How to apply permaculture to your home garden

Gardening is a huge hobby and past-time that so many people enjoy; some people even garden or work in a garden as a full-time job, and it can bring so much joy in so many ways. Gardening is loved by so many as it is a great way to de-stress, get outdoors and enjoy stunning flora and fauna.

As the months progress, our gardens are changing, and this often requires some changes and adaptations to make sure your plants, fruit and vegetables are growing as well as they can be. These changes can include de-heading, de-weeding and adding permaculture to your garden to ensure it works to the best of its ability.

In this guide, we take a look at permaculture, what it is, and how to apply it to your garden.

What is permaculture?

Permaculture News explains the meaning of permaculture is as follows: “Permaculture integrates land, resources, people and the environment through mutually beneficial synergies – imitating the no waste, closed loop systems seen in diverse natural systems. Permaculture studies and applies holistic solutions that are applicable in rural and urban contexts at any scale. It is a multidisciplinary toolbox including agriculture, water harvesting and hydrology, energy, natural building, forestry, waste management, animal systems, aquaculture, appropriate technology, economics and community development.”

Simply put, permaculture is a way of approaching land management that helps flourish natural ecosystems to allow plants to thrive. There are a set of principles to follow that are derived from whole-system thinking and are a great way to aggravate your soil sustainably.

We spoke to Alexandra from the blog The Middle-Sized Garden; she told us a little more about permaculture and the benefits it can have in your garden: “Care for the soil is a key part of permaculture. I’ve always been a No Dig (No Till) gardener, simply because I had a bad back and couldn’t dig. But since I started gardening, there’s been much more emphasis on how not digging soil allows it to keep its structure intact. Instead of digging, you put a layer of well-rotted garden compost or manure on the soil once a year. The worms and micro-organisms dig it in for you, and it helps keeps annual weed seeds down. Otherwise, you only dig to take a plant out or to put one in, and you only dig as much as you need to – you don’t make a bigger hole for the root ball. We recently had to dig up quite a lot of plants as we were making changes, and that gave me the opportunity to see what the soil was like. After 12 years of ‘No Dig’, it is really beautifullycrumbly and has a wonderful texture.”

How to apply permaculture to your home garden

Look at your land

One of the first things to do is observe your land. Before considering permaculture, you want to get out into the land and look at the ground carefully. Look for things like water pooling anywhere where the land slopes, what sort of animals and insects are living in the area and consider whether any areas that get more sun than others.

Make a plan

It may sound like an obvious step, but planning out your garden is essential for permaculture and making sure you are allowing the ground to work as well as it could. Now that you have looked at the area you’re working with, you should be able to get an idea of what plants will work well in different areas, ones that like more sun than others etc. It might be wise to make a drawing or plan of your garden and plot out where you see different plants living, considering things like water sources.

Add in water systems

Water systems are crucial to the success of a garden and so making sure you have a great system in place is essential. As you have previously figured out, you will know which areas of your garden are wetter than others, so you can place your water systems accordingly to ensure all areas of your garden are getting the right amount of moisture.

Plan and implement your beds

Now that you have a plan for your garden, you can start building and implementing your beds. One of the key rules of permaculture is not to disturb the land and make changes once things are planted and in place, so make sure you are sure about the location of your beds before fixing them into place. Sheet mulching or ‘lasagne’ planting is a great way to avoid the destruction of natural microbes and ecosystems within the soil; this means you’re planting and building straight on top of the existing grass. The grass will eventually die, and the plants will root into the natural soil underneath.

Think about your planting order

The order in which you plant your garden is essential to the area’s success. Perennials should be planted first, simply because they will come back year after year, so you want to make sure their habitat is suitable and sustainable for a long period of time. After this, you can add annuals and fruit trees to fill in the gaps and create a real landscape. Flowers like sunflowers are great for filling in spaces and creating height in a garden.

Tend to your garden regularly

Now that you have started your very own permaculture garden, your next task is to make sure you are staying on top of the watering and maintenance of the plants and shrubs. Make sure you are composting as and when you can to make your garden as sustainable as possible. Now that your garden is starting to flourish, you can sit back and enjoy the benefits of your hard work.

If you’re looking to add permaculture to your garden or are looking to start a permaculture garden, then hopefully, this guide has been useful. If gardening is something you love, but you find it hard to get to and from your garden, then why not consider a stairlift? Our outdoor stairlifts are great for those who struggle to move stress-free around their garden.