| #2 |
You may be surprised to hear that I did a permaculture course! Look where that got me. 
Be warned!!
I don't think there is as easy way to explain it. You start by observing your plot/garden, whatever size it maybe. How the sun travels around it during the day and throughout the year. What's in the shade or catches the frost most often. Where are the wet patches or the soil is always dry. What type of soil you have - clay, sand, peat etc. Once you have an idea of what you have, you plan your garden to fit it.
For example, I have several mature trees that cast shade most of the year so its pointless having an annual vegetable bed nearby...............but, there are plants that don't mind a bit of shade like raspberries or perennial leeks so they can go there as can other plants that grow in woodland or hedgerows.
When it comes to planting individual beds, plant the same way. Tall plants on the north so that they don't cast shade on the plants to the south - this is more "Forest Gardening" - a way to grow the most plants in a space where they don't inhibit the others. Its usually on the lines of a triangle with the sloping side angled to the south. A fruit tree, maybe with a climber on it, then a fruit bush, then a tall, perennial veg or herb, then a lower one, a ground hugger, so that they don't take light (from the south) from their neighbour! Its really too complicated to explain in a few words but really, its just working with nature and common sense.
You have the advantage of a blank canvas and can create beds wherever you like - as you have!
There are permaculture zones too - basically, keep the plants or structures you need most often, close to home, and those that need minimal attention further away
"Permaculture" has been thought to mean "Permanent Agriculture" with the emphasis on perennial plants but its wider than that. I admit to not understanding a lot of the stuff they spout about it, some of it just washes over my head.
Be warned!!I don't think there is as easy way to explain it. You start by observing your plot/garden, whatever size it maybe. How the sun travels around it during the day and throughout the year. What's in the shade or catches the frost most often. Where are the wet patches or the soil is always dry. What type of soil you have - clay, sand, peat etc. Once you have an idea of what you have, you plan your garden to fit it.
For example, I have several mature trees that cast shade most of the year so its pointless having an annual vegetable bed nearby...............but, there are plants that don't mind a bit of shade like raspberries or perennial leeks so they can go there as can other plants that grow in woodland or hedgerows.
When it comes to planting individual beds, plant the same way. Tall plants on the north so that they don't cast shade on the plants to the south - this is more "Forest Gardening" - a way to grow the most plants in a space where they don't inhibit the others. Its usually on the lines of a triangle with the sloping side angled to the south. A fruit tree, maybe with a climber on it, then a fruit bush, then a tall, perennial veg or herb, then a lower one, a ground hugger, so that they don't take light (from the south) from their neighbour! Its really too complicated to explain in a few words but really, its just working with nature and common sense.
You have the advantage of a blank canvas and can create beds wherever you like - as you have!
There are permaculture zones too - basically, keep the plants or structures you need most often, close to home, and those that need minimal attention further away
"Permaculture" has been thought to mean "Permanent Agriculture" with the emphasis on perennial plants but its wider than that. I admit to not understanding a lot of the stuff they spout about it, some of it just washes over my head.
The Moneyless Chicken says:-
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.
![[-]](https://gardenandgossip.org/images/zen/collapse.png)