What is Permaculture?
Permaculture, a term coined in the mid-1970s by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, combines “permanent” and “agriculture” to describe sustainable agricultural systems.
Over time, the concept broadened to encompass “permanent culture,” reflecting its application beyond farming to include societal and ecological systems. Holmgren described permaculture as “consciously designed landscapes that mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature,” producing food, energy, and other essentials sustainably while fostering community resilience.
The permaculture movement has spread globally and is often driven by grassroots efforts. The Permaculture Design Course (PDC), established in 1984, has trained thousands of practitioners worldwide. Critics note challenges such as the lack of scientific validation for some claims, while proponents emphasize its adaptability and emphasis on systems thinking as strengths.
In recent decades, permaculture has expanded beyond land stewardship to include systems thinking applied to economics, education, governance, and social structures. Its holistic approach has influenced movements like regenerative agriculture, eco-village development, and climate resilience planning.
Today, permaculture is a global movement practiced in over 100 countries. It has evolved from its agricultural roots to a philosophy and design system for creating sustainable human habitats and communities in harmony with the natural world.
You don’t need to be a professional permaculture designer to start applying permaculture principles in your daily life and garden. At its heart, permaculture is about observing and working with nature, and small, thoughtful actions can have a big impact. Whether it’s composting kitchen scraps, planting a diversity of herbs and vegetables, or harvesting rainwater with simple setups, these practices embody permaculture’s core ethics of caring for the Earth, people, and future generations.
Even urban dwellers can grow food on balconies, support pollinators with native plants, or reduce waste by repurposing materials. By making small changes and adopting a mindset of sustainability, anyone can contribute to creating resilient, regenerative systems in their own backyard or community.
This is a brief overview of the permaculture design principles, intended to introduce their core ideas and inspire exploration. The principles shared here are drawn from widely recognized permaculture resources and are meant as a starting point for your journey.
Permaculture more than just gardening. Think of it as an ecosystem philosophy—a way of designing our lives, homes, and communities to work in harmony with nature instead of against it. At its heart, permaculture is about observing, respecting, and mimicking natural systems rather than trying to wrestle nature into submission. When we do that, we get to reap the benefits of a balanced, self-sustaining system—less human input, less waste, and way more resilience.
Ethics of Permaculture
The foundation of permaculture rests on three ethics that guide every choice and every design: Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share.
Permaculture operates on three core ethical foundations:
Care for the Earth – Protecting natural systems and biodiversity.
Care for People – Ensuring human well-being and equitable resource access.
Fair Share – Redistributing surplus to support the first two ethics and setting sustainable limits.
These ethics underpin 12 design principles articulated by Holmgren, forming the foundation for creating regenerative systems that harmonize human activities with the natural world. These principles include observing and interacting with natural systems to understand their patterns and dynamics before taking action, catching and storing energy to make use of seasonal abundance for long-term resilience, obtaining a yield to ensure that systems provide tangible and sustainable benefits, and using small, slow solutions to foster gradual and adaptable change that minimizes risk.
Permaculture Design Principles
Each principle acts as a pathway to realign human activities with ecological processes, encouraging designs that are both innovative and rooted in natural wisdom. For instance, observing and interacting emphasizes the importance of thorough understanding before intervention, leading to more informed and sustainable outcomes.
Similarly, the principle of catching and storing energy highlights the value of conserving resources—such as harvesting rainwater or planting perennial crops—to buffer against scarcity. These ideas are interconnected, reinforcing one another to create robust systems.
Holmgren explains in his summary that these principles are not confined to agriculture or land use alone but are intentionally broad, enabling their application across various scales and contexts, from individual homes and gardens to large-scale community or industrial designs.
By offering universally relevant guidance, these principles empower individuals and communities to create sustainable systems that meet their needs while restoring ecological balance. This flexibility makes permaculture a powerful tool for addressing global challenges such as food security, climate change, and resource depletion, while also enhancing local resilience and self-reliance.
Principle 1: Observe and Interact
Permaculture begins with observation. To design effectively, we must first take the time to understand the environment and its rhythms—how natural and social systems function and interact. Careful observation reveals patterns, relationships, and processes, laying the groundwork for respectful and successful interventions.
By observing the environment, we gather insights about critical elements such as weather, soil health, water movement, wildlife habits, and human activity. This knowledge guides decisions that are informed and attuned to the unique characteristics of the land and community.
