I used to be a plant guy with a brown thumb. Can you relate? I would buy beautiful, expensive plants and excitedly put them in the ground often to watch them struggle and die. I cursed "time waster" chores like bagging leaves. I fought ever present pests like mosquitos, ants and ground hornets. My backyard was green with a thick honeysuckle grove, bound together by wild grapevine, invasive winter creeper vines and itchy poison ivy. It was green but not good. I felt defeated and unable to change it all, until I learned about permaculture. It changed my focus and helped me make a new backyard plan.
Permaculture principles were first outlined in the 1970s by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. Together they created a list of guidelines based on observations of natural systems. These principles taught me how to support the whole rather than wasting effort on individual pieces. By feeding natural processes rather than individual plants, I quickly regained control of my backyard and turned it into a balanced ecosystem. Now my backyard is full of diverse plants, insects, birds, and even animals. It's a place where I can retreat and marvel in God's natural creation. There's many flowers, fruiting trees, and an exciting wildlife pond. All of this took time to introduce but now takes minimal effort to maintain.
I invite you to explore these 12 principles with me and consider how they could impact your own backyard plan.
1. "Observe & Interact" = Plant seeds of change
Take time to understand the current state of your backyard before trying to make any changes. Note key inputs like the path of the sun across your yard and areas dominated by shade. Measure the amount of moisture your yard gets compared to surrounding areas and watch the way water moves across your space. Keep a diary of the number and type of insects, birds, animals you see visiting your backyard. Use this information to pick the right kinds of plants that will thrive in that setting. It may not be the pretty plant you thought you wanted but alternatives are always available and a similar healthy looking plant is much better than a pretty dead one.
2. "Catch & Store Energy" = Solar and gravity make powerful allies
We use solar power lighting on our walk way and steps for safety. We use solar power lighting around our pond as an accent piece and to help protect the fish. You see we have found where our raccoon likes to fish and we now point a light at that spot to make things a bit more difficult for him. The thermal mass of our rock wall retains heat built up through the day to release slowly during the cool night to help warm nearby plants. This encourages early and late season strawberry growth. Similarly, we've noticed moist air from the pond tends to lightly water surrounding vegetation in the form of morning dew as the temperatures change in the early morning. This helps water plants growing around the pond even during periods of dryness.
Gravity is key too. We use the falling water provided by our waterfall and fountain to help keep the pond surface clean and water oxygenated for our fish. Filters grab floating debris pulled into it by pumps that then feed the waterfall and fountain. Water pulled back down by gravity creates ripples that disturb the surface keeping algae growth in check, pushing floating debris to the pond edge and dissuades mosquitos from laying eggs.
3. "Obtain a Yield" = Even weeds, fall leaves and pests have value
Weeds are often pioneer plants. They are the first to go and it cleared spot. They're tenacity and ever-presence provide a green resource for feeding worms, building compost, and filling in bare spots in the garden. Dandelion leaves are a fantastic source of vitamin c for our pet rabbit and for adding into the compost tea. Wild grapevine provides natural cord we use to bind natural things together like plants to their supports. Fallen leaves are raked under rand around trees and plants to provide a mulch to help fuel soil. They are piled on top of rose canes and strawberry plants to protect them from freezing temperatures in the winter. Once we built out an inviting ecosystem in the backyard, pests that had once ruled their space were now being eaten by ladybug, dragonflies, and wasps. Experiences watching beautiful birds and jumpy frogs chasing these pests are shared w family as at daily highlights. And it always made me smile to see pests helping me keep weeds down by eating their leaves too.
4. "Apply Self-regulation & Accept Feedback" = Test it out
By watching how nature responds to my outdoor landscaping suggestions before I make full investments in wider scale changes, I see what works to maintain healthy, sustainable growth. Planting one new flower plant helps me see if it's worth buying seeds and end of season plants to grow more of the same next year in that space. We share our yield and don't hoard it. We eat many raspberries but not all. Some are taken by birds and animals. This is our gift of thanks to them for helping introduce, manage, protect, and ensure it's vitality. And in return we sometimes get new plants. I often find new raspberries growing in places I've never planted. We share our fruit tree grill with deer. In return we now have multiple valuable saplings like apple, pear and mulberry growing in our backyard for free. It's a reminder to work with nature not against it.
