What is permaculture?
Urban permaculture was coined by two Australians, Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in the 1970s. It is about making the most out of available space by creating sustainable environments. From balconies to farms, cities to the wilderness, permaculture is everywhere you look and learning to use these ideas can help create more productive and sustainable spaces.
At its heart, urban permaculture is about working with nature. Techniques like vertical gardening, container growing and composting make it possible to create rich, layered gardens in any space, large or small, while reducing waste and energy use.
The design approach of zones
This is all about conserving energy
Permaculture zones are a practical design tool used to organise your garden based on how often areas are used and how much care they need. Ranging from 0 to 5, they place high-maintenance, frequently visited areas (like herb gardens) closest to the home, while lower-maintenance or wild areas are further away.
- Zone 0 = The house/centre
Aiming to reduce energy and water use, harness natural resources like sunlight and create a sustainable, balanced environment.
- Zone 1 = Immediate/intensive
The zone closest to the house, visited daily and requires frequent attention. Places like your herbs, kitchen garden, seedlings, worm farms and tea garden.
- Zone 2 = Garden/small livestock
Used regularly, but less intensively than Zone 1. Includes perennials, long-season vegetables, orchard, poultry, compost systems and larger vegetable beds, often supported by drip irrigation systems.
- Zone 3 = Main crops/farm
Once established, maintenance is minimal, especially when mulched, with only occasional watering or weed control needed each week. Pastures, main crops, large livestock are found in this zone.
- Zone 4 = Semi-wild/foraging
A lightly managed, more natural area of the garden, used for hardy or native plants and occasional harvesting. This space requires minimal care, with only occasional pruning or thinning.
- Zone 5 = Wilderness
A natural, unmanaged area that supports wildlife and biodiversity. In a home garden, it may be created through native planting or undisturbed space. It can also extend beyond your garden to nearby bushland or other natural areas.
These zones are not rigid, concentric circles, but are flexible to fit the landscape’s topography and shape.
Water saving techniques
Water in urban permaculture focuses on slowing, spreading and soaking water to maximise on-site usage and reduce runoff. Key strategies include harvesting rainwater from roofs, using greywater for irrigation, installing swales and rain gardens and improving soil with organic matter and mulch to enhance water retention. These methods improve soil fertility and create resilient, self-sufficient landscapes.
Useful plants, besides edibles
Useful permaculture plants are multifunctional, hardy and often perennial, helping to build a balanced garden system. These plants quietly thrive, suppress weeds and provide habitat, with some offering food and medicine, while others improve soil and balance ecosystems.
Top choices include nutrient-accumulating comfrey, nitrogen-fixing pigeon pea, edible groundcover like Brazilian spinach and versatile trees like mulberry and citrus. These plants support a self-sustaining system through “chop-and-drop” mulch, attracting beneficial insects and providing ongoing organic matter.
Urban food forests
Urban food forests are layered productive ecosystems that mimic natural woodlands, often within small urban spaces. These systems are intentionally low-maintenance, biodiverse and seasonally responsive celebrating beauty as much as abundance.
By integrating fruit/nut trees, shrubs, vines and perennial herbs, they maximise space, enhance environmental health and foster community connection.
- Vertical food forests
Use trellises, arbours and green walls to grow climbing varieties like pole beans, peas, cucumbers and tomatoes to maximise limited space. - Layered planting
Arrange plants in “layers” like a natural forest, with underground root crops, groundcovers, small shrubs, large shrubs, trees and vines. - Herb spirals
This is typically a 1–2-metre-wide raised bed in a vertical snail-shell shape. These spirals allow you to maximise growing space and create diverse microclimates. By using stone or brick, the top dries out for Mediterranean and sun-loving herbs, while the base remains moist for water-loving herbs. - The three sisters
A traditional agricultural technique developed by the Indigenous people of North America. This form of companion planting involves growing corn, climbing beans and squash (or pumpkin) together, allowing each plant to provide a specific benefit to the others and creating a self-sustaining ecosystem. - Mandala gardens
These circular, permaculture-based gardens are organised around a central point, often using radial or keyhole-shaped beds to improve space efficiency and soil health. They combine visual appeal with practical design, enabling high-density companion planting in raised beds with minimal weeding and easy access without soil compaction.
Animals in the System
Urban permaculture integrates animals like chickens, ducks and rabbits to create self-sustaining systems that manage waste and improve soil fertility. In spaces that allow for livestock, animals can be moved through the garden in portable coops to graze and naturally fertilise the soil. For smaller backyards, this can be replicated through composting, worm farms and encouraging beneficial insects such as bees, supporting pollination.
