Zone Planning for Your Garden
Permaculture zone planning organises your garden by frequency of visit. Things you check daily go closest to your door. Things that need attention weekly go further out. This saves time and energy — the most important principle of good design.
The Zones
| Zone | Visit frequency | What goes here |
|---|---|---|
| Zone 0 | Constant | Your house, kitchen, living space |
| Zone 1 | Daily | Herbs, salad greens, compost, chicken coop |
| Zone 2 | 2-3 times/week | Main vegetable beds, fruit trees, worm farm |
| Zone 3 | Weekly | Orchard, larger crops (pumpkin, corn), food forest |
| Zone 4 | Occasionally | Timber, foraging, wild areas, dam |
| Zone 5 | Rarely | Unmanaged nature, wildlife habitat, observation |
Most home gardens only have Zones 0-2. That's fine — the principle still applies.
Recording Your Zone Plan
- Create a "Zone Planning" activity (category: Design, method: "Zone Planning")
- Link your garden site as input
- In the notes, describe what goes where
- Create new bed elements for each zone or area you've planned
- Link these new beds as outputs of the zone planning activity
This is provenance in action: your beds were created by the zone planning activity. When you view a bed's lineage later, the design decision that placed it there is the first entry.
Mapping Your Garden
If you have a hand-drawn map of your garden, take a photo and attach it to the zone planning activity. If you don't have one, sketch one now — even a rough drawing is valuable. Label the zones, mark north, note sun and wind direction.
This becomes a reference you'll come back to as your garden evolves.
Put It Into Practice
Draw a rough zone map of your property or growing space. Record your zone planning activity and note what you placed in each zone.