A simple guide to permaculture

Permaculture is a relatively recent development that overturns many traditional gardening ideas. Here's what you need to know about permaculture, before deciding if it's the right choice for your garden.

• It offers numerous advantages over regular agricultural techniques and is easily put to the test in the home garden.
• The principles are as applicable to a large farm as they are to a suburban backyard.
• Permaculture techniques also offer one way to build fertile pockets of productive land in relatively arid areas.
• Though not yet widely accepted in many rural regions as a legitimate farming method, in urban areas it has been growing in popularity as a way to make domestic gardens more interesting and productive.
• Some horticultural and technical colleges have started teaching permaculture principles.

• Permaculture combines a variety of organic gardening techniques that have been applied by gardeners and by farmers for generations. What distinguishes permaculture is the belief that an appropriate garden design can be the key to a continuously self-generating bounty.
• By mimicking natural ecosystems, the environment in a permaculture system is designed to be self-contained and ecologically friendly. The garden is viewed holistically.
• Consideration is given to the way the house, the water supply, the plants, animals and people influence the life of the garden. The interaction of these influences are coordinated so that they have a complementary and interdependent effect on the garden's ecology.
• The conservation of natural resources is key for permaculture. All organic materials are to be recycled back into the soil, either as mulches or compost, and nothing is ever wasted.
• Water conservation is especially important: there are systems to recycle used domestic water (called grey water), and tanks are used to store water collected from the roof.
• Chickens and ducks are often kept to provide manure for use in the garden, as well as to eat insects that threaten plants.

Permaculture begins with building up healthy soil.

• If the soil initially lacks organic matter, animal manure or compost must be added before the site is devoted to permaculture.
• Once the soil is ready, the goal is to run the garden so that it generates sufficient organic waste for the soil to replenish itself. In this, permaculture departs from other gardening techniques.

Permaculture relies on organic rather than chemical techniques to keep plants healthy.

• Plant diversity is encouraged. Where possible, non-hybrid plants are used (seeds can be collected and sown the following season).
• The arrangement of the elements affecting the land determines the success of the garden.
• Each site is individually designed, with careful consideration of pre-existing conditions.
• The climate, prevailing winds, type of soil, orientation and rainfall are all worked into the layout.

• Garden design strategies can be quite simple: for instance, beds of frequently-picked herbs and vegetables might be located near the kitchen door, for easy access.
• Deciduous fruiting vines and trees might usefully be planted to create shade in summer yet allow the winter sun to penetrate easily.
• Large or vigorous vegetables can be planted to form a curved break to protect smaller, more sensitive plants from wind and sun.
• Micro-climates can be created by planting even larger windbreaks of shrubs or trees against the strongest prevailing winds.
• A shelter belt — a group of trees and shrubs planted to provide protection for livestock from sun, rain and wind — also serves this purpose effectively.

Although highly-organized and structured at the design stage, permaculture gardens never achieve that usually neat, orderly appearance characteristic of traditional produce gardens.

• Instead, the plants are permitted to clamber and climb, self-sow and naturalize, forming a seemingly wild but definitely productive gardening environment.

Permaculture is a relatively new form of organic gardening that relies on eco-friendly techniques. Keep these tips in mind to decide whether permaculture is right for your outdoor space.