What are Permaculture Design Zones?
In part one of this four part introduction, we looked at the philosophy of permaculture. In this second part, we will start exploring how the concepts are translated into actual, workable designs.
It’s still rather conceptual at this point. This is the walking around the property and drawing it out on paper phase. For the sake of brevity, we will not over burden the over all concept with too many examples. There are infinite possibilities as far as plant combinations. These sorts of examples are best left for the third article on Guilds.
The first step in the process is figuring out the layout of your Zones. Zones enable us to take the best advantage of the self-organization inherent in natural systems and are meant to save time and work. Like
Nature, Herself, the concept is elegant, and brilliant in its Simplicity. Yet Simplicity, by its nature, has a lot more going on than what seems obvious at first glance. This can lead to confusion.
In a nutshell, Zones are divisions in your property. The most labor intensive parts are put closest to the house…so you don’t have to walk so far to work.
In this bullseye, Zone 0 represents the house. 1-5 are how the zones radiate away from the house.
On a large, 100 acre property this makes a huge difference. On a tiny city lot, it’s not as much of an issue.
The least labor intensive, most self-maintaining parts are put the farthest away from the house. They’re there to feed the deer, wild horses and coyotes. You can leave these areas to themselves for longer periods of time.
If your property is very small, planning out your Zones properly will still help you in the long run.
Typically, a property is divided into 5 Zones. But Zone 5 is not always necessary, or even possible. Tiny urban properties don’t have the space or even the ability to have a Zone 5, which is a semi-wild
and/or totally wild area.
As you proceed, you’ll find all sorts of ways the various design tools interact with each other. Zones can and should change over time. Nothing is set in stone. As you gain experience and your plantings mature, the configurations of your Zones will naturally morph into each other in various ways.
As an aside, remember Nature does not think in terms of zones or sectors. They are naturally occurring by-products of continuing evolution and expansion, unconstrained by human ideas of private property. This is a concept our human brains can use to make sense of it all, to be as energy efficient as possible. So please do not consider this universal advice. It’s simply a starting point. And don’t get too OCD about it, either. Obsessiveness is the opposite of what we’re going for. Even something as brilliant as permaculture needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
So, let’s get to it. Here is a look at each of the zones, in turn.
Zone 0
The Nexus of Human Activity
Since humans are the defining element, Zone 0 can be seen as the hub or core of the system. Typically it’s a residence. But it can be any disturbed plot of land. A campsite. An office space. A shed or warehouse or barn. It is the place from which our interventions radiate outwards. Think of it as the center point of concentric rings created by a pebble tossed into still water. As the distance from the center increases, the circles get bigger, and more diffuse as the amount of energy decreases.
It’s easily accessed via road and/or driveway. You don’t have to portage for six miles! It provides people with shelter, or at least storage for garden implements.
To best facilitate it keep it well organized . Focus on waste streams, kitchen scraps, what-have-you, and ways to quickly and easily utilize them. Spend as little time inside as possible. The more you are surrounded by living systems, the better you become at interacting with them.
Zone 1
Keep Zone 1 as close to Zone 0 as possible. This is the best place to start employing the principle of “small and slow solutions.” You have the most time and energy here to experiment and, by extension, gain confidence. It all radiates out from here.
One of the most common expressions of Zone 1 is having herb and kitchen gardens right out the kitchen door. An outside kitchen would be great here, too, especially in the summer. This is the place with both the most dynamic activity and where things are the most tightly managed. There is also more scope here for the more detail oriented among us.
The first thing to consider here is the interaction of soil and water. How does the water from Zone 0 interact here? This is of utmost importance. For soil to become productive and healthy, the water needs to be in proper balance. Is there a drip line along the edge of the roof? Can this be utilized? What about a simple greywater system from the kitchen sink to water a small stand of trees? Or rain barrels under downspouts? Do your rain gutters need cleaning? Don’t do anything too drastic. But spend some time observing the water flow. Make necessary repairs that can become passive watering systems.
What is the condition of the soil? Is it a dead, compacted death zone? Or is there already vegetation? You don’t need to till in compost or mulch, but adding organic layers of mulch and/or cover crops is always a good place to start. Whatever conditions you are faced with, see if you can figure out how it got that way. Do a lot of research and use what you learn across your entire property.
Zone 2
The next zone out. While you spend a good deal of time here, it’s farther away from the house and does not require as much attention as Zone 1. It’s a sort of borderland between the highly cultivated kitchen gardens of Zone 1 and the more hardy, resilient wildish systems in Zone 3.
Zone 2 is a good place for perennials, food forest guilds, keeping chickens. Sheds, barns and garages work in Zone 2. If they’re already there, design around them. If you plan on adding new buildings, don’t put them too close to existing ones. Locate them in a way that best leverages the creation of microsystems around and against them. South facing walls, for example make great sun catching spots for trellised plants that like full sun. Put your new buildings in the most productive places, where they can serve multiple functions.
The first thing to do in Zone 2 is exactly what you did in Zone 1: assess and remediate any issues with water and soil. Look at the current vegetation. Things that like growing there will provide you with valuable insight as to what else might be successful there, too. If this species likes it here, her close relatives probably will, too. Choose plants with the highest chance of survival. This will start remediating the soil and open the way to lots of new possibilities, down the road.
