Tiered Permaculture Design

Much of what I hear about permaculture design requires space. When you can't build out, you build up. Permaculture is all about efficient design and thoughtful planning. I've heard of placing chicken coops over fish ponds. Is there any other ways to tier designs that make the most efficient use of space when it's at a premium?

Jeremy Roy wrote:Much of what I hear about permaculture design requires space.

I disagree, permaculture teaches you to design with little space and lots of restrictions. These milk crates were my boyfriends very first plant guilds. Each crate contains 2 strawberry plants, 2 borage, 4 onions, 4 lettuce, and they all did very well.


There is also the methods of succession or stagger planting, where you plant multiple things that will be done at different times so one is cleared before the other needs the space.
I have also seen some very clever tricks with hanging string or yarn above vining plants, they will climb anything. We used this for some beans this year and nearby cucumbers climbed it too, I can't find the pictures of that bed right now.

LaLena MaeRee wrote:permaculture teaches you to design with little space and lots of restrictions.

Excellent perspective! And the succession gardening was how I had first stumbled upon this idea of permaculture, I had completely forgotten all about it. Very nice picture, the plants looks beautiful and is that a bee I see on the right?

A little creativity and some ingenuity can go a long way in using not necessarily what's ideal but rather what's available. Thank you for that, much appreciated!

although I have plenty of space I LOVE growing things upwards..I have arbors everywhere ..and most of them have grapes growing on them..I also use lattice extensively on my property..which also has grapes and privacy vines up them..near them are also trees, shrubs, perennials, ground covers, mushrooms, and root crops..so things are layered..

you can also hang things, but I hate hauling water to hanging baskets so I don't.

and yes you can do things like layering chickens ..to heat a greenhouse..using the manure as a compost pit as Bill Mollison did in his Introduction to Permaculture..and you can even bury things under things..like putting a cold storage system into the side of a hill with soil on top..or even sod roofs to grow things on top of a building.

another interesting thing I don't hear about a lot is using birds to bring in seeds by putting perches such as posts or fences around the property..i do that a lot here and have gobs of bird planted things, esp currants and other small berries.

It does seem important to promote diversity, especially through layering. It's what Masanobu Fukuoka recommended. In a way nature itself promoted tiering. Different types of plants occupying different layers creating symbiotic relationships with one another. I'll have to look up the work Bill Mollison has done, I don't think I've ever come across his name.

Thanks for the direction Brenda!

I've looked to Will Allen for inspiration. Talapia below ground, trees in the ground, boxed trees above that, 5-15 gal containers with kale, etc. above that. Hanging herbs above that. Get creative: How about some Guerrilla gardening!?

I think of one of permaculture's strengths is it's focus on intensive, rather than extensive systems, although f I had a big place, I'd have a big 'zone 5'.
I've only got about 2 100and something square feet to grow stuff, but I've squeezed some wild-ish areas in there!
I'm all about the vertical. Fences are a great resource
The more planning you do, the less space you need. I'm a terrible planner, but my limited space means that when I do something dumb, I can't just leave it and go somewhere else.
I think even if I did have lots of space, I'd try to design like I didn't.