Sustainable gardens - the wonders of Permaculture

Our gardens are often something that we feel that we should get around to tending sometime when the urgent stuff has been taken care of. Yet by the time the urgent stuff is taken care of we often don't have the energy to get to them, even if we do think they are important.

So it would be nice if everyone added more native and food plants purely to help the environment, but if you need some extra encouragement with more immediate benefits here are some thoughts.

So why should we raise our gardens importance and urgency?

Following are some potential benefits for the individual and the business.


For the business:

  • Increase revenue from customers.
    • If your buildings have an entrance way that is more attractive, would that encourage more people to come inside?
    • If people are visiting anyway would they be better disposed to doing business with you?
  • Gain a PR advantage.
    • If you replaced grass with attractive native or food trees and plants would that be seen as a benefit by green orientated staff, prospects, customers and investors?
  • Cut costs.
    • With strategically placed vegetation could it help cut cooling and heating costs?
    • If you grew decorative native plants or food plants would that save money?
  • Improve staff relations.
    • Would your staff feel more satisfied and cared about if the grounds of your building were beautified?
    • Do you have staff that would enjoy developing gardens with you if they were given the opportunity?

 

For the individual:

  • Improve your health.
    • Doing gardening can be a great form of exercise.
    • Organically grown food that is picked and eaten immediately can be more beneficial than food that has been picked early and left in storage for a long period - and it tastes great too!
    • Many people find that pottering in a garden can be destressing and a way of having time for creative thought.
  • Save costs.
    • Planting a fruit tree isn't very expensive and then every time you get a crop you are leaving money in your pocket.
    • Once you have fun picking your own fruit you realise how inexpensive growing some proportion of your food can be. And if you grow your own seed or propagate from clippings even the upfront cost can disappear.
  • Have fun.
    • Playing in the garden with your partner and/or children is an old fashioned, often forgotten, pleasure.
    • It can also help your kids reconnect with the real world if they are becoming obsessed with computer gaming.
    • You'll find very little resistance to kids eating their vegetables if they have had a hand in growing them!

What is permaculture?

Permaculture is a word abbreviated from "permanent agriculture". It is a method of gardening that aims to cut out the need for toxic chemicals, artificial fertilisers and unnecessary work.

It provides a system that strives to work with nature rather than trying to overcome it and it places great store on keeping strong vibrant ecosystems.

So how far can permaculture be taken?

When the Soviet Union broke up in the early 1990s, Cuba lost approximately half of its oil imports, more than three quarters of its trade and much of its food. In 1993 a small group of Australians were visiting to teach about the low energy, sustainable gardening method of permaculture.

Faced with necessity, Cuba took the teachings to heart and now produce a significant amount of its food within the city of Havana itself as well as in other areas. To read more see: http://globalpublicmedia.com/articles/657

As climate change becomes more obvious and peak oil comes upon us, there may well be lessons to be learnt for the rest of the world.

How do I learn more?

The Permaculture Home Garden by Linda Woodrow and Food Not Lawns: How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden And Your Neighborhood into a Community by Heather Coburn Flores are excellent introductions to permaculture.

Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in an Era of Oil Scarcity: Lessons from Cuba by Julia Wright tells the fascinating story of Cuba's attempts to overcome its challenges.

Nature: Silence of the Bees is a documentary DVD which explores the mysterious disappearance of huge amounts of honey bees from right around the globe that could have serious consequences for food production. It is an example of the fragility of ecosystems if they are abused.

Finally Vegetables, Herbs and Fruit: An Illustrated Encyclopedia by Matthew Biggs, Jekka McVicar & Bob Flowerdew and Making the Most of a Small Garden by Peter McHoy are two particularly enjoyable and informative reads amongst the myriad of gardening books available.

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For businesses that wish to fast track their knowledge on these subjects,
please see our Executive Briefings section.









Zone 1 USA