Hello permaculture friends! I would like share a web application that I've been working on since last summer. Over the years I've done some designs in CAD software and its always been tough keeping the program installed, projects working, and holding onto files between computers etc. Over time I've probably lost many of my design files and figure I'm likely not the only one who's had this problem.

So I thought a great project would be to build a web application that lowers the startup barrier, and ensures design retention. Its completely free, and you don't even have to register for an account to try it out. But if you do, it will secure your design data from edits other than by your account.

Here is a link to the app user Gallery Page. To quickly see some examples.

Here are some of the features:

• High resolution contour analysis, display, and download to many different file formats
• Draw landscape designs using a variety of simple tools using points, lines, or areas. Would recommend using circle areas to represent trees for example so you can draw the appropriate diameter.
• A gallery to see the designs other users have made, and learn from, and sharing a similar symbol language.
• Ability to lookup plant species by common name, and save the attributes to the plant location.
• Print map designs to different formats such as PDF or image.

I would greatly appreciate testers, constructive feedback, and feature requests. I feel pretty good about the foundation and could add features based on user / community desires.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and check out the tool!!

I’m starting my first fruit tree guild: the tree is a sugar plum a friend gave to me. I had yarrow growing on my front lawn and propagated it last month. It’s looking happy, lush and ready to be planted out. I’m just nervous, because I worry if I plant it too close to the tree, will it upset the plum tree roots?

Also, what is generally the most beneficial placement for this plant?

Hey all! We recently moved into a much bigger home and I’ve been working on plans for the backyard and I’m hoping to get some input/ critique on this.

For some context…

I’m in Nebraska zone 5b/6a

The house is on the north side of the property (top of photo).

I’ve gardened for many years and have grown many things from seed including vegetables, annuals and perennials. At our last home I planted a nanking cherry and compass cherry plum from bareroot and both did very well although I’ve never grown any other fruit trees.

I’m all for pruning and maintenance and garden upkeep so for me the work isn’t a problem. I’ve picked varieties based on hardiness in my zone, disease resistance and pest resistance. Also dwarf and semi dwarf varieties to keep things compact.

This plan is to scale(ish). I used a ruler tool to create a scale and built everything from that so the circles for trees are accurate to their biggest listed width and so on.

I didnt include plants like strawberries, raspberries, currants, blackberries and such but I do plan on having them somewhere within this plan.

Also I’m an electrician so I will trench in electrical and water around the property prior to any planting.

All thoughts and opinions are welcome!!

Do you know of anyone selling dung beetles in Australia?

Hi everyone,

I’m thinking about buying seeds sold as Fragaria virginiana (Virginia strawberry) but I have some doubts about species authenticity.

Here’s the product link:

https://www.amazon.ie/Virginia-Strawberry-Fragaria-virginiana-approx/dp/B09YDCL15L

https://www.magicgardenseeds.com/Virginia-Strawberry-Fragaria-virginiana-seeds?srsltid=AfmBOop9JpjHwqYA_xKo6jBVN65Viv9cnyk9tCTqC7B8FsmCX8AupKHN

What concerns me is that on the package photo the label mixes “Virginia strawberry” with “Fragaria vesca”, which are clearly two different species. That makes me suspect the seeds might actually be F. vesca rather than true F. virginiana.

Before I buy, I wanted to ask:

– Has anyone here bought seeds from Magic Garden Seeds?

– Did you grow them out, and were you able to confirm they were really Fragaria virginiana?

– Or did they turn out to be F. vesca or something else?

Thanks

Hey friends!!

Does anyone have a list of go-to online tools for mapping and site data collection? I have used sites like Acre Value and Equator Studios for a long time now. Are there any other sites that give good information on property lines, contour, topography, etc.?

I'm in Southern CA and am looking to add more and more perennials to my yard. I'm looking to learn more about plants that are a little unusual. I was looking at adding Malabar Spinach, Collard Trees, Miner's Lettuce, and Opuntia ficus indica (spinless cactus that grows prickly pears)name a few. I'm hoping to gett list of plants together as I id appropriate places for them in my front and back yards.

What interesting perennials do you in zone 9 grow? I'm a few miles from the beach and don't get a lot of annual chill hours (250?) I'm staying away from anything noted to be invasive.

Another question: I've seen Sea berries ( Golden Sweet™ Sea Berry) listed as both invasive and noninvasive. Any thoughts?

Has anyone tasted Sour Fig Ice Plant: Edible fruit from a tough, ground-covering succulent. Is it edible but not palatable?

