The Top Five Features for Designing Your Property Using Permaculture

Topography

First, the permaculture designer examines the property as a whole, which includes its topographical features. These can be as subtle as a slow decline over 100 feet of length, or as drastic as the rocky face of a cliff. Even though a home may look identical to the one next door, the land could be telling a different story.

The land is essential to the designer because it gives hints as to how specific weather changes will affect the property as a whole. If your house is at the top of a hill and the dry brush is below it, a spark and gust could quickly ignite the hillside. And sometimes homes will remain untouched, only to be taken out by the mudslide generated by a lack of vegetation and heavy rain.

What is the importance of elevation on your property? By knowing the topography, the designer will be able to place features around the elevation of your site. For example, directing rainwater from the roof to a barrel lower than your gutter and higher than your garden will make gravity do the hard work of moving the water.

Understanding the topography also lays the foundation of the design, and other design features begin to fall into place.

Hydrology

Hydrology is going to be one of the most connected features of topography. Knowing the direction of your slope unlocks the knowledge of what path water will take. Hillside properties can pose a significant problem if water flows in a straight line downhill, causing erosion of the soil that plants need to grow in.

The permaculture designer will look at all the hydrological aspects of your property. If you’re on a hillside and water flows gradually down the slope, you can capture and soak it into the ground for your trees and perennial berry bushes. But what if you are part of a series of townhouses with shared driveways or parking? The permaculture designer can look into how you can take that excess stormwater and direct it into a series of gardens or flower beds.

Hydrology is crucial to design. With the proper roofing, gutters, and rain barrels (and water filtration systems), you can collect water from your home to quench your thirst or soak your gardens. Just 1-inch of rainfall over a 1,000 square-foot home equates to roughly 600 gallons of water. In areas affected by drought, this could make a difference in your water bill during those relentless summer months.

Lighting

How your home accesses light is also a crucial aspect of permaculture design. The aspect, or slope direction of the property, can affect that access. Are you on a slope facing the sun, or are you facing away? Does your house have windows in locations where they will receive direct sun in the winter but indirect light in the summer months?

The designer will be able to look at the property and see locations to place various features, from solar panels to vegetable gardens. Maybe you’re planning a food forest and wondering how best to take advantage of the sunlight. The designer can help guide you through what plants will be able to fill the sunny space during the growth of the trees and then what will fill the space later as a shade-tolerant perennial.

Sometimes too much sun can be a downside, warming your western rooms or making a section of the patio unbearable for most of the afternoon. Your designer may recommend trellis plants that can turn that extra sunshine into a snack right outside your window and block the hot summer sun.