Plant-Based Permaculture
Edible Landscape Design
Have you dreamt of having a beautiful, landscaped garden but felt you had to choose between that and a productive food garden with a utilitarian style?
I work with individuals, families, and organisations in Central Victoria and beyond* to collaboratively design their perfect outdoor space using edible perennial and annual plants and other elements including retaining walls, seats, simple structures, sculptures, paths, shade etc. in order to achieve both beauty (in their eyes and mine) and productivity.
I appreciate many styles of garden - from wild gardens with secret alcoves, winding paths and garden 'rooms' to orderly classic formal gardens with straight lines. I can work with you to achieve a design tailored to your individual tastes, needs, abilities and budget.
Designs can vary from from small low maintenance perennial gardens with some edibles to large, complex gardens with unusual plants or gardens focused on intensive annual vegetable production. Designs will also vary around the level of input you would like to have - whether you want to employ people to build and maintain the garden or do all the work of setup and maintenance yourself.
We can work together to achieve your aesthetic and taste bud goals, factored around what grows well in your location. That said, if there is a plant you love to eat or look at and want, that doesn’t typically grow in your area, I love the challenge of finding or creating a microclimate/nook where it could live.
* My primary service area is Central Victoria - anywhere within an hour's drive from Daylesford. Areas outside Central Victoria may also be possible.
What I mean by Plant-Based and Permaculture
Permaculture is about practical, sustainable and ethical design, deriving from the idea of permanent agriculture alongside human culture. In theory Permaculture can adapt to a range of human diets and lifestyles but in practice most readily available examples of Permaculture include animals as holistic, integrated parts of the system. I practice a plant-based version of Permaculture that does not include domestic animals kept for their use by humans and avoids the use of inputs from animal husbandry. Therefore as a designer I am suited to people who want a system that does not require animals or animal products, either because they do not wish to or cannot keep animals or because they have chosen to be a vegan or vegetarian. I am happy to incorporate the needs of pets and desired wild animals and also design to exclude wild animals where needed e.g. keeping roos or rabbits out of the veggie garden.
With my designs and material suggestions I can help you if you want advice regarding staying within any or all of the following parameters with either the construction or maintenance of your garden - vegan, vegetarian, organic, sustainably and/or locally sourced, recycled, inexpensive, and using healthy materials.
Of course it is impossible to cause no harm when we reshape the earth to meet our human needs (or even when we just walk on the earth) but my goal is always to strive to minimize harm. I try not to be deterred if something seems impossible but keep looking for the best alternatives we can find to meet your parameters.
How the design process works
I offer collaborative design which can be conducted in a variety of ways and with varying amounts of input from you. The level of your input is decided by your needs, time constraints and desire to be either closely involved in the details or not. You can choose from a 2-hour on-site consultation where I can offer ideas and inspiration for you to then go on to design your own garden, through to me providing a full design service. In my full design service the process can range from you providing a project brief and me completing the project from there, through to extensive collaboration where we explore the details together on site and/or online. I typically send multiple versions for your review and comment and am very willing to make changes along the way until you have the design you love!