PatternBasePermaculture Knowledge Library
Open-source permaculture knowledge, organized for practitioners. From soil biology to food forest design. Learn the principles that make regenerative systems work.
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Animal Integration in Permaculture Gardens
How chickens, ducks, bees, and other animals contribute to a self-sustaining garden ecosystem.
Beneficial Insects in the Garden
How to attract and support the predators, pollinators, and parasitoids that keep your garden healthy without pesticides. A practical guide to the insects that do your pest control for free.
Building Healthy Soil
Practical techniques for improving soil fertility, structure, and biology without synthetic inputs.
Calories Per Square Meter: Measuring Real Garden Productivity
The one metric that tells you whether your garden is actually feeding you, and how to improve it year over year.
Carbon Sequestration in Gardens
How your garden pulls carbon from the atmosphere and stores it in soil and biomass, and why it matters.
Companion Planting Guide
Which plants grow well together and which should be kept apart. Learn the science behind companion planting and practical combinations that actually work in the garden.
Composting Methods for Permaculture Gardens
A practical guide to hot composting, cold composting, vermicomposting, and in-place composting methods. Learn which approach fits your situation and how to make rich compost that builds soil biology.
Dynamic Accumulators
Plants that mine deep soil minerals and make them available at the surface through leaf drop and chop-and-drop mulching. Understanding which plants accumulate which nutrients and how to use them effectively.
Ecological Succession in Garden Design
How ecosystems change over time from bare ground to mature forest, and how to harness this natural process to build soil, reduce maintenance, and create productive perennial systems faster.
Edge Effects in Garden Design
Why edges between different habitats are the most productive and biodiverse areas in any landscape. Learn how to create and maximize edge in your garden designs for greater yield and resilience.
Getting Started with PatternBase
A walkthrough of your first week on PatternBase, from creating a garden to recording your first observation.
Greywater Systems for Garden Irrigation
How to safely recycle household wash water to irrigate fruit trees and garden plantings. Covers system design, plant compatibility, health considerations, and regulations for residential greywater use.
How to Observe and Journal Effectively
A practical guide to garden observation that builds design intelligence over time.
Infrastructure & Structures in Permaculture
How greenhouses, raised beds, trellises, and water tanks fit into a whole-systems garden design.
Nitrogen Fixation Explained
How legumes and bacteria turn air into plant food, and how to use this in your garden design.
Nitrogen-Fixing Plants for Gardens
How nitrogen-fixing plants convert atmospheric nitrogen into free fertilizer for your garden. A practical guide to the most useful nitrogen fixers and how to integrate them into your planting designs.
Permaculture Zones Explained
Understanding permaculture zones 0 through 5 and how to organize your garden design around human attention and energy. A practical guide to placing elements where they'll thrive with the least effort.
Rainwater Harvesting for Gardens
How to capture, store, and use rainwater to reduce irrigation costs and build resilience. From simple rain barrels to comprehensive catchment systems, learn the fundamentals of working with rain.
Sector Analysis for Garden Design
How to map the sun, wind, water flow, and other external energies that cross your site. Sector analysis is the foundation of smart garden placement and microclimate creation.
Sheet Mulching: Building Soil Without Digging
How to convert lawn, weeds, or compacted ground into rich growing soil using layers of cardboard and organic matter. Sheet mulching is the no-dig foundation of permaculture garden building.
Soil Food Web Basics
Introduction to the living soil ecosystem and why it matters for your garden.
Stacking Functions in Permaculture
How to design every element in your garden to serve multiple purposes. Stacking functions is the permaculture principle that transforms simple gardens into efficient, resilient systems.
Succession Planting
Design gardens that evolve through ecological time from pioneer species to mature climax ecosystems
Swales and Keyline Design
How to use contour earthworks and keyline patterning to harvest rainwater, prevent erosion, and rehydrate your landscape. Practical guidance on when and how to build swales and apply keyline principles.
The Science of Companion Planting
Evidence-based companion planting: what works, what doesn't, and why.
The Seven Layers of a Food Forest
Understanding vertical structure in perennial food systems, from canopy to root.
The Seven-Layer Food Forest
How to design a multi-layered food-producing ecosystem modeled on a natural forest. Understanding canopy, understory, shrub, herbaceous, ground cover, root, and vine layers for productive perennial gardens.
The Soil Food Web
Understanding the living ecosystem beneath your feet. Bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and other soil organisms form the foundation of every productive garden. Learn how to support them.
Understanding Plant Guilds
What plant guilds are, why they work, and how to design your first one.
Understanding Soil pH and Texture
How soil pH and texture affect what you can grow and how to test and amend your soil. A practical guide to working with clay, sand, loam, and everything in between.
Water Harvesting Principles
How to capture, slow, and store water on your site using earthworks and passive systems.
What Is a Plant Guild?
Plant guilds are communities of mutually beneficial species designed to work together like a natural ecosystem. Learn how guilds reduce maintenance, build soil, and increase yields through cooperative planting.
What Is Permaculture?
An introduction to permaculture ethics, principles, and how they apply to garden design.
Why PatternBase? How It Compares to Other Garden Planning Tools
PatternBase is a garden design tool built for permaculture: guilds, food forest layers, and multi-year ecosystems. Here's how it compares to traditional garden planners, plant care apps, and landscape design software.
Zone Placement
Organizing your garden by frequency of use and intensity of management from Zone 0 to Zone 5
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