How To Design Your Property The Process Of Permaculture Design
ExplainedJuly 29, 2015 by papprentice / 2 CommentsYouve finally got
your hands on the piece of land of your dreams and now youre
looking forward to making the best possible use of it. You want to
use a permaculture design but there is a problem, no one has
explained to you how the design process actually works and maybe
you just dont have the $1000 to afford a Permaculture Design
Certificate.Permaculture design is a mysterious concept that
everyones talking about but its hard to convey the underlying
process without taking a PDC. One could well say permaculture
design is elusive and enigmatic form of alchemy.H O ME C O N T A C
T A B O U TJoin our free newsletter. Enter your email address FREE
UPDATES! 202Shares112661Recently I finished Geoff Lawtons Online
PDC, yet was caught off-guard when it came to the actual design.
When I searched the web for a tutorial about the process of the
design I found it very hard to visualise it clearly: there were
books out there and encyclopaedias such as Designers Manual but
what I needed was a straightforward guide with simple steps.What I
discovered is, when we take apart an idealised permaculture design,
we can see 5 fundamental, interrelated actions: People Analysis and
Assessment Site Analysis and Assessment Design Concept Development
Detailed Design Implementation & EvaluationIn this article I
will provide a step-by-step guide to the phases that lead to the
final design and design itself, as well as touch on the
implementation phase. Although there might be other people involved
in the project, today I will focus only on you.Before we dig any
deeper, just note that I cannot teach you design, you are much
better off taking a PDC and discovering your design process for
yourself. Nonetheless here is a guideline, though without going too
deep into each stage of the process. For further reading, there are
are good books out there, such as Permaculture: A Designers Manual,
Gaias Garden, Edible Forest Gardens, The Basics of Permaculture
Design. from which I derived much of the info.Join our free
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202Shares112661Analysis and Assessment of YouThere will be many
obstacles on your way; having a clear vision will help you achieve
your goals.Before we go any further, lets consider fundamentals.
That means taking some time and getting to know YOU, and if needed,
perhaps use this for others too. Why is this important? Read on!1.
Know Yourself Because You Can Only Build On Your
StrengthsEverything starts with you, so who are you? David Holmgren
claims: When I was designing for a client before anything I wanted
to know what kind of person are they; are they an animal, plant,
technical or people person.You need a clear idea of what you are
capable of and what relevant skills and knowledge you can
offer.What are your personal strengths that you can use to your
advantage? If you want to succeed you have to build on your
strengths, not your weaknesses.Remember what Aristotle said:Knowing
yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.Join our free newsletter.
Enter your email address FREE UPDATES! 202Shares1126612. Identify
Your Vision And Goals To Speed Both Design And
ImplementationEnvisage your future, what do you want? This is the
why of your project your vision. This will be your north star,
guiding you towards successful achievement of your goals.
Eventually, someplace down the line when to the going gets tough it
will remind you of why all of this matters.In his book, Gaias
GardenA Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, Toby Hemenway suggests
how to do this: The visioning phase begins with a no-holds-barred
brainstorm, limited to some degree by finances and really only by
ecological and ethical constraints.Next articulate your goals, what
specifically you want to achieve, what you need that your property
or farm to provide for you (what kind of food, herbs, medicinal
plants, firewood, timber, or other products would you like to
have?), what do you want your property to be (how it would look and
feel like, and what could be happening there?)In their book Edible
Forest Gardens Eric Tonsmeier and Dave Jacke suggest
that:Articulating your answers to those questions, represents a
foundational task of the design process.This is the stage where you
identify what will be the focus of the design. These goals will
help direct attention to the most important aspects of the site,
acting like a filter when analysing and assessing the site in the
next step. The best way to articulate your ultimate objectives to
write them down. By the end you should have a written statement
that clearly defines what you wish to achieve.3. List Your Personal
Resources And Limitations To Know What Youre Bringing To The
TableHow much time, money, and energy can you devote to the design,
implementation, and maintenance of the landscape? Which of these
resources could come from your family, friends, neighbours, or
community?Assess the resources on-hand for the project. What
personal resources, supplies and tools do you have? What money is
available for investing in the project? Is it available in a lump
sum or small amounts over a longer duration? Are there any outside
funding options available?Join our free newsletter. Enter your
email address FREE UPDATES! 202Shares112661Additionally, consider
potentially limiting personal factors; health, age, social issues
or any other you can think of might restrict you in some way.Site
Analysis and AssessmentSector analysis Ive done for my design
work.Any landscape is a whole system, yet one composed of elements
or parts, in this phase you should analyse them. The first thing
that youll need is a map.1. Get A Base Map Or Make One To Have A
Basis For Your DesignA base map forms the basis for the design.