Principle 1: Example In Practice
For example, a landowner planning a permaculture site spends an entire year observing the land through different seasons. They note where sunlight falls, how water flows during rains, and which areas are prone to frost. They also identify where wildlife paths intersect with potential farming zones. This careful observation informs decisions such as where to plant windbreak trees, where to locate vegetable gardens for maximum sunlight, and how to design water catchment systems to reduce erosion and retain moisture.
Principle 1: Expanded Applications
- Gardening: Before planting a garden, spend time observing which areas receive the most sunlight, how the wind affects the site, and where natural water drainage occurs. This ensures plants are placed in optimal conditions.
- Urban Design: Urban planners might observe how pedestrians use a public park to identify well-traveled paths and social gathering spots, enabling better placement of amenities like benches, lighting, and gardens.
- Disaster Mitigation: Observing flood patterns and natural watercourses in a community can guide the design of swales and retention ponds to manage stormwater effectively, reducing flood risks.
Principle 1: Broader Applications
Observation isn’t limited to the physical environment—it also includes social observation. Understanding local traditions, cultural values, and social structures helps create designs that are not only ecologically sustainable but also socially embraced.
For example, consulting with local communities to understand their needs and practices ensures that a project is practical and culturally sensitive.
Careful, close observation prevents hasty, uninformed decisions and fosters a mutually beneficial relationship between humans and the environment.
Thoughtful interaction based on observation leads to designs that work with natural and social systems, rather than against them.
Principle 2: Catch and Store Energy
A sustainable future depends on our ability to harness and preserve energy in all its forms—be it sunlight, water, soil fertility, or even human effort. By catching and storing energy during times of abundance, we create reserves that help sustain systems through periods of scarcity. This principle encourages thoughtful planning and design to ensure that resources are used wisely and efficiently.
Harnessing Nature’s Abundance
Energy flows through every ecosystem, from sunlight driving photosynthesis to water cycles nourishing the land. Permaculture design emphasizes capturing these flows to build resilience. Examples include:
- Solar Energy: Installing solar panels or designing passive solar homes to collect and store sunlight as power or heat.
- Water Harvesting: Using rain barrels, ponds, and swales to gather and store water for dry seasons.
- Soil Health: Composting organic material to create nutrient-rich soil that retains energy for plant growth.
Building Reserves
Storage systems are the foundation of long-term sustainability. Energy stored in food, fuel, or materials ensures that we can meet immediate needs without depleting resources. For example:
- Planting fruit and nut trees provides long-term food reserves.
- Constructing ponds supports aquaculture while buffering against droughts.
- Storing seeds ensures future harvests and preserves genetic diversity.
Principle 2: Example In Practice
Consider a homestead preparing for energy descent. The designer installs rainwater tanks to catch storm runoff, builds compost systems to recycle nutrients, and plants a mix of fast-growing trees for firewood alongside slow-growing hardwoods for future timber needs. This combination of short- and long-term strategies creates a self-sustaining system that supports the household while preserving resources for the future.
The principle of catching and storing energy applies far beyond gardening.
- Urban Settings: Green roofs and community gardens capture rainwater and store organic material for composting.
- Renewable Energy Systems: Wind turbines and micro-hydro installations generate and store energy locally, reducing reliance on centralized grids.
- Disaster Preparedness: Storing food, water, and other essentials helps communities weather emergencies with minimal disruption.
This principle isn’t just about physical resources—it’s also about intellectual and social capital. Investing in education, skills, and community networks builds reserves of knowledge and cooperation, which are invaluable in adapting to future challenges.
Principle 3: Obtain a Yield
Sustainability thrives when systems are designed to deliver tangible benefits. Whether it’s food, energy, or social value, obtaining a yield ensures that efforts produce immediate and meaningful results. This principle underscores the importance of creating systems that sustain themselves by rewarding those who invest in them.
Why Yields Matter
Every natural system is driven by feedback—outputs that reinforce or sustain the processes creating them. In permaculture, yields serve as both rewards and resources for maintaining the system.
Without a consistent yield, even the most thoughtful design may falter. Examples of yields include:
- Food: Fresh vegetables from a garden or eggs from backyard chickens.
- Energy: Firewood from a managed forest or biogas from compost.
- Community Benefits: Social connection fostered through shared labor or surplus exchange.
