Developing Sustainable Landscapes
Utilizing Permaculture Design
’PERMACULTURE’ is a word that
was originally coined in the mid seventies by two Australians, David Holmgren
and Bill Mollison, ‘PERMAnent agriCULTURE’.
Permaculture has gone beyond it’s roots in looking
at strategies to create sustainable food growing methods to become a worldwide
movement encompassing all aspects of how we as human beings can live harmoniously
in relation to our Earth and it’s finite resources. Permaculture
now probably has as many definitions as there are practitioners, but one
that is particularly useful might be-
"CREATING SUSTAINABLE HUMAN HABITATS BY FOLLOWING
NATURE'S PATTERNS"
"Permaculture is the art and science of environmental
design. It applies patterns found in nature to the design and construction
of human and natural environments. Permaculture Design is now being
adapted to all systems and disciplines that human settlement requires.
Architects, planners, farmers, economists, social scientists, as well
as students, homeowners and gardeners can all utilize the principles
of Permaculture Design."- Larry
Santoyo
We hear a lot these days about sustainability.
As planet earth and our region are required to provide more and more people
with space to live, work and play, we need to become better at using less
resources.
If your garden could use some changes or you are moving
to a new home with no landscape, allow us to help create a resource efficient
garden. It all starts with a master concept plan. With drafting equipment
in hand, I visit your space and develop a plan working with you on site
(your kitchen table)! A few sustainable ideas include adding fruit and
windbreak trees or a vegetable garden; neat decks and patios to keep some
of your recreation activities at home; reducing dependence on lawn to
lower water, fertilizer, mowing and edging costs; planting native and
high-desert adapted plants to further reduce maintenance costs and utilizing
state of the art irrigation, mulching and soil preparation methods. The
bottom line is a functional and beautiful garden with less input.
The Principles of Permaculture Design1
1 Source: By Steve Diver, NCAT Agriculture Specialist,
ATTRA, Introduction
to Permaculture: Concepts and Resources is a revised and updated version
of The
Permaculture FAQ, which was originally published by the author on the
World Wide Web in 1995 and 1996:
The principles of permaculture
provide a set of universally applicable guidelines which can be used in
designing sustainable habitats.
Distilled from multiple disciplines:
- ecology
- energy conservation
- landscape design
- environmental science
These principles are applicable in any permaculture design,
in any climate, and at any scale. Permaculture is a land use and community
planning philosophy, use of appropriate technologies (coupled with an
adjustment of life-style), and adoption of concepts and philosophies that
are both earth-based and people-centered, such as bioregionalism, and
not just limited to plant and animal agriculture.
- Relative Location
- Where stuff in the right place
- Each Element Performs Multiple
Functions - Multitasking
- Multiple Sources for Each
Need - Redundancy planning to reduce failure
- Energy Efficient Planning
- Zoning & sectors
- Using Local Biological Resources
- "Think globally, Act Locally"
- Cycling of Energy - Reconnecting
movement of energy
- Optimum
Sizing & Stacking - Intensive systems under control
- Accelerating Plant Succession
and Evolution- Working with Nature, not against Her
- Polyculture
and Diversity of Species - Resilience and resistance to pest attacks
- Increasing "Edge"
Within a System - Increasing productivity through edge effects and
natural patterns
Back to Developing Sustainable Landscapes Utilizing
Permaculture Design
Many of the appropriate technologies advocated by permaculturists
are well known. Among these are solar and wind power, composting toilets,
solar greenhouses,
energy efficient housing, and solar
food cooking and drying.
Farming systems and techniques commonly associated with
permaculture include agro-forestry, swales, contour plantings, Keyline
agriculture (soil and water management), hedgerows and windbreaks, and
integrated farming systems such as pond-dike aquaculture, aquaponics,
intercropping, and polyculture.
Gardening and recycling methods common to permaculture
include using native plants and plant species
adapted to our high-desert region, edible
landscaping, keyhole gardening, companion planting, trellising, sheet
mulching, chicken tractors, solar
greenhouses, spiral herb gardens, swales, and vermicomposting (composting
with worms and other creatures).
Water collection, management, and re-use systems like
Keyline, greywater, rain catchment, constructed wetlands, aquaponics (the
integration of hydroponics with recirculating aquaculture), and solar
aquatic ponds (also known as Living Machines) play an important role in
permaculture.
Check out our links
page to visit other websites with more examples.
Together we can make a
difference!
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