5. "Use & Value Renewable Resources and Services" = Get Creative
It's taking me longer than it should but now we focus on perennial plants for the majority of our landscaping. In between these plants we place our annuals some of which grow from seed from the previous year. We use compost, pet rabbit bedding and droppings, leaves from our comfrey plants, and dirt from our worms to feed our new annuals and for transplants in the fall rather than buying these bags and fertilizers from a store. When needed to amend soil we collect handfuls of pine needles from neighborhood pine trees. Instead of an annual garden we've built out a food forest. A food forest is a group of trees and surrounding plants that together create a productive ecosystem generating food for both humans and animals. Our goal for our food forest to grow food in our backyard that could be harvested any time of the year. We have three distinct growing seasons and with the right planning and preparation we can grow food in every one. Currently we grow:
April/May - Everbearing strawberries and asparagus
June - Wild black raspberry and golden raspberries
July - Red raspberry and boysenberry
August - Cherry tomatoes (in pots)
September/October - Apples and Pears
6. "Produce No Waste" = Don't throw that in the trash
All living things have value and can be used to help bring about more living things in the backyard. Anything that was once green or brown that was grown in the backyard and no longer needed can be put in a compost bucket to create new soil. When I weed I take the pile of these unwanted plants and throw them under our green evergreen bushes. There they are unseen and will break down to help feed the bush for free. Just use your imagination and you'll come up with lots of repurposing ideas like using honeysuckle stalks as supports for young plants. And what about upcycling? Lumber used for old structures no longer needed can be reused for new purposes like building a retaining wall or elevated bed to create multiple levels of growing space. Planks can be cut to make new garden path.
7. "Design From Patterns to Details" = Start with the end in mind
Understanding your needs and dreams for your backyard gives you a chance to design for it's current use and future possibilities. Once you know the major elements and how they relate to one another you can more easily consider the details that will support the vision and be consistent with the look. This leads to better plant selection and placement, fewer transplants, and less work.
8. "Integrate Rather Than Segregate" = Plants are social
Before permaculture, I used to try to keep plants from touching each other using clear separation. This invited weeds. Now I see that plants grown side by side together can shield soil from incoming weeds. The shade from these plants help secure soil moisture from evaporating in the hot sun during times of drought. This has led me to adopt a more English garden approach with copious amounts of plant variety and fertility. Some I've plants in my yard I have planted, some were planted for me by migrating animals and are growing wild on its own. I simply manage and shape all of them into a pleasing design. You can also use the natural synergy between certain companion plants to your advantage. I have lots of trees on my property. Comfrey grows well under the shade of trees and its leaves when picked and placed as mulch feed those trees. Additionally, Chamomile flowers look good under fruit trees and help protect the tree with it's antibacterial and antifungal properties.
9. "Use Small and Slow Solutions" = Take patient baby steps
I have two stories here. First, years ago we discovered an ash tree attacked by the emerald ash borer. It's bark was scarred and it lost all its leaves from the top third of the tree. Everyone told us to cut it down before it fell down. Instead we gave it time and natural fertilizers to see if it could heal itself. And it did. It first grew new branches very close to the ground which we did not cut for a few years while it strengthened itself. Eventually over time the top dead limbs did drop but slowly in small segments which caused no damage. Once the top has new branches with new leaves which we took as a sign to trim the lower branches once again to help shape the tree. A real win!
Second, to tackle our honeysuckle jump, we knew we had to completely removr each bush by its roots otherwise it just grows back thicker than before. That felt overwhelming until we divided up the work in 20x20 spaces which we tackled each year. Doing so gave us an opportunity to heal one space while moving onto the next. This slow approach also attracted wildlife which still desired the cover of the bushes while we grew out different plants - some we planted, some we seeded but most where seeded by animals. We used natural fertilizers and allowed pioneering weeds to grow before composting them using sheet cardboard and replanting in the space in the following season. Though this step approach took longer to rehab the larger backyard it ensured that we would always have some green growing while saving us a lot of money in purchasing soil amendments, chemicals and replacement plants.
