My senior project was to design and build a permaculture garden from scratch in an unused space behind my local church. The aim of this project was to gain practical experience testing my designs, as well as creating a beautiful space for the church community to use.
Site and sector analysis
For the first school term of this project I worked on an extensive site and sector analysis of the church property. This included contamination testing, climate research, local wildlife, and more.
Designing a food forest
A food forest is a garden that holds the same structure and logic of a natural forest. I knew the church would benefit most from food that can be used at events and weekly services. For this reason, the canopy of my food forest is entirely made up of fruit trees. The positioning of these trees was important. I placed the deciduous trees in front of the evergreens so that there was space for winter sun as well as protection from hot summers. To include the understory forest layers, and to keep the trees well cared for, I used tree guilds.
Tree Guilds
Tree guilds are garden beds that use companion planting to support the centre tree. I was careful when designing these guilds to incorporate all the forest layers that work together supporting the main tree. These plants needed to have multiple functions such as food production, insect attracting or repelling qualities, soil improvement, and more. The tree guilds would be a highly productive, but low maintenance space consisting of mainly perennial plants that care for themselves.
Veggie rotation
Between the guilds the garden will grow annual veggies. These beds can be rotated between seasons and used creatively. I wanted this to be the space that anyone could have a go at regardless of knowledge or experience gardening. Around the mandala I have planned windbreaks which will also supply mulch and sun protection in summer.
The link below shows how I implemented my design, and a more detailed breakdown of the garden.