Guide for Picking Suitable Vegetation for Your Permaculture Plot Garden

In the realm of gardening, a new approach is gaining traction - permaculture. This innovative method is all about harnessing the power of various plants to work together, enhancing biodiversity, and fostering a healthier, more resilient ecosystem.

At the heart of permaculture lies the concept of dynamic accumulators. These plants, such as comfrey, have deep roots that reach deep into the soil, bringing up nutrients that would otherwise remain hidden. By making these nutrients available to other plants, they play a crucial role in maintaining the garden's health.

Another group of plants that significantly contribute to the garden's fertility are nitrogen-fixers. These plants, responsible for 40-60% of native plants' nitrogen fixation, convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form usable by plants. Legumes, like peas, beans, cowpeas, clover, and alfalfa, are common examples. Other nitrogen-fixing plants include Cassia, acacias, lupines, and various riparian plants. Even trees like the Siberian Peashrub and shrubs such as California Redbud, mesquite, alders, ceanothus, sea buckthorn, and bayberries, contribute to this process.

The coffee plant, with its nitrogen-fixing overstory, also plays a part. Pruning of nitrogen-fixing trees releases nutrients that benefit coffee plants.

Polyculture guilds, groups of plants that work together, are another key aspect of permaculture. These guilds, featuring plants like fiddleheads, mulberry trees, and arrowhead, enhance biodiversity and resilience. Passion Fruit vines, offering shade, cooling, privacy, fruit, and habitat for pollinators, are a prime example.

Techniques like intercropping and planting guilds help plants work together better. Climbing plants, such as beans and cucumbers, provide shade for lower-growing plants, while vertical gardening techniques boost production in small areas and offer cooling effects.

Perennial plants, like hazelnuts and Jerusalem artichokes, provide long-term benefits and require less maintenance once established. Using native plants in permaculture gardens is vital as they help wildlife and keep the ecosystem balanced.

Companion planting, based on knowing which plants work well together, is another strategy that helps plants grow well together. Low-maintenance grasses and groundcovers like clover and vetch are useful in permaculture gardens as they need less care, fight pests and diseases, and add nutrients to the soil.

Cover crops and ground covers are key for soil health and weed control. They prevent soil erosion, improve fertility, suppress weed growth, improve soil structure, and attract beneficial insects. Mulching with uprooted weeds that have not flowered is also advised to sustain soil quality.

In urban spaces, vertical gardening techniques change the landscape, cooling inner areas, reducing noise, and purifying the air. Pumpkins and sweet potatoes can climb walls or trellises, allowing for stacked harvesting cycles from one plant.

For those in Germany, recommended plants for a permaculture garden include hardy fruit trees such as "Purpurroter Cousinot," "Roter Eiserapfel," "Kaiser Wilhelm," "Hauxapfel," and "Lohrer Rambur," which are well-suited to cold climates. Herbs like basil, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, lavender, and marjoram; edible flowers; mustard greens; and wild herbs like dandelion and nettle that support biodiversity and ecosystem health are also suitable.

In conclusion, permaculture offers a sustainable, effective, and eco-friendly approach to gardening. By working with nature, we can create healthier, more resilient gardens that benefit both us and the environment.