Learn to Design a Permaculture Garden

“In this intensive and practical course you develop the fundamentals required to implement permaculture principles, and to produce a design for a large or small property.” - Adriana Fraser Cert.Hort., Cert.Child Care, Adv.Cert.App.Mgt., Cert 1V Assessment and Training, Adv.Dip.Hort.

Learn to prepare plans for permaculture systems. (i.e. A unique landscape where plants and animals live balanced in a self sustaining ecosystem).  It commonly involves developing a garden or farm where the plants and animals are put together in such a way that they support each others growth and development. The garden or farm may change over years, but always remains productive, requires little input once established, and is environmentally sound.

This is an "intensive" foundation course. If you are only going to do "one" permaculture course do this!

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. Permaculture Principles
2. Natural Systems
3. Zone & Sector Planning
4. Permaculture Techniques
5. Animals in Permaculture
6. Plants in Permaculture
7. Appropriate Technologies
8. Preparing a Plan

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

• Differentiate between Permaculture and other sustainable systems.
• Explain the procedures followed in practicing different techniques which are sympathetic to Permaculture, including: No-dig gardening, Companion Planting, Biological control, and Sustainable harvesting.
• Explain the interactions that occur between living and non-living components in five different natural environments, including: Forest Systems, Aquatic Environments, Soil Environments, and Arid Environments.
• Evaluate different Permaculture designs against the nine Permaculture principles.
• Distinguish between different garden zones in a Permaculture system.
• Explain sector planning in a specific garden design.
• Design a mandala garden for a specific site.
• Determine the appropriate use of swales on a sloping site.
• Investigate distinctly different Permaculture systems.
• Explain three different cultural techniques used to minimise the maintenance requirement, in Permaculture systems you study.
• Determine different animal breeds, which can provide a useful and sustained harvest from a permaculture system in your locality.
• Describe the harvest, treatment and use of various products derived from different types of animals in a Permaculture system.
• Explain the factors which can affect the success of different types of animals, in a Permaculture system, including: Poultry, Aquatic animals, Domestic farm animals, Insects, Earthworms.
• Describe the husbandry of one specified type of animal, in a Permaculture system visited by you.
• Determine different species of plants which can provide a useful, sustained harvest from a Permaculture system.