Maps are easily acquired using Google Earth, Google Maps or other
similar online tools. If you also can acquire a contour map showing
the terrain, it will prove extremely useful during the next step.If
you cant get a map for whatever reason, maybe you could sketch one,
creating a rough base map that shows the sites most critical
features and what is currently on it. I would suggest to include
names, north indicator, location, scale, and anything that cannot
be changed.Join our free newsletter. Enter your email address FREE
UPDATES! 202Shares112661Remember, the map is the most important,
its a base layer upon which you place other layers of your design
and any observations you make on the field.2.Collect The Info About
The Site Through Observation And Research-Direct observation on the
fieldKey to permaculture is good observation. Ideally you should do
nothing for a year or so and simply grow familiar with the four
seasons, the existing weather and environmental patterns; wheres
the wind blowing, water flowing, pollution drifting, neighbours
walking, exposure to sun and wind, and so on..Walk the site and
conduct surveys. What wildlife is there? What is the soil like and
does it vary across the site? What plants are growing on the site
and in the wild? Identify any free or cheap resources available on
or close to the site, along with water possibilities and sources on
the land. What are the boundaries of the site, note the existing
buildings and paths. Make lists of what you see.-Info from other
off site resourcesToby Hemenway recommends: After making the
initial observations, do research via books, local experts, or the
Internet to learn more about characteristics that cant be observed
directly.Most information comes from direct observation, but data
from other sources can also be of aid. Search the internet for more
detail about rainfall, hydrology, insolation, and wind speeds. Read
up on the context of the site: regional (geographic) and
bioregional (flora and fauna), site history and development
patterns of the locality.Talk with neighbours and people from the
local community to gather invaluable intelligence that may not be
available from any other source.3. Analyse And Assess The Site To
Understand What You GotYou have collected the bulk of information
you need, now you are ready to analyse the data and see what it
reveals.Join our free newsletter. Enter your email address FREE
UPDATES! 202Shares112661Eric and Dave note: Analysis and assessment
breaks the site apart so you can gain deep understanding of each
piece of it. At this point, you should organise your observations
and identify the strongest influences that you need to design for
by exploring all of the landscapes components.Start with climate
first, this will exert the strongest influence on your site and
cant be altered. Analyse the info about rainfall, insolation, frost
dates and plant hardiness.Next, get your base map of the site and
mark the boundaries (site dimensions), chart the existing
infrastructure buildings, roads, paths and fencing.Analyse
geography, slope and aspects, major land features such as ridges
and valleys. Water drainage and watercourses, water sources such as
creeks, dams, and ponds.Existing trees and other principal plants
growing at the site. Soil types (clay, sand, gravel, rock) and
conditions (wet, dry, boggy) across the site.Do a sector analysis
and map the forces coming from outside the site, factors such as
sun, wind, flooding, fire, pollution, and wildlife. By locating and
mapping out the various sectors you can later place your pieces of
design in proper relationship to the outside forces entering the
site.Define microclimates or differences around the site based on
topography, slope aspect, overall land configuration. This will
influence your plant species selection and location and enable you
to plan for greater crop diversity.4. Summarise And Evaluate To See
If Your Goals Are AchievableSummarise the info in a drawing, a
rough sketched summary of the site analysis diagrammed as
overlapping bubble diagrams, focusing on relevant forms of incoming
energy (wind, views, sun) and the microclimates or differences
across the site.Derive directives for the process of evaluation
from your goals and the land. Make a bullet-point list and identify
your sites natural characteristics, any potential key limiting
factors of the site and evaluate your resources to see if they will
make your project feasable.Join our free newsletter. Enter your
email address FREE UPDATES! 202Shares112661This is a summary of
your current reality, and will you help to see the big picture and
give your design a direction.The Process of DesignPermaculture
Principles thinking tools for an era of changeDesigning is all
about connecting your vision with the observations made. Here you
should determine what goes where using the design methods and being
guided by the permaculture principles. Each of the methods offer a
way to help you draw connections between elements of the design.