10. "Use and Value Diversity" = Don't put all your eggs in one basket
Both my parents grew up on farms so I heard this a lot growing up. Applying this wise words to our backyard approach, we decided to diversify our plants. Imagine a backyard full of plants that need plenty of water struggling during dry summer and fall months. If you plant nothing but roses what do you do when aphids come feasting? Indeed our honeysuckle jungle may have been green but it provided a breeding ground for hordes of mosquitoes and few other beneficial bugs. I recommend we all avoid an all or nothing approach- including green grass and nothing else - to diversify the types of plants. That way we can better navigate issues caused by bad weather, pests and disease.
11. "Use Edges and Value the Marginal" = Growing side by side
Edges and margins are typically the most robust areas of plant growth. Plants can reach moisture and sun, receive healing breezes and have less competition for space to grow and bloom. We followed this valued advice by planting wave petunias on the top of our wall to grow out and over the stone face with flowers. In front of the wall we made two rows for plants. In the first, front row we planted smaller ground cover like strawberry plants. The second row is for taller perennials. So while still physically close to each other, all three beds had vertical separation giving all plenty of edge and margin to grow, flower and fruit.
12. "Creatively Use and Respond to Change" = Take a picture
The great thing about a permaculture backyard landscape is that its always growing, evolving and changing. That's why I like to walk around with my phone and take pictures. These pictures help me compare and see how all the different spaces change over time. This helps me see if choices made in the winter and spring brought the bounty I hoped for by summer and fall. The pictures also help me see signs of new issues that could be addressed before they get out of hand. I'm also careful to consider when to take action. There have been more than a few times where by delaying action, I found the issue to resolve itself or the issue's root cause to be different than I had expected. In both cases I could have made things worse by jumping to conclusions wanting to fix things immediately but instead cause more harm than good.
Well that was a lot of words to say that taking a permaculture approach to my landscape design has really enhanced our back yard. I have more growing now with a lot more diversity than ever before. Maintaining it requires light effort on the weekends. Nature and natural processes manage itself throughout the week. And investing in my landscape has become less about spending money now that the ecosystem is in place and more about spending my own time and energy enjoying and maintaining it.
Permaculture principles were first outlined in the 1970s by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. Together they created a list of guidelines based on observations of natural systems. These principles taught me how to support the whole rather than wasting effort on individual pieces. By feeding natural processes rather than individual plants, I quickly regained control of my backyard and turned it into a balanced ecosystem. Now my backyard is full of diverse plants, insects, birds, and even animals. It's a place where I can retreat and marvel in God's natural creation. There's many flowers, fruiting trees, and an exciting wildlife pond. All of this took time to introduce but now takes minimal effort to maintain.
I invite you to explore these 12 principles with me and consider how they could impact your own backyard plan.
1. "Observe & Interact" = Plant seeds of change
Take time to understand the current state of your backyard before trying to make any changes. Note key inputs like the path of the sun across your yard and areas dominated by shade. Measure the amount of moisture your yard gets compared to surrounding areas and watch the way water moves across your space. Keep a diary of the number and type of insects, birds, animals you see visiting your backyard. Use this information to pick the right kinds of plants that will thrive in that setting. It may not be the pretty plant you thought you wanted but alternatives are always available and a similar healthy looking plant is much better than a pretty dead one.
2. "Catch & Store Energy" = Solar and gravity make powerful allies
We use solar power lighting on our walk way and steps for safety. We use solar power lighting around our pond as an accent piece and to help protect the fish. You see we have found where our raccoon likes to fish and we now point a light at that spot to make things a bit more difficult for him. The thermal mass of our rock wall retains heat built up through the day to release slowly during the cool night to help warm nearby plants. This encourages early and late season strawberry growth. Similarly, we've noticed moist air from the pond tends to lightly water surrounding vegetation in the form of morning dew as the temperatures change in the early morning. This helps water plants growing around the pond even during periods of dryness.