A well-designed permaculture system provides multiple outputs, often overlapping and mutually reinforcing. For instance:
- A food forest might yield fruit, veggies, nuts, fuel, and habitat for pollinators.
- A pond could provide fish, irrigation water, and cooling for surrounding areas.
- Community-supported agriculture offers both food and social bonds between growers and consumers.
Imagine a small permaculture site with an integrated garden and chicken coop. The chickens yield eggs, manure for compost, and pest control as they forage. The garden, in turn, provides vegetables and cover crops that support the chickens. Together, these elements generate a variety of yields that sustain the household while minimizing external inputs.
Principle 3: Broader Applications
The principle of obtaining a yield extends beyond the land:
- Economic Systems: Small businesses and cooperatives create financial yields while strengthening local economies.
- Education and Skill Building: Teaching others creates a ripple effect of shared knowledge and collective resilience.
- Social Systems: Community gardens or urban farms foster connection and cooperation while providing fresh food.
Yields are not just about immediate returns; they also build a foundation for future abundance. Systems designed with regenerative practices—such as planting perennials, building fertile soil, and capturing renewable energy—ensure yields will continue for generations.
Principle 4: Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback
Healthy systems thrive on balance. By designing systems that self-regulate and adapt based on feedback, we reduce the need for constant intervention and prevent overexploitation. This principle is about learning from outcomes—both successes and failures—and using those insights to guide sustainable practices.
In nature, feedback loops maintain stability. Predators keep prey populations in check, plants adjust growth to resource availability, and ecosystems adapt to changing conditions. Permaculture applies these lessons by encouraging designs that limit or discourage inappropriate growth or behavior.
Principle 5: Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services
Nature provides an abundance of renewable resources, from sunlight and water to the labor of plants, animals, and soil organisms. This principle emphasizes designing systems that maximize the use of these resources while minimizing reliance on non-renewable inputs.
Renewable Resources in Action
Renewable resources are the backbone of sustainable systems. Examples include:
- Energy: Solar, wind, and hydropower replace fossil fuels.
- Soil Fertility: Composting organic waste restores nutrients to the soil.
- Biological Labor: Chickens tilling soil or trees providing shade and shelter.
Valuing Natural Services
Beyond consumable resources, ecosystems offer services that can be harnessed without depletion:
- Shade and Cooling: Trees regulate temperatures, reducing energy needs.
- Pest Control: Birds and beneficial insects manage pests naturally.
- Water Purification: Wetlands filter pollutants, improving water quality.
Principle 5: An Example in Practice
A small farm or household raises chickens to till and fertilize garden beds. The birds provide eggs, their scratching loosens soil, and their manure enriches it. Meanwhile, a nearby hedgerow of native plants supports pollinators and provides wind protection. This system harmonizes renewable resources and services to reduce external inputs.
Principle 6: Produce No Waste
Waste is a concept foreign to nature, where every output becomes a resource for another process. This principle focuses on designing systems that minimize waste by turning outputs into inputs, conserving resources, and fostering efficiency.
Waste as a Resource
Permaculture sees waste as an opportunity for innovation. Examples include:
- Organic Waste: Composting kitchen scraps into rich soil amendments.
- Water Waste: Reusing greywater for irrigation.
- Surplus Materials: Upcycling discarded items into functional tools or structures.
Designing for Zero Waste
The goal is to close the loop in systems, creating cycles where resources are reused indefinitely. For example:
- Earthworms in a compost bin consume organic waste and produce nutrient-rich castings.
- Chickens recycle food scraps into manure, which enriches garden soil.
- Plants filter greywater, turning a potential pollutant into a resource for growth.
Principle 7: Design from Patterns to Details
Effective design begins with understanding the larger patterns that shape a system before focusing on specific details. This principle encourages observing and working with natural and social patterns to guide the placement and function of system components.
Patterns in Nature
Nature’s patterns, such as river flows, tree growth, and wind directions, offer insights for sustainable design. Examples include:
- Zoning: Placing frequently used elements (like vegetable gardens) closer to the home and less-used ones farther away.
- Sector Analysis: Identifying how sunlight, wind, and water interact with a site to inform design choices.
- Ecosystem Mimicry: Modeling agricultural systems on forest structures to promote resilience.
Designing with Patterns
The key is to recognize and apply these patterns creatively:
- Swales follow natural contours to manage water flow effectively.
- Shelterbelts are placed where prevailing winds can be slowed and deflected.