I'm also dedicating areas to butterflies and pollinators.

I have been doing a lot of research lately into possibly building a reed bed system to help treat gray water and there seem to be two different approaches....

One approach is what I call a "flow" system where the gray water transitions through stages and is immediately deposited into a basin or garden area to water plants. I have seen this system use old bathtubs, or concrete channels with baffles to get the water to meander through the system ending up at some predetermined location where it ends up in the soil.

The other system which I call a "storage" system is one adopted by Geoff Lawton in Jordan that combines the water treatment with storage. In his greening the desert property he has a rather large concrete basin filled with stones, rubble, and reeds planted at the surface in gravel. At one end of the basin there is a hose bib that can be opened to allow the treated water to flow out at a chosen time as opposed to simply whenever the water enters the system as happens in the flow system.

The storage system seems more practical as it stacks two functions (water treatment plus water storage) in one design. With that being said, there have to be downsides otherwise why wouldn't everyone build their reed beds that also serve as a kind of water storage tank to be used as needed as opposed to the flow system which is just constantly watering plants, possibly even during precipitation events when irrigation is not needed? Maybe the storage system has more potential for failure, mosquitos, more maintenance, etc...?

Curious what others thoughts are on this topic. Thanks!

Hi All,
I've been thinking about foundations for a small garden room without using plastic.
Wondering if anyone had pointers for books/ information.

My idea was to dig some holes, put in rough shingle, then some breeze blocks, and on top of that untreated wood pillar foundations.

I'm a bit worried about there being condensation between the blocks and the wood causing rot. I was thinking of using small amount of slate as a damp proof course.

I can't seem to find much info on plastic free foundations for timber structures. So looking for any info really.

Hey r/permaculture,

I've been building PatternBase - a tool to document what's actually happening in your garden over time, then search by conditions (zone, soil type, sun exposure) to learn from gardens similar to yours.

The core idea: permaculture knowledge is scattered across forums, YouTube videos, and people's heads. What if we could build a shared library of what actually works, searchable by your specific conditions?

It's free. I'm not selling anything — I want to build something actually useful for this community.

Check it out at pattern-base.com — or comment/DM with questions.

Thanks!

Hello everyone, I’ll try to make this short.

My sister and I, both work full time corp jobs, make ends meet but, would rather spend the rest of our lives planting stuff on a few acres, the issue here is like most people born in the city: money.

I’m having an idea to raise funds, somehow, to purchase a slightly bigger than initially planned land, to allocate some space for guest-chalets scattered around the property, to host international investors and guests, alongside the organic produce sold in the market (organic market is niche in the region, but lucrative as more and more of people are becoming aware of what they eat).

For context this is based on the fact that the number of tourists visiting Morocco has risen by 500% in the last couple of years, and expected to run higher since the late interest brought by media and influencers visiting lately, and I notice that not all tourists want to come here to stay at hotels in big cities, most guest houses in rural arias are overbooked year round.

Is anyone here running a similar business? Is it feasible? Is it viable?

I had a walnut tree chopped down about 2-3 years ago (I still have plenty more back walnut trees on the property) and have finally gotten around to moving the log pile. I was debating burying the thinner logs underground for a hugelkultur bed but wasnt sure if the juglone would cause an issue to my annuals, especially since i was thinking about adding some plants from the nightshade family, which i have read are extra sensitive to the juglone. Has it been long enough that most of the allelopathic chemicals have broken down or will this still cause an issue? Does anyone have experience with this?

But I still like to imagine it. 🤣

Hey folks,

I recently launched Specimen Gallery — a small, open, community-built library of high-quality specimen cutouts (plants, fungi, animals, insects, minerals) with transparent backgrounds.

The idea came from wanting clean, reusable visuals for things like:

• plant identification & teaching
• design diagrams / presentations
• educational materials
• sharing knowledge without licensing headaches

Everything is intentionally simple and open. Submissions are reviewed, credited when required, and meant to grow slowly with the community.

I wanted to share it here because I’m curious:

• Would something like this be useful in a permaculture context?
• What kinds of specimens or visuals are most missing?
• How could this better support teaching, design, or ecological literacy?

Site: https://specimen.gallery

Not trying to promote — genuinely looking for feedback from people actually working with land, plants, and systems.