Gravity is key too. We use the falling water provided by our waterfall and fountain to help keep the pond surface clean and water oxygenated for our fish. Filters grab floating debris pulled into it by pumps that then feed the waterfall and fountain. Water pulled back down by gravity creates ripples that disturb the surface keeping algae growth in check, pushing floating debris to the pond edge and dissuades mosquitos from laying eggs.
3. "Obtain a Yield" = Even weeds, fall leaves and pests have value
Weeds are often pioneer plants. They are the first to go and it cleared spot. They're tenacity and ever-presence provide a green resource for feeding worms, building compost, and filling in bare spots in the garden. Dandelion leaves are a fantastic source of vitamin c for our pet rabbit and for adding into the compost tea. Wild grapevine provides natural cord we use to bind natural things together like plants to their supports. Fallen leaves are raked under rand around trees and plants to provide a mulch to help fuel soil. They are piled on top of rose canes and strawberry plants to protect them from freezing temperatures in the winter. Once we built out an inviting ecosystem in the backyard, pests that had once ruled their space were now being eaten by ladybug, dragonflies, and wasps. Experiences watching beautiful birds and jumpy frogs chasing these pests are shared w family as at daily highlights. And it always made me smile to see pests helping me keep weeds down by eating their leaves too.
4. "Apply Self-regulation & Accept Feedback" = Test it out
By watching how nature responds to my outdoor landscaping suggestions before I make full investments in wider scale changes, I see what works to maintain healthy, sustainable growth. Planting one new flower plant helps me see if it's worth buying seeds and end of season plants to grow more of the same next year in that space. We share our yield and don't hoard it. We eat many raspberries but not all. Some are taken by birds and animals. This is our gift of thanks to them for helping introduce, manage, protect, and ensure it's vitality. And in return we sometimes get new plants. I often find new raspberries growing in places I've never planted. We share our fruit tree grill with deer. In return we now have multiple valuable saplings like apple, pear and mulberry growing in our backyard for free. It's a reminder to work with nature not against it.
5. "Use & Value Renewable Resources and Services" = Get Creative
It's taking me longer than it should but now we focus on perennial plants for the majority of our landscaping. In between these plants we place our annuals some of which grow from seed from the previous year. We use compost, pet rabbit bedding and droppings, leaves from our comfrey plants, and dirt from our worms to feed our new annuals and for transplants in the fall rather than buying these bags and fertilizers from a store. When needed to amend soil we collect handfuls of pine needles from neighborhood pine trees. Instead of an annual garden we've built out a food forest. A food forest is a group of trees and surrounding plants that together create a productive ecosystem generating food for both humans and animals. Our goal for our food forest to grow food in our backyard that could be harvested any time of the year. We have three distinct growing seasons and with the right planning and preparation we can grow food in every one. Currently we grow:
April/May - Everbearing strawberries and asparagus
June - Wild black raspberry and golden raspberries
July - Red raspberry and boysenberry
August - Cherry tomatoes (in pots)
September/October - Apples and Pears
6. "Produce No Waste" = Don't throw that in the trash
All living things have value and can be used to help bring about more living things in the backyard. Anything that was once green or brown that was grown in the backyard and no longer needed can be put in a compost bucket to create new soil. When I weed I take the pile of these unwanted plants and throw them under our green evergreen bushes. There they are unseen and will break down to help feed the bush for free. Just use your imagination and you'll come up with lots of repurposing ideas like using honeysuckle stalks as supports for young plants. And what about upcycling? Lumber used for old structures no longer needed can be reused for new purposes like building a retaining wall or elevated bed to create multiple levels of growing space. Planks can be cut to make new garden path.
7. "Design From Patterns to Details" = Start with the end in mind
Understanding your needs and dreams for your backyard gives you a chance to design for it's current use and future possibilities. Once you know the major elements and how they relate to one another you can more easily consider the details that will support the vision and be consistent with the look. This leads to better plant selection and placement, fewer transplants, and less work.