- Settlements are designed to align with transport routes and natural water availability.
Principle 7: An Example in Practice
A permaculture garden might mimic the layering of a forest, using a canopy of trees, understory shrubs, ground covers, and root crops to create a diverse, self-sustaining ecosystem. Patterns of light and shade guide where each plant thrives best.
Principle 8: Integrate Rather Than Segregate
Collaboration and connection are the heart of resilience. This principle emphasizes the importance of relationships between elements, encouraging designs where components support and enhance each other.
Synergistic Relationships
In nature, organisms thrive through interaction, creating mutual benefits. Examples include:
- Companion Planting: Growing plants like corn, beans, and squash together (the Three Sisters) to enhance productivity.
- Integrated Animal Systems: Using livestock to till, fertilize, and weed the land.
- Ecosystem Services: Encouraging pollinators and pest predators to balance garden ecology.
Designing for Integration
Effective integration relies on placing system elements where they naturally interact:
- A pond provides irrigation water, fish, and cooling for nearby plants.
- Chickens in orchards eat pests while fertilizing trees with manure.
- A hedgerow shelters crops, provides habitat for wildlife, and acts as a windbreak.
An Example in Practice
A small farm combines bees, fruit trees, and wildflowers in a single space. The bees pollinate the trees, the wildflowers sustain the bees, and the trees provide shade and nectar. Together, they form a self-supporting system.
Principle 9: Use Small and Slow Solutions
Bigger isn’t always better, and speed often sacrifices sustainability. This principle focuses on small, manageable actions that build resilience over time and align with human and natural scales.
The Power of Small Solutions
Small-scale systems are often more adaptable and sustainable. Examples include:
- Gardens: A family vegetable garden requires less water, energy, and effort than industrial farming.
- Energy Systems: Micro-hydro systems can power small communities with minimal environmental impact.
- Local Markets: Farmers’ markets reduce transportation costs and foster local economies.
The Importance of Slow Growth
Slowly implemented solutions often have greater durability and long-term success:
- Trees grown for timber mature over decades, providing better-quality wood.
- Perennial gardens establish slowly but require less maintenance over time.
- Slow-release organic fertilizers enrich soil steadily, avoiding sudden nutrient surges.
An Example in Practice
Lasagna gardening, also known as sheet mulching, is a perfect example of a “slow growth” approach in permaculture. This method involves layering organic materials like cardboard, straw, compost, and leaves directly onto the ground to create rich, fertile soil over time. Instead of tilling or removing sod, the layers decompose naturally, feeding the soil ecosystem while suppressing weeds. This gradual process mimics nature’s way of building healthy soil, requiring patience but yielding long-term benefits such as improved soil structure, increased water retention, and reduced labor. By embracing slow, organic growth, lasagna gardening fosters a sustainable and low-maintenance foundation for thriving plants.
Broader Applications
Small and slow solutions work across scales:
- Transportation: Bicycles and walking reduce energy use and foster healthier communities.
- Energy Efficiency: Incremental upgrades to insulation or appliances save energy sustainably.
- Education: Long-term community workshops build skills and foster collaboration.
The proverb “Slow and steady wins the race” captures this principle’s essence. By working on a small and manageable scale, we build systems that are resilient and enduring.
Principle 10: Use and Value Diversity
Diversity is nature’s insurance policy. This principle encourages the inclusion of varied species, practices, and ideas to create systems that are robust and adaptable.
Diverse systems offer a foundation for greater productivity, resilience, and adaptability, whether in ecosystems, agricultural systems, or human communities. Permaculture emphasizes embracing diversity to create robust designs capable of withstanding environmental, economic, and social challenges.
Polyculture
Growing multiple crops together, a practice known as polyculture, creates mutually beneficial relationships between plants. For instance, the “Three Sisters” planting system of corn, beans, and squash demonstrates how interplanting reduces pests, improves soil health, and increases yield. Corn provides a natural trellis for beans, beans fix nitrogen in the soil, and squash suppresses weeds with its broad leaves. Polyculture reduces the risks associated with monoculture, such as pest infestations or crop failures, by diversifying the ecosystem and spreading risk across multiple crops.
Biodiversity
Encouraging biodiversity by integrating native species into landscapes supports ecological balance. Native plants attract and sustain pollinators like bees and butterflies, which are essential for food production and ecosystem health. Furthermore, increased biodiversity enhances resilience to environmental changes, such as droughts or floods, as varied species perform overlapping roles in maintaining ecosystem function.
