Unleash Your Creativity with Permaculture Design Principles

It's always best to find the value in the marginal before disturbing a natural site for more space. Our most impactful work in permaculture can be done on the land already created for humanity. By finding ways for us to maximize productivity in areas already impacted, we are helping bring our cities back into a balanced state with the natural world. And it comes with the added benefit of it being harder to make mistakes in a small, marginal area (Principle #9) than it is in a fully functioning ecosystem. By adding plants to unused marginal space, you are immediately improving it by bringing diversity to the site with minimal competition from established species. And as this marginal area grows more diverse, it creates stability.

As a note, remember to be aware of your property history. If you have an older house, where lead paint may have once been used, consider planting non-edible plants in those marginal spaces where paint could have flaked off. When you plant your garden in south-facing sunlight, consider the dynamic microclimate it creates. You can inoculate dowels with mushroom species and place them in the logs that line the shaded edge. They will enjoy the cooler climate provided by the plants and the extra water that the logs can soak up.

Permaculture Principle #12: Creatively Use and Respond to Change

The final principle we will look at is creatively using features and responding to changes. We live in a world of climate change. These coming changes will challenge us and push us to react on every level, from record heatwaves and droughts to floods and superstorms. We are all learning how to respond, and by making ourselves aware of these things, we can start making small changes today to respond to the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and soil degradation.

When looking at your yard, try and find what makes it unique. This allows you to develop an equally unique solution and strategy for it. Permaculture embraces creativity because the biggest hurdle in producing abundance is the limit of our creativity. Step outside the box and don't be afraid to make mistakes. It is in our mistakes that we learn what works and doesn't, and like nature, we adapt our practices. All of us have made mistakes in our gardens that we would never make again, even if that mistake is not having started a garden in the first place.

Permaculture Design Principles In a Nutshell

Take advantage of the first principle and take time to observe your yard and explore what creative workaround to problems are possible before beginning. And remember, every situation is different, so continue to use that creativity to come up with new solutions. Some of those problems in your design might also be the solution you are looking for in another location. If your rain barrel is often overflowing, for example, why not have an overflow set to direct water through your garden before going to the street? This takes one problem and creatively responds to solve another. Instead of always wanting to fix problems, we can look at them as something to make better.

Don't forget that small and slow solutions also play into responding to change. Consider ways you can make changes in your yard that will increase production with the least energy invested. Big machines cost money and energy in the form of fuel, and they create largely disturbed areas. Reducing our ecological footprint is something everyone can do at home by limiting the use of these machines and favoring systems that have increased production (or yield from principle #3).

You can take a deep breath because you've reached the end of the 12 permaculture principles. Any new ideas on how you can design your backyard to be flexible towards the unknown future? Any ideas on how we can collectively be the change today?

If you've read through the series, and permaculture is something you would like to do to your property, you can learn more about through Oregon State University's online Permaculture Design Certification. It's a 10-week course where you learn to complete your own permaculture design of your property and receive feedback from instructors and peers. In the end, you will have your unique permaculture design tailored to your preferences!