Start to picture where fruit trees might like to live. Is there a big tree that could serve as a nurse plant or wind buffer? Do your research. What kind of production will best lend itself to this area? Before you know it, you’ll have lots of to-do lists, and a growing list of the most ideal plants you want to get. But remember. Don’t get too attached to any of it. It will change. Don’t try to do too much at one time. Time spent learning what the land has to say is time well spent.
Zone 3
Zone 3 is yet another borderland between the more cultivated and the more wild and self-managing. It’s the next borderland in the progression. This is where you would have chickens or sheep grazing. They’ll be moving around, of course, but will still need paddocks. In permaculture, animals are not objects to exploit. They have their own nature, which they are encouraged to express, and brains, as well.
But you may not want to keep animals. Zone 3 is a good place for full size fruit and nut trees. Harvesting is not something you do every day like with the kitchen gardens.
Zone 3 will be larger than 1 & 2, so fixing issues with water could be a lot more difficult and/or expensive and/or ongoing. Soil amendments, swales, etc., will be larger jobs too. Zone 3 is not the place for a lot of modification. Determine the least amount of work for the most gain. Leveraging existing vegetation is the way to go, even more so than in Zone 2.
Zone 4
Zone 4 is another borderland between the cultivated and the wild, although leaning more heavily towards the wild. It’s sort of an experimental area, a place to test out new additions of plants and animals to the
existing eco-system, incorporate domestic species into a wilder habitat, push some limits, see what happens.
But overarching all that, it’s mostly a place best left to itself…assuming it’s not dysfunctional. If it needs help, you’ll want to help it. But mainly it’s for non-humans.
Zone 4 is a good place for agroforestry.
In a municipal property there isn’t room for the Wildness attracted to Zone 4. And it could be potentially dangerous for them, depending on the temperaments of your neighbors. Staying (at least technically) within the law is probably a lot easier than battling city hall every day.
Zone 5
In the world of human domination, Zone 5 is an anomaly. Ideally it is a maintenance free, Wild zone, untouched by human intervention. But human intervention has saturated everything. And the reality is most Zone 5’s will not be devoid of human intervention. Merely visiting it, and doing nothing else, will alter the behaviors of the Wild Ones. Especially if you are accompanied by your dogs.
Nature’s Classroom is resilient, yes. But it’s also fragile. To spend your life learning how these radically different seeming aspects co-mingle will create the least amount of damage. Making friends with raccoons and ravens is not evil. But it’s like white people doing ayahuasca. Civilized people just have too much un-learning to do. They’re too boisterous and make too much noise. Wild animals are highly
sensitive. And yet, it’s hard to not be drawn to them. Just make sure you have a lot of humility and be extra polite.
The point of a Zone 5 isn’t to play god and pretend you’ve re-created what took 4.6 billion years of evolution and expansion to perfect. The point is that Nature is the Ultimate Teacher. When used
respectfully and humbly, it creates the potential for great evolution and expansion in the human.
Whatever we humans think we know isn’t much compared to those 4.6 Billion years. Our Zone 5’s can
help us come to that realization.
Zone 5 isn’t going to be an option for everybody. A tiny property has no room. And seriously
degraded land, a desert for instance, is just beyond the scope of individuals. But we do what we can with what we have and spread seeds of education.
In Conclusion
So there you have it. A quick run-down of Permaculture Design Zones. It’s pretty simple and
straight forward, yet within this Simplicity, contains endless possibilities for endless variation. You will learn a lot in the process of designing your zones. The next article in the series will talk about Guilds.
Excellent article Anna-Vita, I am glad you took the time to put it together! I have heard of permaculture before but I’ve never quite read it explained as thoroughly as you have done here.
For instance, the concept of putting the tasks you perform most often closest to the home resonates with me because my joints have become weak over time and the seat and tear to them takes a tool quicker than one might think.
Seeing how you categorized each zone and noted that all might not be able to achieve each of them, is there a property size where the principles you’re trying to employ just aren’t doable due to the space limitations?
Thank you again for such a well-written article!
Hi Joseph
Yes. Walking distance makes a huge and noticeable difference. My joints are pretty exhausted too. Doing work right here, where it’s close to everything you need is SO much easier than trudging really far, back and forth, back and forth. It’s faster too.
And no. There’s no minimum property size. You just do what you can with what you have, right now. Even if it’s just a sunny window in an apartment.
Have a great day!
Anna
Thanks for this excellent informative article on permaculture. I’d heard of it before but did not quite understand the concept.
I feel like this is a fantastic way to plan out and make the most of land near a home, particularly in rural areas where a person can both garden and own livestock. How many acres do you think it would take to be able to implement and enjoy all five zones?
I look forward to reading the rest of your post series on this subject!
Hi Delaney-
Thanks for your comment.
You could conceivably fit all 5 zones into a 5 acre lot, if the surrounding acres were already somewhat wooded. Possibly even on less. It really depends on the property. But the larger the space, the more room you have to spread out. 100 acres would be brilliant.
Before reading this article I had no idea what Permaculture was. You did an excellent job of explaining the various principles of permaculture design and how they can be applied to create sustainable and self-sufficient systems, and even someone with no prior knowledge could appreciate this. I appreciate the emphasis on working with nature and preserving the environment, which aligns deeply with my own values and beliefs.
I really enjoyed the examples you gave.
Thank you, ChrisnaE, for your appreciative words. I try!
Anna