Backyard Permaculture – A beginner’s guide

Permaculture is the idea that gardeners should work with nature and not against it. It contains several ethe, which are discussed in this article.

Basics

The idea of permaculture was coined in the 1970s by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren as a way to sustainable agriculture. This is done by recycling waste by turning it into compost using natural pesticides, instead of chemicals. This is an active process of gardening by working with nature.

They also wanted to ensure that each of the plants served at least three purposes. Another principle was that all of the plants that are grown should be native to the area. This helps to ensure that the plants will grow well and they will need less extra water therefore they promote water conservation.

Zones are critical in deciding how successful your permaculture garden is. Check zones before growing plants. Choose plants that grow well in your zone and grow more of what you want to eat.

Knowing what to grow, and where to grow is an important thing to consider in permaculture. Certain plants grow well in certain areas of your garden, under certain circumstances, and under certain growing conditions. Even in a small garden, you can grow certain plants in certain areas.

Plants that grow in shade need to grow under a canopy of plants that need more sunlight. Plants that cannot take harsh winds need to be protected by plants that can take strong winds. Use plant species that are symbiotic, each plant species will benefit the other.

The ethos of a permaculture garden says that plants must be allowed to grow organically among natural healing and nurturing conditions such as plant waste compost soil, companion plants, and also earthworms that symbiotically work well together.

Sunrise, sunset, shade conditions, seasonal temperature changes, and water retention are some factors to consider.

The architecture of the garden must cater to multiple purposes. Every plant should serve at least 2 or 3 purposes. For eg, a trellis for vines can double as windbreakers and provide shade to other plants. 

Recycling is key to permaculture. Recycling makes for a self-reliant gardening system and boosts sustainability simply by making use of what is already available in nature. Recycling prevents resources flowing out of the system while encouraging more churn in the natural cycles.

Pest repellent plants

Plants that repel pests in their neighborhood are widely used in permaculture plants. Not only plants but even animals are used to help the garden self-nurture. Using ducks to roam garden beds is a common technique. This provides fertilizer and slugs, and snails get eaten while partially feeding ducks. Ducks, as you know, provide meat and eggs. 

Companion Plants

Certain plants grow well with others. The converse is also true. Some plants are not that great among other plants.

Permaculture emulates nature. For example, a tenet of permaculture states that a compost heap can be placed near a tree. The tree stops the compost heap from drying out and keeps the compost wet. This allows decomposition and nutrients to leach into the soil. The tree provides shade to shade-loving plants. Birds and critters inhabit the tree, which in turn, provides natural pest control in your garden.

Learn from the land

Another tenet of permaculture is to learn from your land. The questions to ask are like this in some cases: How is your land positioned? On top of a hill? on the slope of a hill? on level land? Or near a river? All these are inputs to your decision-making process of what crops you will grow and where.

Observe how much rainfall your backyard garden receives. And how water flows through your land after rain. Plants that take in a lot of water can live where water collects after a rainfall. While plants that need dry roots more often than not, should not be planted where soil retains more water. Remember you are part of this ecosystem as well. Plants cannot choose where they grow, while you can decide that. Your knowledge about these important factors can make or break your gardening prospects.

Protect Soil

Next tenet, Soil has to be protected. This is usually done in permaculture by spreading mulch on the soil. Plants need nutrition. Therefore providing a good treated nutritious bed for plants to start off is important.

Avoid excessive de-weeding

Excessive de-weeding is usually frowned upon in permaculture. Weeds fill up residual space between crops – they keep the soil loose with their roots and protect soil from drying out due to excess sun rays. Do not stress about soil nutrition absorbed by these weeds. Understand that weeds have their place in nature. Respect for nature’s way is at the core of permaculture. 

Avoid excessive soil turning

Soil turning is a common practice in modern/traditional gardening. According to permaculture, this is unnecessary. There is a clear separation of soil layers in terms of nutrition, type of living organisms, moisture, etc. Turning soil regularly breaks the natural cycle of decomposition, and exposes inner soil to harsh UV rays of the sun – further messing with soil chemistry. 

