Permaculture for More Beautiful, Resilient Landscapes
By Charlene Westgate, Permaculture Landscape Designer
Originally in The Valley magazine, November 2021
“Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single product system.” – Bill Mollison, Co-founder of Permaculture.
And have you noticed that most residential landscapes look contrived and sterile? They rarely hold a candle to the vibrant landscapes that nature designs. With careful observation, by making nature an ally rather than an enemy, and by planting in a way that allows landscape elements to support each other, landscapes can be more beautiful and resilient and require less work to keep them that way.
Consider a permaculture-designed landscape if that’s the kind of landscape you want.
Do you ever feel like you’re fighting an uphill battle to maintain your yard? All the pruning, weeding, watering, and fertilizing seem to be a never-ending fight.
And have you noticed that most residential landscapes look contrived and sterile? They rarely hold a candle to the vibrant landscapes that nature designs. With careful observation, by making nature an ally rather than an enemy, and by planting in a way that allows landscape elements to support each other, landscapes can be more beautiful and resilient and require less work to keep them that way.
Consider a permaculture-designed landscape if that’s the kind of landscape you want.
Working with Nature
In redesigning a Green Valley landscape recently, the shade of this lovely Palo Verde offered the perfect place for an outdoor seating area, creating a little permaculture paradise.
Imagine sitting on a patio under that palo verde. In winter, the sun is low and to the south, shining under the canopy and providing lovely warmth on cool days as you enjoy your morning coffee. In summer, when the sun is high and to the north, the tree offers cooling shade as you dine with friends at the end of the day. As you relax together, you take in the striking colors of native plants, the aromas of scented flowers, and the aerial acrobatics of the hummingbirds and fluttering butterflies that visit them.
That palo verde is not just offering shade. It provides nesting for birds that delight you with their song or entertain you as they splash in your birdbath in the cooling shade of its canopy. In spring, the flowers are abuzz with the hum of the tiny native bees pollinating them.
And who needs fertilizer? The tree also captures nitrogen that improves the soil helping everything else grow, ensuring the vitality of the plants around it. In turn, those plants act as living mulch to hold precious moisture in the soil. No wonder your yard looks so lush.
Your friends marvel that your yard has fewer pesky insects than at their house. That’s also thanks to this tree. Lizards who dine on insects have taken up residence here and love sunning themselves on rocks nearby. In addition, saguaros and agave, protected by the palo verde in their early years, are now producing blooms that host bats with a voracious appetite for night-flying insects like mosquitoes.
These are the principles of permaculture in action: designing with intention so that your aesthetic and sensory experience is enhanced by nature; designing so that landscape elements support each other, becoming more vibrant over time; designing purposefully so that there is something in your landscape to enjoy throughout the year. Are you ready for your beautiful landscape that’s in harmony with nature?