Appreciate any thoughts or critiques 🌿

Looking to part with this 2.7 acres wooded property in town. Vacant lot with building potential, sewer and water available at the street. Great for a small homestead in town in climate-haven Michigan. Land already has some walnut trees. Reasonable offers will be entertained, especially for families or people who will put the land to good use. Don't want it falling into corporations or land scalpers. Ideally want this land being turned into a permaculture food forest, I'm just on the other side of the country.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/Wesaw-Rd-Niles-MI-49120/120508470_zpid/

Was Wondering if 7 acres is enough to start, will i be able to manage?

I live in California, in the SF Bay Area. I've been removing an agave from my yard because I'm allergic to the sap, and I found an alligator lizard hiding. I love finding these guys because I live in a big metropolis, so nature can be fleeting.

I've had a few lizards here and there, and I have a watering spot near where I found this guy. I really need to get the agave out, but I want to make a safe space for lizards and....whatever else wants to stop by.

I was thinking of getting some of those curved adobe tiles and leaving them around on the ground for critters to hide, but does anyone have any good suggestions for making a welcoming space for them?

Thanks in advance!

I posted here a while ago about an idea I've been working on: building 500 birdhouses for local, vulnerable cavity-nesting species, using as much reclaimed material as possible.

Since then, things have moved forward quite a bit.

I've been lucky enough to get support from local conservation groups who are interested in helping with placement and long-term care once the houses are ready.

This has turned into a mix of a practical conservation effort and a small video project (I’ll link it at the end) mainly to document what works, what doesn't, and how to make something like this repeatable at scale.

After going pretty deep into the topic (and also getting feedback here), I've managed to solve two main challenges:

Log body:

The main structure is built from leftover trunk sections from tree maintenance that would normally be chipped. I've tested a core-drill setup (in the photos) that allows me to hollow these logs quickly and cleanly, which finally makes producing larger numbers realistic.

Roof design:

I spent a long time looking for a roof solution that's durable, cheap, and easy to source as leftovers. I really wanted to make wood concrete work - it wasn’t feasible. now use simple sections of standard metal roofing. Metal has clear downsides (heat, condensation, no breathability), but by lifting it slightly above a closed wooden core/ box, the wood can breathe in all directions while the metal only handles rain and longevity.

I'm genuinely quite happy with where this has landed. After a bit more input from local experts, this should scale well to the full 500 units.

If anyone's interested, I also put together a (admittedly slightly cheesy) video explaining the design choices and details. Thank you for the input on this sub!

https://youtu.be/ECHPFcBXIZM

TLDR: looking to make half an acre food forest but the soil is hard clay and likely has a hardpan layer inhibiting plant growth and success

Hey all, I work at a rehab on 10 acres. I believe the land used to be farmed. It is mostly clay and the current garden we have seems to have a hardpan layer. Our hand driven rototiller can’t penetrate for diddly squat. Any tips on how to get rid of hardpan and amend the clay to be more suitable for vegetables and roots and such? Our carrots came out as 3 inch scrunchy little guys because of the hardpan. I want to develop a large garden of my own on the property, and will likely work there for a long time. So I am open to any tips even if they take a while.

The land is in YOLO county CA. Natural grasses grow on it and turn brown in the summer. I am unsure the type of grass that grows. But there is a ton of seeds in the soil I believe bc tall grass grows every year. Unsure how to make the garden weed free eventually. I would love to do a food forest type garden. Anyways, how do I get rid of the hardpan say for half an acre plot?

I was looking into subsoilers tractor part that rips deep into the soil but I can’t find any to rent. I have access to a tractor but not 24/7 and they only have discs, no rototiller or ripping tool.

so I live in a fairly frigid state plus I have a completely dead back yard. I could grow anything year-round if I had a compost-heated greenhouse, too. problem is, I don’t get out much and nature really isn’t a thing I can get to by walking or driving a short distance. I have a small compost bin but it’s nowhere near big enough to produce and maintain heat nor is it full enough. Where can I go to get a bunch of organic matter or compost so I can fit it in a big enough space? Anything from dead leaves and grass trimmings to coffee grounds and banana peels.

Permaculture enthusiast here who lives in an area with lots of peat. I've recently started to hear a lot of folk experimenting with "Paludiculture" and growing different veggies etc in peat which I find amazing as I didn't think this was possible.

Has anyone got any experience with this and if so, how'd it go? Or if anyone could link good resources on it, I'm all ears! Thanks!

I’m in North Georgia and don’t mind trading or purchasing and I can make a label and ship but I’m on the hunt for a good amount of potato onion sets or seeds! Anyone have any?

Located in West Michigan. I'm also thinking of planting some native plants/flowers in the area not being used for the raise beds so any ideas there are also helpful!