In permaculture, soil turning is discouraged widely. An exception to this rule is extremely compact soil. This soil needs to be turned once or twice. Usually once does the trick. A rule of thumb for compact soil is :

• Turn once and add compost.
• Add earthworms.
• Avoid stepping on it after the mulch is added.

Add worms

Earthworms in the soil work their way around the soil to further better its nutrient qualities and aerate the soil. This allows a rich bed to develop over time for a new set of crops that you can plant. 

Permaculture believes in letting nature take its course. For example, weed cover or mulch covers soil from harsh rays of the sun. Allowing rain to wash over the soil bed curates its naturally occurring elements such as soil balance, ph, and living organisms in the soil.

Steps to starting your first permaculture garden

1. Decide on what part of your backyard you want to dedicate to your permaculture garden. better to start small
2. design on paper, and draw up a layout. Put your ideas on paper. The first draft is good enough, but plan out for the entire garden.
3. Plant companion plants.
4. Think in layers. Tallest plant in the middle, medium height plants and finish with low growing plants. 
5. Scale slowly. You don’t have to do everything at once.
6. Turn soil once if compact or else avoid turning altogether.
7. Enrich with compost and mulch – about 4 inches thick throughout the prospective bed.
8. Let worms loose on the soil.
9. Avoid treading on the soil after this as much as possible. 
10. Planting time 
    1. Consider the light, water, wind, and soil needs of the plants.
    2. Complementary planting can be done as long the plants are symbiotic in nature. For eg, a plant that needs more sunlight and water can be planted next to a plant that needs less of both as long as the former provides shade to the latter. 
    3. Companion plants should not compete for the same nutrients as the soil.

Common Companion plants

1. Strawberries provide good ground cover, protecting the soil from drying. 
2. Trees provide shade while also preventing soil from drying out. 
3. Legumes capture nitrogen in the soil-enriching the soil for other plants. 
4. okra, lettuce, and peppers grow well together.
5. tomato, basil, and garlic grow well together
6. garlic and tomato go well together as garlic repels pests that haunt tomatoes. 
7. sunflowers, peppers, and tomatoes grow well together. Aphids leave tomatoes alone while they attack sunflower stalks. Garlic prevents aphids from attacking either, should you choose to harvest sunflowers. Sunflowers attract birds that feast on whiteflies off of your tomato crop.
8. Marigolds, and garlic, prevent pests. 
9. Marigolds should not interleave between other plants because the very same secretion that drives pests away also inhibits root growth among other plants. Grow marigolds at borders to benefit from their pest control properties while allowing your other plants to grow inside this boundary. 
10. Asparagus, tomatoes, garlic. Pruning tomatoes allows them to become bushy providing hedge-like protection while garlic keeps pests away.
11. Beans, corn, celery, cucumbers, radish, and strawberries usually go well together. Except, for garlic or onions around beans and beets with pole beans. 
12. Beets, onions, garlic, cabbage, kale, and lettuce go well together. Do not throw pole beans into this mix or with any member of the cabbage family.
13. Members of the cabbage family (Cabbage, Brussel sprouts, kale, broccoli) grow well with Swiss Chard, Beets, dill, onions, potatoes, spinach, celery, and lettuce.
14. Carrots grow well with beans and tomatoes. Carrots grow well with almost all plants. 
15. Celery also does not harm any other plant. 
16. Cucumber, beans, cabbage, corn, or peas grow well together. 
17. Eggplant grows well with almost any other vegetable but does best with beans and peppers. 
18. Melons grow well with other plants but grow best with pumpkin, squash, radish, and corn.
19. Onions grow well with Swiss chard, peppers, carrots, and beets. But not with beans and peas. 
20. Peas grow well with beans, cucumbers, carrots, corn, beans, turnips, and radish. But not with garlic, onions
21. Potatoes and tomatoes don’t grow well together. Potatoes grow well with beans, corn, and peas.
22. Squash, pumpkin, melons, and corn grow very well together. Squash does well with any other vegetable.
23. Tomatoes should not be grown with corn, potatoes, or kohlrabi. But they grow well with cucumber, carrots, celery, onions, and peppers. 
24. Herbs are known o control pests, plant them in between other plants in your garden:
    1. Nasturtium and rosemary repel beetles that attack beans.
    2. Thyme can be planted near cabbage to protect against worms.
    3. Chives and garlic keep aphids away.
    4. Oregano deters pests just like marigold.

