What is permaculture?
This post it written by Sophie Allison, who designed and maintains the permaculture garden at Wilder’s Canopi site.
In simple terms, permaculture can be described as a way of working with natural processes and patterns to develop ecologically harmonious, efficient and productive systems which produce a range of benefits or “yields.”
It is based on three core ethics:
Earth care Working with natural systems (such as soil, water, climate and wildlife) while having a minimal detrimental effect on these systems.
People care Enabling people and communities to access and benefit from the above resources.
Fair share Living within our limits and ensuring resources are shared by many beings, including future generations.
Permaculture looks at a system in which various principles are integrated in a design in order to support the ethics. Here are some example principles developed by David Holmgren, one of the co-founders of permaculture.
Permaculture demonstration bed
An area of the Canopi concourse (near the corner of Swan St and Cole St) was de-paved in 2023 in order to create a permaculture demonstration bed which could also link with other planting on site to form a green, wildlife-friendly corridor around the Canopi building.
Taking permaculture ethics and principles into account, the permaculture bed contains a community of plants (known as guilds) which, through working together, can achieve a range of functions to help the bed grow and thrive without requiring a significant amount of human input. To achieve this, the plants on the bed are:
mainly edible or have edible parts
mainly perennial (i.e. grow back every year) or self-seeding so require less maintenance and reduce soil disturbance
perform more than one function. For example they may be edible, attractive to different pollinators, fix nitrogen in the soil, create habitat for wildlife, have medicinal benefits, protect the soil, provide green “manure”, form a wind break or have a sensory function.
are placed according to their needs such as the amount of sun needed, type of soil required, their relationship with other plants e.g. plants requiring more nitrogen are placed near nitrogen-fixing plants
Forest garden pattern
Permaculture is also concerned with replicating patterns in nature. The permaculture bed and adjacent “woodland bed” follow a forest garden pattern. Forest gardens aim to mimic the natural layers of trees and plants found in a woodland, which in combination perform a range of functions in a relatively small space. The layers of a forest garden are listed below, with example plants found on the permaculture and adjacent woodland bed.
Upper canopy: (Silver Birch tree Betula pendula)
Lower canopy or sub-canopy (Dwarf Plum tree Prunus Domestica, Autumn Olive Elaeagnus umbellata)
Vines, climbers and trailing plant layer (Evergreen Honeysuckle Lonicera japonica, Winter jasmine Jasminum nudiflorum, Trailing nasturtium Nasturtium majus)
Shrubs and understorey bushes (Black Currant Ribes nigrum, Rosemary Salvia Rosmarinus, Lemon verbena Aloysia triphylla, Hyssop Hyssopus officinalis)
Herbaceous layer (Sorrel Rumex sangui, Comfrey Symphytum uplandcum, Catmint Nepata cataris, Borage Borago officinalis, Red Clover Trifolium pratense, Chives Allium schoenoprasum, Pot Marigold Calendula)
Ground Cover (Wild Strawberry Fragaria vesca, Yarrow Achillea Millefolium, Sweet Woodruff Gallium odoratum, Golden oregano Origanum Vulgare “Aureum”, Birdsfoot trefoil Lotus corniculatus, Creeping thyme Thymus serpyllum)
Roots and Rhizosphere (funghi on log piles)
Five key plants on the permaculture bed
Here are some key plants on the bed, which are often used in permaculture and forest garden designs.
Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata)
Currently a very small sapling on the bed, this has nitrogen fixing properties i.e. it supports bacteria which take nitrogen out of the air and bring into the soil. It also produces edible berries and seeds, attracts pollinators, can be a useful windbreak and copes with drought.
Nasturtium (Nasturtium majus)
As well as having striking, attractive flowers and trailing foliage, all parts of the plant are edible, with a mustard-like flavour, and the flowers are often used to liven up their appearance of salads. They can also be useful ground cover in protecting the soil in summer and can serve as a “sacrificial” plant alongside squashes and cucumbers: insects such as aphids eat the nasturtium instead of the vegetables.
Red clover (Trifolium pratense)
This nitrogen-fixing plant is frequently used in regenerative agriculture as a “green manure”. its leaves and flowers are edible and are attractive to pollinators.
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Often regarded as a “weed”, yarrow has a range of useful functions. It is a dynamic mineral accumulator as it takes up nutrients from the soil, so can be useful as compost or in plant feed. It also is frequently used in herbal medicine and is attractive to pollinators.
Wild strawberry (Fracaria vesca)
Fracaria vesca produces small very tasty berries, is attractive to pollinators and can help protect the soil as a ground cover.
For more information about permaculture click here.
Sophie Allison
