Silver and Gold Magazine Spring 2017 | Page 14

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PERMACULTURE

– By Brandon M . Gelderman
Permaculture is defined as “ A system of agricultural and social design principles centred on simulating or directly utilizing the patterns and features observed in natural ecosystems .” Permaculture was developed , and the term coined by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren of Australia , in 1978 .
We have to work with nature , and not against it . When we are planning our space outside we need to be cautious of the weather elements . The first question you must always ask yourself is , when it rains where is the water going to flow ? Away from your building or towards it ? Water is essential to our health and well-being , also to plants and living elements on this planet . When the water is not directed in the proper location , flooding , puddles , drowning plants and bad news will be the result .
Graphic © Karl Schmidt
Designing with permaculture concept , we need to keep all the natural elements in mind – Weather : including sun , rain , wind , drought , and so on ; animals : including mammals , birds , fish , and even insects , keeping in mind that animals were living in our area before we were , so it is our obligation to respect their natural habitat . In Permaculture , planting wildflowers and native brushes are ideal for attracting bees , butterflies , and other pollinator insects .
Before putting the first shovel into the ground or purchasing any pretty flowering shrubs from the nursery we need to think ahead ! It is much smarter to investigate how large a tree will grow before buying it rather than labour in our gardens for countless hours to find out that it was all a big waste of time due to wrong measurement or inappropriate arrangement .
One hour of planning can save four to five hours of execution . Plan with more flowers . Most people look to have low maintenance gardens , which limit the plant palette and leave fewer choices for evergreen shrubs and basic plantings .

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