Cultural Diversity
Incorporating a blend of traditional and modern techniques enriches permaculture practices by drawing on a wide range of knowledge and experience. Traditional methods, such as terracing or dryland farming, have been honed over centuries to suit specific environments. When combined with contemporary innovations like precision irrigation or soil testing, these practices create adaptive systems that are both efficient and sustainable.
Designing with Diversity
A diverse system weaves redundancy and adaptability into its structure, reducing vulnerability to disruptions.
- Mixed Orchards: A mixed orchard with a variety of fruit and nut trees ensures a steady supply of food throughout the year. By including different species and cultivars, it becomes less susceptible to pests or diseases that might target a single species. For example, apple and walnut trees might share space with nitrogen-fixing shrubs, creating a system where each element supports the others.
- Crop Rotations: Rotating crops between different families, such as legumes, grains, and root vegetables, prevents the buildup of soil pathogens and pests. This practice also enhances soil health by balancing nutrient demands and replenishment, making it more fertile and productive over time.
- Community Seed Exchanges: Preserving heirloom seeds through community seed banks or exchanges ensures genetic diversity in crops. These seeds are often better adapted to local conditions, providing resilience against climate change and reducing dependence on industrialized seed varieties.
By integrating diversity into systems, permaculture practitioners create environments that are robust, adaptive, and abundant. Whether it’s encouraging ecological variety, blending cultural wisdom, or fostering genetic diversity in crops, these practices strengthen systems against unforeseen challenges while maximizing their productivity and sustainability. Through these approaches, diversity becomes a cornerstone of regenerative and resilient design.
Principle 11: Use Edges and Value the Marginal
The boundaries between systems—such as where land meets water—are rich with life and opportunity. This principle celebrates edges and marginal spaces as places of innovation and productivity.
Edges in Nature
Nature’s edges are among its most vibrant areas:
- Wetlands: The interface between land and water supports diverse species.
- Hedgerows: The boundary between fields and wild spaces serves as habitat and windbreak.
- Soil Surface: The thin layer, also called topsoil, between earth and air teems with microbial activity.
Designing with Edges
Expanding edge areas increases productivity:
- A pond with an irregular shape has more edge, supporting greater biodiversity.
- Alley cropping combines fields and tree rows to enhance yields and protect soil.
- Urban greenways connect natural spaces, creating corridors for wildlife.
Principle 12: Creatively Use and Respond to Change
Change is inevitable, and resilience comes from embracing it. This principle focuses on designing systems that adapt to change creatively, transforming challenges into opportunities.
Natural systems are inherently dynamic, constantly evolving in response to environmental changes. By studying these processes, we gain valuable insights into adaptability and resilience, which can inform sustainable design. Permaculture often draws from these natural lessons to create systems capable of thriving in uncertain or changing conditions.
Ecological Succession
Ecosystems naturally transition from pioneer species to more complex and stable communities, a process known as ecological succession. For instance, following a disturbance like a wildfire, pioneer species such as fireweed or lichens colonize the area, stabilizing the soil and preparing it for grasses, shrubs, and eventually trees. Over time, these ecosystems evolve into mature forests or grasslands, creating a stable and biodiverse habitat.
Adaptive Strategies
Animals adapt to environmental changes through behavioral or physiological modifications. Migratory birds, for example, adjust their routes and timing in response to shifting climates, ensuring access to food and favorable breeding conditions. Similarly, desert plants, such as cacti, conserve water by opening their stomata only at night, reducing water loss during the heat of the day. These adaptive strategies illustrate nature’s capacity to respond to external feedback and optimize survival under varying conditions.
Community Resilience
Human communities often demonstrate remarkable adaptability during crises. Social networks strengthen in response to natural disasters or economic disruptions, enabling collective action. For example, community gardens have historically emerged during times of food scarcity, such as the Victory Gardens of World War II, providing local resilience and self-reliance. Grassroots responses, like mutual aid networks during floods or hurricanes, mobilize resources effectively to address immediate needs, illustrating the power of cooperation under stress.
By observing these patterns in nature and society, we can design permaculture systems that incorporate adaptability as a core principle. This ensures that human and ecological systems are not only capable of surviving disruptions but can also evolve and thrive in changing environments.