There are many methods of design outlined by Bill Mollison in his
Designers Manual, and for more info I would recommend reading his
chapter on the design methods. Nonetheless, here I will focus on
several of the most commonplace ones. And dont forget those
permaculture principles.!1. Create A Concept Design And Integrate
Your Injury Results Into A Coherent WholeThe core part of the
design lies in the relative placement and proportioning of the
areas. The details of the size and shape of individual elements
then later evolve into Join our free newsletter. Enter your email
address FREE UPDATES! 202Shares112661the detailed design phase.
Here is Dave and Erics perspective: Main purpose is to work out
rough layout, focusing on the relationships amongst major features,
elements, functions, as well as approximate sizes, shapes, and
locations.So, start by locating, shaping and sizing the required
areas, as opposed to the individual bits and pieces, and use rough
bubble diagrams with notes. The design is actually a map or plan
showing the placement of elements or components, so use your base
map as your base layer and draw.To help you determine the rough
layout and design connections in this phase use the info from the
analysis and assessment phase in combination with zone and sector
planning; one of the master methods of design. Toby explains: Zones
organize the pieces of a design by how often they are used or need
attention, and sectors help locate the pieces so they manage the
forces that come from outside the site. Using zones and sectors
together, we can make the best use of the connections within a
design. To make things easier use components of the Scale of
Permanence and layer each component of the scale upon the last one.
There are variations of this scale that different teachers have
developed, but, for now, just be aware that in the design phase
going down the scale is not a hard-and-fast rule, but it can help
you organise your design thinking.Its best to begin with
essentials, start with infrastructure: water systems (water
storage, harvesting, irrigation), access (farm roads, tracks,
paths), structures (house, outbuildings, portable structures) what
Geoff Lawton terms mainframe permaculture.After experimenting the
with infrastructure layout distinguish main areas based on
microclimates and determine planting areas for gardens, crops,
orchards, and forestry.Define fencing (permanent, living, electric)
around the site and consider how animalswill integrate into the
system, as they are essential to the maturation of any permaculture
system.Join our free newsletter. Enter your email address FREE
UPDATES! 202Shares1126612. Create A Detailed Design And Go Into The
Details Of EverythingConcept design drawings are sketchy and not
very accurate, mainly taking the form of bubble diagrams.
Principally, they deal with relationships between functions and
spaces. Detailed design drawings are harder-edged, clearer, drawn
with accuracy. Here you can start to more precisely define about
all the features and characteristics you earlier laid out roughly
in the conceptual design, moving from the placement of overlapping
areas to the placement of distinct things and making as many
positive connections as possible.To see how the pieces of our
design can be connected to create a living landscape and make those
positive connections Toby suggests that: we need to think about how
each piece of the design behaves and what its relationships are
with the other pieces of the landscape and with us, the human
inhabitants. He recommends using a linking process, often termed a
needs and yields analysis, whereby each plant, structure, or other
element in a design should ideally have its needs provided for by
other design elements, and offer yields that themselves nurture
other elements.If you find yourself stuck with finding connections
you can use another creative method of analysis: random assembly
where you list major elements and explore the effects of combining
them randomly. Creative thinking can lead to unexpected positive
connections. Random assembly helps bust through creative blocks and
rewards us with combinations and connections we probably would
never have thought of.During detailed design you will make a host
of decisions regarding a myriad of design particulars and sketch in
details of the various planting beds, trees, walls and fences,
patios and decks, and any other design elements. Go down the Scale
of Permanence again and map out in detail your water layer, roads
and building. For planting areas determine the desired species,
scrutinize your site preparation and map out your strategy
development strategy.Ultimately you should aim to create hard line
drawings detailing the exact size, shape and location of every
element. Bill Mollison in his Designers Manual also suggests
attaching appendices such as maps, drawings, plans, layouts,
details, part lists, and photos. Therefore, make construction
diagrams with notes, species and material lists, Join our free
