Lazy Gardening

A permaculture approach

I grew up with permaculture, my parents discovered it early and used it, so for me it’s as natural to design a garden using those principles as it is for me to enjoy those fruits of my labor.

Zone 1 in permaculture terms, then, is the lazy garden. The part of the garden where you just step out of the house and snip a few things for whatever meal you’re preparing right that moment. I have also been calling this my purple potager, since I found the lovely purple raised garden beds to establish the zone 1 plants into.

I generally focus on herbs here, with the addition of specific plants suited to container gardening. I’m also incorporating edible landscaping principles, to keep the front gardens beautiful as well as useful. Every garden will be different. I can’t tell you what will work for you. You might not have a space to put your zone 1 right out the front door, most suburban homes will be best out the back door or even in pots on a deck (or balcony for apartment dwellers). I can say that the general principles will apply:

Make it easy to care for, and you’ll have better success. I keep a drip system on this, but also have a hose handy for spot watering and any plants that do need extra water I place here, because I see this daily.

Make it pretty, and it will feed your soul as well as body.

Grow what you like and will eat. If you don’t care for, say, cilantro, why grow it?

Grow first what is expensive to buy, and learn how to preserve that for out of season enjoyment. Only then, and only if you have space, grow what is cheap and common in the stores.

Grow perennials over annuals, this is the ‘perma’ part of permaculture. Establish and enjoy for years, rather than needing to start over every year. Of course, like my dill in the video, some annuals will happily return on their own if they are happy in a spot of the garden. If they pop up where they aren’t welcome simply scoop them up with as much root as you can manage and put them where you want them!

Even now, I’m learning and tweaking, and will be for a lifetime. That’s gardening!

The amaryllis is stunning. I love that I can grow them in-ground here. I am definitely getting more bulbs this winter.