Permaculture Zones

PERMACULTURE ZONES

H0W TO FIND THE 5 PERMACULTURE ZONES IN YOUR HABITAT

YOUR HOME or OFFICE: BASIC UNITS OF LIVING

By Lisa S. Abell

While you are creating your site map with vectors,?

Start looking at how you use different parts of your habitat.?

ZONE 1?

Do you pass through your front door and out to your car or the street a couple times a day? Is the kid’s play area in sight of the kitchen window view? Do you regularly use your balcony, deck, sidewalk or driveway? How about the kitchen door or back door??

Any place you easily pass by on a daily basis without having to think about it- is your Zone one.

Herb gardens, edible flowers, kid’s play space, rabbit hutches, salad fixin’s, annual vegetable and fruit gardens are ideal to put in this zone. Be sure to include a place for all necessary tools for this zone here, not on the back 40….just sayin’.

Zone 2

Your shed, garage, or area just outside Zone 1 is : Zone 2. How about that!

Zone 2 is ideal for a small shed, pasturing of chickens, geese, ducks, a goat, fruit trees and perennials. Berry bushes, parsley, and self seeding annuals, perennial herbs such as Monarda, Comfrey, or cover crops, (clover, buckwheat, vetch) and Native wildflowers are useful here. These plants should not require watering once established. You might visit this area 2-3 times a week to check on the plants, more frequently if you are pasturing.

In a suburban setting such as Davidson County, TN this is where you put your 20 rabbits or 10 hens or one mule or two goats. Seriously, it’s allowed.

Zone 3

Your Zone 3 might not be just outside Zone 2- it depends on your habitat. Mine is full of mature native trees, so I consider this a place to forage for chanterelles and other mushrooms, encourage medicinals such as St. John’s Wort, Joe Pye weed, or shade loving natives. One of the trees has a swing on it. It is a play zone. This is great, since our sunny patches are precious for food crops like Amaranth, Sesame, Sorghum, Beans, Squash.

Fences, Walls

In a suburban environment, fences and walls often define property boundaries. I consider this zone 3 since I will grow crops that can be shared with neighbors or add beauty for passers-by. In a way it is Zone 2 since I must regularly check that we look presentable to the neighbors. Yard-wise, mowing has to happen here- no matter how much garden there is! Also my hoses reach to the front fence line, so seedlings can be nurtured when necessary.

Be sure to include retreat space such as a hammock or tent here or in Zone 4

In an Urban setting, zones 3 and 4 might be compressed or intermingled. Allow for summer hedges (see Abell’s EcoVerse- “The Fastest Summer Hedge- Ever” and spots where mystery and obscured views can develop.

It’s very pleasing to our animal selves to have “secret spots”. Plus, you might need to shield the neighbors a bit from your Zone 5…

Zone 5

Is as close to wild as you can make it. In Tennessee, most of our wild unkept spots are choked out by invasives. I cut and drop the leaves of Japanese Honeysuckle wherever I need mulch, as a form of coppicing. I am slowly removing the privet while cutting them back immediately after flowering. I must burn these, as they sprout from just a bit of twig. We are allowing natives to come in as they wish. Both Privet and Japanese Honeysuckle are trying to smother the base of our old trees. Plus they are very flammable, even when green. So I chop them down for green mulch or firestarter at least once a month.

In Conclusion

Get another piece of tracing paper. Mark out your zones with 5 different colors. Add or change this map as you observe more. It’s super fun, kind of like reading a Martha Stewart Living magazine —-and it feels like you’ve already done the work!