We reveal the principles according to which permaculture works and why this type of cultivation is particularly sustainable.
It's not that easy to explain permaculture in a few sentences. After all, permaculture is a holistic and multifaceted concept of garden design and sustainable agriculture. Permaculture is derived from the English "permanent (agri-)culture" and stands for permanent culture or land cultivation. Permaculture is about taking natural cycles and ecosystems as a model and imitating them in the garden.
Definition of permaculture in the garden: Permaculture is a form of land use modeled on natural ecosystems. Particular attention is paid to cycles, diversity and resilience of the design and planting.
In this article we will introduce you to the principles of permaculture and explain the benefits of permaculture in the garden.
Permaculture: Principles & Methods
The concept of permaculture was developed in the 1970s by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. They wanted to design an alternative to industrial agriculture, which pollutes large areas with pesticides and fertilizers without taking the environment and biodiversity into account. The aim of permaculture is to ensure a sustainable yield of sufficient magnitude with as little effort as possible (such as labour, purchased materials and energy). All available resources should be managed as ecologically, economically, socially sustainable and mindfully as possible.
Permaculture is based on various principles and principles, which we will briefly explain below.
The Three Principles of Permaculture:
- Care for the earth (Earth Care): Build up humus, promote soil organisms, structure and fertility of the soil, prevent erosion and drying out.
- Care for people (People Care): Treating yourself and others with care, nurturing human relationships, taking responsibility, finding solutions together.
- Fair Share (Fair Share): Lossless, fair harvesting and recycling through sharing with the community.
By the way, the principles of permaculture are not only used in agriculture and horticulture, but also in other areas such as sustainable urban planning or architecture. All other measures and strategies that should be considered when planning and designing a permaculture garden can be derived from the three basic principles.
Common permaculture methods:
- Observing and imitating nature.
- Learning from nature and natural cycles: observing food chains, creating habitats that are useful for humans and animals, such as wild fruit hedges or fish ponds.
- Start small and think, plan and act long term.
- Creating and preserving diversity: establishing different zones and microclimates, designing peripheral zones.
- Optimize instead of maximize: For example, choose more resistant varieties for cultivation, increase soil fertility, save water, establish mixed cultures.
- Conserve resources, avoid waste (zero waste) and recycle if possible.
- Create creative solutions in community projects.
- Cooperation instead of competition.
Benefits of Permaculture
A major advantage of permaculture is that this type of agriculture is particularly sustainable and environmentally friendly. Through the careful use of natural resources and the promotion of biodiversity and cycles in the garden, a variety of living spaces can be created in the garden. At the same time, it is also about producing he althy and natural food in sufficient quantities yourself.
All advantages of permaculture at a glance:
- Sustainable and resource-saving.
- Ecologically and socially responsible.
- Contributes to biodiversity and promotes beneficial insects through different microclimates and diverse habitats.
- Particularly hardy plant communities (high resilience).
- CO2 Bonding in the soil through long-term humus build-up.
- Saving and storing water.
- Contributes to (self-)supply with natural and he althy food.
- Creation of knowledge and mindfulness about cycles and connections in nature.
Our sustainable and environmentally friendly products from Plantura are very compatible with the principles of permaculture. We also always value a conscious and respectful approach to nature. In our Plantura Shop, discover climate-friendly produced soils, fertilisers, flowering mixtures and many other products for sustainable gardening that bring the greatest benefits for you, your garden and the environment.
You can find concrete application examples and practical tips on how to create a permaculture garden yourself in our article on permaculture in the garden.