Most permaculture and regenerative landscape designers would agree: visioning is the most fun and creative step in the permaculture design process. Here, we are dreaming up all of the things we wish to include in our design without any limitations. In this step of the permaculture planning process, we let our imagination run wild. In this article, I am going to go over the visioning process, what it is, and how to do it.
The Permaculture Planning and Design Process
The steps I’ve listed below are inspired by Toby Hemmingway in his book, Gaia’s Garden. If you’re new to permaculture, I really recommend checking out this guide. I’ve taken the steps he describes and modified them slightly. The steps are (1) Observe, (2) Vision, (3) Research, (4) Develop, and (5) Implement. In this article, we’re going to discuss the second step of the design process: visioning. If you’d like to learn about the rest of the permaculture planning and design process, check out this article.
Permaculture Planning Step 2: Visioning
After we’ve observed the landscape in step 1, it’s time to start dreaming of all the ways we want to create our designs. Think of this step as a brainstorming session. We’re not thinking practically in this step and we’re not figuring out how to place each piece of the puzzle. We’re not even thinking about finances. All we’re doing is dreaming! The planning, details, and practicality will come later.
In this step, we are imagining elements that (1) are self-contained or require little maintenance and outside inputs, (2) increase biodiversity and provide shelter and resources for wildlife, and (3) will enhance air, water, soil, and life quality. If you want some inspiration and ideas for what to include, check out this comprehensive list of elements to include in your permaculture design. While you’re doing your visioning, you may want to ask yourself these questions:
Visioning Questions
- What do I want from this design? How do I want to feel and what resources do I want to be provided? What about others living on the land? What do they want and need? If you’re opening up the land for public use, then what does the community want and need from the design? What does the land have the potential to offer us?
- What does the land need from us? Does the land need our help with restoration or rejuvenation in any way? Are there pollutants or signs of abuse that we can correct in our design? Are there endangered plants, animals, incests, etc. we could provide resources for? Are there habitats we can work to restore?
- How do I and others want to feel here? Should this design promote community and gathering? Or should it promote solitude and quietness? Should this landscape feel like an educational site, a market farm, or a self-reliant homestead?
- What skills do I want to learn? What skills do I want to teach? Are there hobbies or crafts I’ve always wanted to try? Are there skills I’ve always wanted to develop?
- What elements am I excited about or interested in? Which plants and animals do I want to work with? Are there buildings and structures I want on the landscape? What kind of energy sources am I interested in and what kind of energy does the land have the ability to provide? What are my options for water and irrigation systems?
List of Permaculture Elements
There is an unlimited selection of things to include in your permaculture planning. Here’s a condensed list of elements:
- Trees, shrubs, and perennial plant crops
- Annual plant crops
- Animals and livestock
- Compost piles
- Buildings, greenhouses, and other structures
- Fencing
- Roads and driveways
- Rain barrels, ponds, and other water sources
- . . . And more. Click here to get a full list.
Bonus: Creating a Vision Board
When in a visioning session, something I like to do is create a vision board. A vision board is a collage of images that represent your dreams and goals for your landscape design. To make a vision board, you’ll need a poster board, scissors, glue, and lots of magazines relating to permaculture and landscape design. Once you have the supplies, all you have to do is cut out images that relate to your design and that inspire you and paste them onto the board.
The purpose of a vision board is to allow yourself to better visualize your ideas and to have a visual reminder of your dreams you can keep coming back to. When making a vision board, it’s important not to let your mind get in the way too much and to just cut out images you’re drawn to. That way, you can look back at the vision board and see patterns and desires you may not have been aware of before.
When you’re finished, it’s important to hang your vision board up somewhere you’ll be able to see often. Having a constant visual reminder of your dreams with help keep you motivated and excited.
The Free Permaculture Visioning Workbook
If you’d like a place to work through the visioning process, check out the free permaculture visioning workbook. In the workbook, you’ll be walked through the visioning process with writing prompts and a list of potential elements to include in your designs. Type your email above and the workbook will be sent to your inbox!
The Next Steps of the Permaculture Planning Process
Write down your answers and keep lists of the things you’re dreaming about including. Once you have your list, you can move on to the next phase: researching! In this step, we do all of the research we need to do before beginning our permaculture design. This step includes creating a zone and sector analysis of the landscape and creating a needs and yield analysis of each of the elements you wish to include in your design. Learn more about each by clicking on their links.
Summary: Permaculture Planning
When we are in the second step of the permaculture planning process, we are dreaming up all of the elements we want to incorporate into our designs. This step is all about letting our imagination lead us without limitation. In the visioning process, we think about what we what from the design, the ways we can steward the landscape, and which of the hundreds of permaculture elements we want to include. We can even create vision boards that allow us to visualize our dreams.
To learn more about permaculture and permaculture design, read this article on permaculture design. In this article, I go into lots of detail about the rest of the permaculture design steps.
Have you done your visioning? Have you created a permaculture vision board? Leave your thoughts in the comments, I would love to hear from you!
Thanks for reading and happy dreaming!
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