Niches — Physical Sites and Conceptual Moments

Niches don’t just fill a physical space — they also operate on schedules (a day, a season, several years). Both space and time niches must be considered in designs. Physical niches include: vertical structures in space, aspects (direction things face), landscape zones, different soil types, varying water depths, degrees of slope, and patterns of flow.

Food Web — Pyramid vs Reality

Today’s food supply is presented as a pyramid (humans atop, then animals, insects, plants). In reality, things are more web-like: humans eat plants and insects, insects eat animals and plants, plants feed on the decaying of everything. Animals are integral to a self-maintaining ecosystem — they quickly convert inedible biomass into fertility, till, fertilise, clear, and maintain systems.

Designing to Catch and Store Water

Harvest water on high ground first — that is where it has highest energy potential and can be moved downhill by gravity for free. Rather than flowing straight down slope, move water slowly along contour lines with periodic storages at strategic locations. This supports tree and plant growth, which stores solar energy and pacifies water flows — fewer floods, fewer droughts, broader storage capacity on lower slopes.

Zoning System — Energy Concentrated at Centre

Sectors — External Energy Mapping

Zones yield to energy sectors and patterns of use. Sectors include: midwinter/midsummer sun paths, wind entry directions, fire threat corridors, unpleasant smells or views, flood-prone areas, frost hollows. Design with sectors accounted for — use elements to either accept or block the energy. Each element performs multiple functions (supply crop, block wind, provide shade); each function is performed by multiple elements.

Guilds — Plants, Animals, Elements Working Together

Guilds are congregations of plants, animals, and elements that provide assistance for one another. Often designed around a central element (e.g. a large fruit tree). That tree benefits from: mineral-mining plants, pest-repelling plants, soil-protecting groundcovers, nitrogen-fixers, frost/sun blockers, and later animal elements (chickens to scratch/fertilise, ducks for snails, bees to pollinate).

Working With Time — Succession Strategy

Natural successions lead to forests. Design into systems all elements to move quickly but with the same stability: fast groundcovers → perennial covers with nitrogen-fixing trees → permanent fruit and nut trees. In complete systems, weeds are not a problem — fill all niches with desired plants from the start. Small trials first in Zones 1 & 2; extend to larger systems based on feedback.

Events in Time — Pulse and Cycle

Natural events tend to happen in pulses — cycles of ebb and surge (agricultural cycles: daily, seasonal, annual, decadal). By linking to natural cycles we can grow forms, save energy, and create functional patterns. A seed is part of the pattern that becomes a tree; the tree part of a pattern that becomes fruit and another generation of seed. Looking forwards and backwards in time over our gardens helps us take better advantage of each succeeding cycle.

Three Major Climatic Zones

Three Biomass Zones of a Tree

Trees and Wind

Trees, Rain, and Atmosphere

Rain can erode dozens of tonnes of soil per hectare if unmitigated. Tree crowns diffuse rain impact, reduce erosive energy, and the forest replaces any minor erosion with new soil. For a healthy atmosphere, landscapes need to be ~70% forest. Trees warm cold air, dry humid air, and create conditions ideal for life. Forests introduce cloud-seeding bacteria into the air (promoting more rain). At sea-facing coasts, condensation from moist sea air can account for 86% of total precipitation in some areas. Deforestation destroys this effect and advances desertification.

Water Storage — Dam Types

Earthen Dam Construction — Key Rules

• Soil must have ≥50% clay content for wall construction
• Dig a key trench down into clay subsoil where the wall centre will be anchored
• Inside wall slope: 3:1 ratio (width to height). Outside wall: 2:1 ratio
• Install oversized level-sill spillway beside the wall or via connected swale system
• Spillway must allow ≥1 metre freeboard (permanently above water level)
• Dress dam wall with stored topsoil; plant with grasses or non-taproot trees only
• Ponds vs dams: Ponds = sub-surface excavations; dams = walls holding water back

Other Water Catchment Earthworks

Sewage, Greywater, and Natural Water Purification

Soil Composition — Three Primary Components

Primary Nutrients (NPK) — Natural Sources

Soil pH Scale

pH scale centres on 7 (neutral). Each whole number = 10× more acidic or alkaline. Mostly determined by parent rocks and underlying mineral subsoil. As numbers move beyond 4 and 10, few lifeforms survive. Gardens function best at pH 6–7. Adjustments: add sulphur to alkaline soils; add lime or dolomite to acidic soils. Humid places often slightly acidic; new volcanic, coastal, and arid places tend alkaline.

Soil Food Web — The “Poop Loop”

Bacteria and fungi are the two primary soil decomposers. Bacteria: feed on N-rich organic materials (fresh green leaves, manures) — high in nitrogen. Fungi: specialise in carbon-rich materials (wood, fibrous/ligneous matter) — high in carbon, useful for carbon sequestration and long-term soil structure. Bacteria produce alkaline glues creating micro-aggregates; fungi wrap these into macro-aggregates → crumb structure. Protozoa, amoebas, and nematodes predate on bacteria and fungi, depositing concentrated nutrients in the root zone — the primary nutrient cycling mechanism in healthy soil.

Crumb Structure — Key to Healthy Soil

Healthy soils form a crumb structure allowing water and air to permeate beneath the surface — creating conditions for proper soil respiration. Produced by microorganisms; cannot be replicated by machinery. Lost with any soil disturbance: perennial plant removal, organic matter burning, compaction, chemical use, mechanised tillage. Maintain with: perennial systems, minimal soil disturbance, and deep mulches (150 mm layer of mulch over compost inoculation).

