To garden in a green way, nature’s our teacher

Permaculture, or permanent sustainable agriculture, is rapidly gaining favour as the preferred approach for city and country gardeners alike.

“The design principles of permaculture can help you turn a city lot into a paradise. You can have productive harvests in a habitat attractive to both humans and birds,” says Kate Wedemire, a graduate of the Kootenay Permaculture Institute.

Wedemire is creating a design for the CEED Centre garden based on these principles.

Permaculture is defined by co-originator David Holmgren as “consciously designed landscapes which mimic the patterns and relationships in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fibre and energy for provision of local needs.”

It originated in Australia when Bill Mollison observed marsupials in the rich Tasmanian rain forest ecosystem. He and Holmgren identified 12 design principles that made systems such as this so plentiful and sustainable. These principles emphasize the relationships between plants and the environment and are governed by three permaculture ethics: care for the Earth; care for people; and share the surplus.

When Australian farmers and gardeners applied the principles, they developed ecologically sound and prosperous agriculture that required less maintenance and energy than conventional methods.

“Nature is our teacher. The first principle is observe,” says Wedemire. “Before we charge in and change anything on a landscape, it is important to understand the interactions between each part of the system. We need to ask ‘why?’

When I observe the forest, I see many levels of interaction – the canopy layer trees, mid-size trees and shrubs, insects and fungi.

All play a part in contributing to a rich healthy soil. Using the forest as a model, we can replicate this structure and plant food-yielding vegetation on our own land. Leaf litter, needles and decaying branches model how to create a deep mulch-like layer on the ground. Adding a layer of leaves to the garden as mulch will keep it moist enough that we only have to water it a few times each summer. It also keeps weeds down and adds nutrients.”

A good permaculture design results in reduced maintenance and improved fertility.

Gardens and farms designed according to permaculture principles are not generally neat horizontal rows of one or two crops. Instead, they mimic the natural ecology. Diverse vegetable and ornamental plants are paired in arrangements that reduce or eliminate the need for fertilizers, herbicides or weeding. Careful planning gives each plant better access to water and sunlight.

“We become very creative with each square metre of space,” says Wedemire. “We see organic lines, spirals and curved pathways. We maximize vertical space with trellises and sometimes even use mirrors to get extra light.”

Every element in a permaculture design performs multiple functions. In larger spaces, animals provide valuable fertilizer and can do much of the garden work.

“We learn to see an abundance of slugs as a shortage of ducks.

“We learn that goats and pigs will work for us and eat blackberry bushes right down to the roots.”

Permaculture

For more information about how you can use the permaculture principles to design your space, read Gaia’s Garden, by Toby Hemenway, The Backyard Homestead, edited by Carleen Madigan, or contact Kate Wedemire at 778-235-7711.

Green Matters is written by Janet Amsden with the CEED Centre. The CEED Centre is a charitable society dedicated to community education on environment and development.

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