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202Shares112661estimate the cost of various stages of development,
and list strategies for generating income.Example of the detailed
design, courtesy of N. Huggins & M. van den Berg MB Equine
ServicesImplementation Timeline Make A Plan Of Action To FollowIf
you want turn your paper dream into concrete reality you need to
have a plan. Depending on your situation you might be able to start
implementing straight away, or you may have to wait until you have
enough capital to start, either way making a plan of action saves
time and makes things easier further down the road.In the
implementation phase you will actually install your design in the
field and evaluate as you go. The installation often occurs in
phases, depending on a combination of personal, environmental,
technical, seasonal and financial factors. I will leave discussing
the installing phase for a comprehensive post later and for now
just focus on making a plan because implementing a design is
crucial and it requires planning in logical order.At this stage
just make a plan what youre going to do, a timeline of
establishment, something like a to do list that you can follow when
you forget what the next step will be. Lay out a basic timeline
with suggested tasks. Make a plan what you be doing in years 1, 2,
3 based on your priorities and your budget, determine how much you
can afford to pay out in the establishment phase.Join our free
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202Shares112661Remember to plan according to the scale of
permanence and start with infrastructure. If there is an existing
house plan to begin the installation at your doorstep and work
outwards. The logical order for implementation is: look after what
you have first, restore what you can next and then finally
introduce new elements into the system.ConclusionDesign is an
integrated process, whereby every piece relates to and feeds the
others. The stages of the process, analysing & assessing you
and the site constitute the foundation, following this you
integrate your inqury results into a coherent whole a design
concept. Moreover, you must design the details of that whole to a
point where you can gather all that is necessary to create it. Then
you must implement the design on the ground and evaluate it
regularly.A detailed design will look more impressive for sure, but
the true gem is actually the concept and the rest merely variations
on an underlying theme.In Summary: Start with yourself and get a
clear idea of what relevant skills and knowledge you have along
with your strengths. Identify your vision and goals because clear
intentions speed both design and implementation, prevent wasted
effort and save time. List your personal resources and limitations
to know how much time, money, and energy you can devote to the
project. Get a base map, its the base layer and it forms the basis
for the design acquire one easily from Google Earth or Google Maps.
Collect info about your site from direct observations on the field
and off- site resources such as books, local experts and the
internet. Conduct an analysis and assessment of your site to gain a
deeper understanding of each aspect of it. Summarise the info from
the site analysis and assessment into a rough sketch to see if your
goals are attainable. Begin designing with a concept design and
determine the relative placement and proportioning of the areas,
use zone & sector planning and work through the scale of
permanence.Join our free newsletter. Enter your email address FREE
UPDATES! 202Shares112661 Go into details with the detail design
determining size, shapes and locations of individual elements, use
needs & yields and random assembly methods to determine how to
connect pieces of design. Make a plan for implementation; a plan of
action to follow based on your priorities, budget and logical order
of establishment, remember to plan in accordance to the scale of
permanence.To be honest this subject was a tough one, with all the
info scattered across the web and all the details in the books it
was really hard cohere it into something simple to follow, but Ive
given gave it my best shot!Let me know what you think in the
comments below!Filed Under: DesignCommentsKevin Espeseth says July
30, 2015 at 4:02 pmthanks, this method should work well with other,
similar, projects as well.new material addedsee also:
facebook.com/alowcosthomeReplySandrine says July 30, 2015 at 5:30
pmJoin our free newsletter. Enter your email address FREE UPDATES!
202Shares112661I like your view on the process! The article doesnt
replace a PDC or a good book on permaculture design, but it clearly
sums up what most books lack a clear and concise overview of the
steps to take when designingReplyLeave a Reply Your email address
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PROFILESLife is too short to learn from your mistakes. Why not
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successful permaculture farms and make your own special recipe for
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