Reading Plants as Soil Indicators

Seed Pelleting and Erosion Control

Seed pellets preserve seeds until conditions are right for germination. Primary material: clay. Additions: rock dust, calcium, phosphate (balance nutrients), bitter tea/neem powder/green dye (protect seeds). Soil erosion prevention: add windbreaks, plant trees and fast-spreading grasses (stabilise with roots), create diversions and catchment systems. Rehabilitate degraded soils by ripping lines to open to air + water, planting with pioneer species, then chopping/grazing cycles over a year → spongy, rich soil.

Key Earthwork Principles

Earth Materials Reference

Levelling Devices

Level information is needed for: spillways, swales, drains (with fall rate), house sites, roadways, dam sites. Devices: water/bunyip levels (clear tubing + two sticks); A-frame levels (3 pieces of wood, weighted hanging line); transit/dumpy levels (scope + marked staff); laser levels; simple pocket eye levels (assessment only, not survey).

Three Sub-Climates of the Humid Tropics

Tropical Earth-Shaping

Swales: install on slopes of 2–8° with hedgerows for stability. Mounds: form on flat, wet sites to increase drainage, or in wet/dry tropics alternate between mound tops (wet season) and pits (dry season). Narrow terraces: work best on steep slopes but break them up with treelines every few levels for stability. Wet terraces: require constant water input and carefully installed drainage; dry terraces: mulch heavily.

Tropical Polycultures — From Start to Finish

Begin on compacted grasslands. Start with water harvesting elements (gravity-fed). Plant fast-growing hardy tree legumes, fast-turnover groundcovers, mulch species to build biomass. Designed polycultures imitate the forest (extremely diverse, dominated by palms). Large polycultures should be simple guilds of low-maintenance, high-yielding crops tested from smaller complex village systems (up to 400 species). Palm species: planted in clumps around mulch pile, opening space for inter-cropping and grazing. Productive palms replaced individually as yields reduce (≤6% of plantation at a time).

Dryland Conditions

Water Harvesting in the Drylands

Water must contain <700 ppm salt. Catch freshwater before it mixes with salty water below, or before running off hard surfaces (which pick up salt concentrations). System stability target: 70–80% of landscape to forestry + water harvesting; 20–30% integrated crop production.

Dryland Settlement Design

Design for the worst years; resist over-expansion in good years. Position settlements in foothills to catch rain runoff from upslope. A tree belt 300–400 m wide should be planted as shelter (irrigated with greywater) — it also supplies fuel, mulch, forage, and fodder. Fruit trees cultivated on swales within the belt. Dust storm mitigation: seal roads along wind lines, fence them, establish windbreaks, pit and vegetate open landscapes.

Desert Vegetation — Trees First

Trees are valuable functionally before any yield of fruit, forage, or seed. Systems should only be extended with time-tested trees. Nurseries are vital — have trees ready when climatic conditions are most favourable. Plant at coolest time of year, at coolest time of day, after rain events. Key desert fruit trees: date palms, olive, fig, pomegranate, citrus, mulberry, guava, carob, quince, grape, apricot. Wide swales (5–10 m) with compost pits every 10–20 m can act as nuclei for desert forests using nursery-grown pioneer trees.

Passive Building Design — Cool/Cold Climate

Glasshouses — Cool/Cold Climate Design

• Ground and poleward wall insulated
• Double-glazed glass sloped to shed snow on the sun side
• Thermal mass water tanks and/or ponds near the poleward wall
• Small domestic animals inside contribute body heat
• Active compost provides supplemental heat
• Air-lock entries prevent warm air loss
• Simple construction: install glass over a trench OR site between two existing buildings for added insulation and shelter

Wildfire Design — Mediterranean Zones (SE Australia)

Small Garden Systems — Cool/Cold Climate

Grasslands, Rangelands, and Lawn Replacement

Perennial grasslands: 97% of biomass underground (vs 50:50 in forests). Rangelands managed correctly produce more protein than improved pastures with zero inputs. Key principles: choose appropriate breeds, encourage plant AND animal diversity, supply free-standing water. Rangeland water infiltration: groundcovers + valley-to-ridgeline fencing at 300–500:1 fall distributes water across landscape. Lawns can consume more energy per unit area than broad-scale agriculture — replace with productive systems.

Poultry Stocking Rates

Pond Size and Productivity by Scale

Pond Depth Zones

Trophic Ladder — Fish Pond Balance

Low-Input Fish Food Systems

• Mounds of compostable materials → attract insects → sieve as fish feed
• Worm farms beside or floating on ponds — direct feed
• Hanging containers of rotting carcasses → cultivate maggots → fall into pond
• Mulberry trees near pond — leaves and fruit fall as fish food
• Comfrey cut and throw — fast-growing mineral accumulator as fish food
• Light traps attract insects at night → fall into water

Landscape Mosaic Proportions (where climate allows)

Chinampas — Most Productive System in History

Shallow lakes or swamps are dredged into deeper canals and higher banks, creating a dynamic aquaculture + land-based growing system. Land edges grow crops and forests; productive trellises stretch over canals; canal systems grow aquatic products (plants, shellfish, fish). Harvest by boat — far higher carrying capacity than wheelbarrows. Historically supported entire civilisations (Mexico, Peru, Iraq).

Permaculture + LBC + WELL Integration — The Village Model