8. "Integrate Rather Than Segregate" = Plants are social
Before permaculture, I used to try to keep plants from touching each other using clear separation. This invited weeds. Now I see that plants grown side by side together can shield soil from incoming weeds. The shade from these plants help secure soil moisture from evaporating in the hot sun during times of drought. This has led me to adopt a more English garden approach with copious amounts of plant variety and fertility. Some I've plants in my yard I have planted, some were planted for me by migrating animals and are growing wild on its own. I simply manage and shape all of them into a pleasing design. You can also use the natural synergy between certain companion plants to your advantage. I have lots of trees on my property. Comfrey grows well under the shade of trees and its leaves when picked and placed as mulch feed those trees. Additionally, Chamomile flowers look good under fruit trees and help protect the tree with it's antibacterial and antifungal properties.
9. "Use Small and Slow Solutions" = Take patient baby steps
I have two stories here. First, years ago we discovered an ash tree attacked by the emerald ash borer. It's bark was scarred and it lost all its leaves from the top third of the tree. Everyone told us to cut it down before it fell down. Instead we gave it time and natural fertilizers to see if it could heal itself. And it did. It first grew new branches very close to the ground which we did not cut for a few years while it strengthened itself. Eventually over time the top dead limbs did drop but slowly in small segments which caused no damage. Once the top has new branches with new leaves which we took as a sign to trim the lower branches once again to help shape the tree. A real win!
Second, to tackle our honeysuckle jump, we knew we had to completely removr each bush by its roots otherwise it just grows back thicker than before. That felt overwhelming until we divided up the work in 20x20 spaces which we tackled each year. Doing so gave us an opportunity to heal one space while moving onto the next. This slow approach also attracted wildlife which still desired the cover of the bushes while we grew out different plants - some we planted, some we seeded but most where seeded by animals. We used natural fertilizers and allowed pioneering weeds to grow before composting them using sheet cardboard and replanting in the space in the following season. Though this step approach took longer to rehab the larger backyard it ensured that we would always have some green growing while saving us a lot of money in purchasing soil amendments, chemicals and replacement plants.
10. "Use and Value Diversity" = Don't put all your eggs in one basket
Both my parents grew up on farms so I heard this a lot growing up. Applying this wise words to our backyard approach, we decided to diversify our plants. Imagine a backyard full of plants that need plenty of water struggling during dry summer and fall months. If you plant nothing but roses what do you do when aphids come feasting? Indeed our honeysuckle jungle may have been green but it provided a breeding ground for hordes of mosquitoes and few other beneficial bugs. I recommend we all avoid an all or nothing approach- including green grass and nothing else - to diversify the types of plants. That way we can better navigate issues caused by bad weather, pests and disease.
11. "Use Edges and Value the Marginal" = Growing side by side
Edges and margins are typically the most robust areas of plant growth. Plants can reach moisture and sun, receive healing breezes and have less competition for space to grow and bloom. We followed this valued advice by planting wave petunias on the top of our wall to grow out and over the stone face with flowers. In front of the wall we made two rows for plants. In the first, front row we planted smaller ground cover like strawberry plants. The second row is for taller perennials. So while still physically close to each other, all three beds had vertical separation giving all plenty of edge and margin to grow, flower and fruit.
12. "Creatively Use and Respond to Change" = Take a picture
The great thing about a permaculture backyard landscape is that its always growing, evolving and changing. That's why I like to walk around with my phone and take pictures. These pictures help me compare and see how all the different spaces change over time. This helps me see if choices made in the winter and spring brought the bounty I hoped for by summer and fall. The pictures also help me see signs of new issues that could be addressed before they get out of hand. I'm also careful to consider when to take action. There have been more than a few times where by delaying action, I found the issue to resolve itself or the issue's root cause to be different than I had expected. In both cases I could have made things worse by jumping to conclusions wanting to fix things immediately but instead cause more harm than good.
Well that was a lot of words to say that taking a permaculture approach to my landscape design has really enhanced our back yard. I have more growing now with a lot more diversity than ever before. Maintaining it requires light effort on the weekends. Nature and natural processes manage itself throughout the week. And investing in my landscape has become less about spending money now that the ecosystem is in place and more about spending my own time and energy enjoying and maintaining it.