Benefits of Permaculture garden

1. Permaculture garden takes care of itself.
2. This type of garden allows people to go about their business what do you do much about the times and in the garden. Excessive time spent in gardening is one of the primary reasons for people avoiding growing their own grub! permaculture garden needs very little care once its set on its course. 
3. We learn more from and about nature. It’s an excellent DIY project for the weekend until it’s on its feet. 
4. They’re not only small but also easily manageable. 
5. Large gardens take up a lot of time, and effort and are expensive to maintain. Permaculture garden makes the best use of space, costs the least, and provides the best yield, but quality and quantity-wise. 
6. After you get a permaculture garden up and running, your health improves, and you feel better. All because you grew what you are eating, you know what went in it, and it’s all healthy and nutritious. You start to avoid processed food and look forward to your meals. 
7. It’s highly cost-effective. It’s amazing how much you end up saving by just growing your own food in your backyard from stuff that you would otherwise just chuck in the bin.
8. Gardeners have lower levels of stress and episodes of depression and anxiety. Traditional gardens tend to go against natural cycles and take more effort to keep up. Permaculture gardens work with nature and take less effort to maintain as it does their own self-maintenance. Your work with nature and not against it and everything works out great. 
9. Recycling. All left-out plant material is composted. Rainwater harvesting is a common practice in permaculture – where rainwater is collected in water barrels and used to water the soil. 
10. It’s a great learning experience for the future generation. Children love gardening as it’s a great experience to interact with nature. They like to see things grow, it’s a natural human instinct. they appreciate flora and fauna and its a great learning experience. it allows for multiple generations to bond among plants and food. If that isn’t a great reason to start thinking about permaculture, what is?

Problems caused by confusion about permaculture

1. Gardeners scale too soon. Start out small and observe your terrain. Scale slowly and use common sense and knowledge of plants. 
2. A lack of knowledge of pests and plants that control pests. Companion planting, soil types, water consumption in plants, and over tilling.
3. People plant trees and keep that as the backbone of their permaculture garden. They forget that trees take many years to grow and provide any perceived benefit to the garden. Meanwhile, they lose patience and later interest as it takes much longer for them to get any benefit out of their garden. 
4. Gardeners follow a one size fits all approach to gardens. Just because a garden design looks good, doesn’t mean it will work well for your garden block. 
5. Overdo with the sheet mulching. People lay down cardboard and newspapers when they are ready to plant. This may keep the soil most but will stop air from circulating through the soil. Soil needs oxygen as well as moisture. 
6. It’s ok to have some grass growing among your plants. It’s a bad idea to go overboard trying to smother any other plant by using excessive use of sheet mulching. 

Tips

1. Start small. Learn as you grow. Scale your garden area after observation of your land, food habits, rainfall, etc. Try to work with nature and not against it. 
2. Consider natively growing plants. They are well suited to your area already. They grow best and better than plants that are not native to your area. Try to recreate natural growing conditions in the garden for these native plants. 
3. Do not be disheartened if you fail the first few times. It is worthwhile because there is a learning curve. You will feel better to have stuck to your guns and not given up.
4. Have a plant ready to pre-place the old one when it was done producing. If one crop was done producing, keep a second set of plants ready to take their place. 
5. Rotate your plants to replenish nutrients. Add more nutrients regularly with the addition of organic compost. 
6. Recycle old plants and don’t worry about seeds in your compost. An odd plant here and there will not break your garden. 
7. Vertical gardening is a thing. It has the potential to make good use of space. Think of plants that serve more than one purpose. Eg. vines that grow along fences provide fruit and also are a good cover. 
8. If you have a larger area, place a pond. A pond will provide a good counterbalance to your garden space. Frogs reduce flies and are good for general pest control. Ponds are a nice place to relax after a good day working in your garden!

Conclusion

Everything in nature takes time and effort. Nothing can be done overnight. Improve your knowledge of plants diligently. Always use common sense but don’t forget to experiment!