Is there enough or too much space to develop? Does a lawn need to be removed or water captured on site?
This leads into analyzing how you can arrange the various elements to satisfy you and to support the living ecology of the site. Combine elements based on how they interact with each other. Will there be a greenhouse, a chicken coop, water catchment systems, barriers or paths? The list can be quite large, but it is important to think this out and see how you can efficiently link elements together to support the overall garden space.
In permaculture, we map out zones and sectors to create a layout that serves all inhabitants: the people, the plants, the animals, the insects, the soil by utilizing structures, water, sun, wind and other resources on the land. Planning is all about recognizing and organizing beneficial relationships on site.
4. Development. Now, you can draw out your barriers and paths, buildings and trees, bushes and planting beds to scale on paper, so you can see the relationships and then begin installing the elements as designed. Prioritize your installations, taking into account what factors need to be addressed first, second, etc. Also, understand factors such as seasonal restrictions, financial, environmental needs, technical requirements or personal desire.
5. Implementation. This is the physical landscaping and hardscaping on the property, including earth-moving, water catchment, composting, planting trees, creating beds, sheet mulching, paths, planting annuals, watering and more.
Following this design, process you will be maximizing your chances of creating a nourishing, living environment right on your homestead. To do this right, it takes some time, patience, education and commitment. The reward is that you will end up with a productive, aesthetically pleasing homegrown system that will require less and less physical maintenance over time.
Bob Abbenzeller is a certified permaculture designer and volunteer at the Plant City Commons Community Garden. The garden is hosting a free study of “Gaia’s Garden” at 7 p.m. the fourth Thursday of each month, at Bruton Memorial Library, 302 W. McLendon St., Plant City. For more, email to pcpermaculture@gmail.com or call (813) 489-5520.