PatternBasePlant Guild Designer
Permaculture designs plant communities, not individual plants. A guild is a group of species that support each other, fixing nitrogen, attracting pollinators, covering bare soil, confusing pests. PatternBase is the first garden design tool that lets you build these communities visually, with functional layers and companion data built in.
How it works
1. Start with a template or a blank canvas
Choose from 30+ guild templates for food forests, herb spirals, berry patches, and more, or start from scratch with your own species list.
2. Add plants and assign functional layers
Every plant gets a role: nitrogen fixer, dynamic accumulator, ground cover, pest confuser, pollinator attractor. You see what each species contributes to the whole community.
3. View companion relationships and coverage
See which functional roles are filled and which gaps remain. Overlay views highlight nitrogen fixers, pollinators, ground covers, and more, so you know your guild is complete.
4. Share your guild or keep it private
Publish your design to the community marketplace so other growers can learn from it, or save it privately for your own garden plans.
What makes this different
Traditional companion planting tools show pairs: tomato likes basil, carrot likes onion. That's useful, but it's not how ecosystems work.
PatternBase designs functional plant communities. Overlay views show nitrogen fixers, dynamic accumulators, ground covers, pest confusers, and pollinators. You're designing how plants work together, not just which ones sit next to each other.
That's the difference between a companion chart and a guild designer.
30+
Guild templates
4,500+
Plants in the database
11
Functional layer overlays
Open
Community marketplace
Start designing plant guilds. Free, no credit card required.
Try PatternBase free