How to Implement Permaculture Principles in Your Home Garden

Permaculture is all about living in harmony with nature. It’s a seamless integration of the landscaping with people’s need for food, shelter, energy, water and other needs in a sustainable way. You may also refer to it as ‘sustainable landscaping’. It’s a holistic world view.

This type of ideal is gaining rapid popularity. It’s about being self-sufficient. It gives more food security which manages the risk of being dependent on grocery stores. It is figuring out how to harness all the resources of your property as efficiently and conscientiously as possible.

If you’ve ever dreamed of being able to live off the land or not be so reliant on others, this is a great practice to implement. It is very similar to indigenous peoples’ practices of utilizing sun, water, wind and wildlife as well as native plants.

You don’t need to necessarily go hog wild with this idea. You can plan on making edible plant choices in your beautiful landscaping where it could make sense. For example, choose a sugar maple tree instead of a tree that has no food value.

Guiding principles to consider for Permaculture

OBTAIN FOOD

Not only do you want your landscaping plants to look beautiful, but why not choose plants that serve double duty? There are plants that you could choose for most circumstances that would provide food if you ever needed them to.

It’s not that you would have to count on harvesting from all of the plants every year, but it’s about having the capacity to do so should you ever want to. Think of fruit trees such as apples or pears. How about Hazelnut shrubs? Even rhubarb can be planted in the landscape. Asparagus and herbs can look lovely even in an ornamental type setting of shrubs and perennials. Did you know that you can eat the flowers of a common daylily? They’re great in salads. Another thought: Don’t get rid of edible weeds. There are certain ‘weeds’ that people used to count on for food such as dandelions.

ENERGY

Catch and utilize power on your property. Careful placement of trees is important. Let sun in the windows in winter for passive solar heat, create shade on the house in the summer for it’s cooling effect. Have solar panels, orient your house with the sun, and have a greenhouse.

RENEWABLE RESOURCES

5 examples of renewable resources are solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, hydropower and bioenergy. One idea here would be to consider a rain barrel. You could collect roof rain water in a barrel and divert it to plants therefore conserving on water. This could be a lifesaver in times of power outages and/or when you have trouble getting water. They may just keep your plants alive!

PRODUCE NO WASTE

This can be a tricky thing to accomplish, but you can at least greatly reduce your waste. In landscaping terms, one of the most obvious things to look at here is composting. Instead of throwing away your compost, utilize it for your plants. They will thank you!! Have you ever heard of ‘hugelkultur’? This is a gardening method that uses logs and branches in the base of a raised bed. These not only reduce the waste of the branches going to the dump, but they also are great for the plants. They will provide nutrients as well as act like a sponge in the base of the raised bed therefore conserving on watering needs which is another principal in sustainable landscaping. You can compost more than just your food scraps. You can compost leaves and plant trimmings if they’re fine enough.

DESIGN FROM PATTERNS TO DETAILS

Observe the patterns of sun, rain, wind and topography. Work WITH them rather than against them. Utilize the natural way of things rather than try to force something unnatural. The goal is to get nature to provide the necessities such as water and heating rather than having to provide them off of your income. Let nature do it from here on out. This idea of sustainable living is gaining more and more attention. In tough times, this way of thinking could be critical.

DIVERSITY

Diversity is essential in any sustainable system. You can never count on just one resource to be viable forever. For example, if you want edible plants in your landscaping, but you only want blueberry bushes, that may be all well and good until a disease wipes them out one day. Then, you’d be wishing you’d planted other varieties as well. Also, a diversity in your plant choices will give you food at various times of the year. Not to mention beauty from season to season. So, think of what you can eat in the spring, summer, fall and what you can put up for the winter. Plan on it all.

RESPOND TO CHANGE

Living systems are dynamic by nature. Things can and do change. When changes do happen, be prepared to turn them to your advantage.

Here’s an idea you may never have thought about: Why not consider a native blueberry hedge in your landscape design? They are both beautiful and edible.

Here’s some more landscape design ideas: A grape vine growing on your fence. Or, if choosing a shade tree, a Sugar Maple can provide you with sap for making maple syrup.

Protect your plants from deer too. There is another blog in this website about deer in the landscape and tips on how to deter them. The best tip on how to deter deer is to plant things they don’t eat, but in this case, that’s not going to be possible, so you may need to invest in fencing or other measures to protect your food.

Here is a small list of plants that are considered to be ‘edible’. Be aware that squirrels and birds and other creatures like them too and can beat you to them, so be sure to be vigilant if you are relying on them. You may want to have a supply of bird netting on hand ready to go.

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, “Bearberry”
Cat tails
Apples
Cherries
Blueberries
Elderberries
Gooseberries
Herbs
Asparagus
Rhubarb
Serviceberry