Regenerative VS Permaculture: 10 Eco-Friendly Gardening Practices

Regenerative Gardening vs Permaculture

Before we discuss ways that you can have an eco-friendly garden, I want to clear up a little bit of confusion when it comes to two very popular eco-conscience gardening practices that you have probably heard about in recent years.

There is often a lot of confusion around regenerative farming and permaculture as many people, including myself, often think that they mean the same thing. While they both have similar goals in mind and both use methods that benefit the environment they are slightly different.

Regenerative Gardening

Conventional agricultural farming methods are unsustainable and over time have led to many environmental concerns such as degraded soil, soil erosion, nutrient run-off, water pollution and decreased biodiversity.

Regenerative farming is a method that utilizes ecological principles, such as no-till planting, cover-crops and eliminating the harmful use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, to reverse the damages caused by conventional farming.

Healthy soil is fundamental to all life on earth and there are so many ecological benefits to having healthy soil, including increased carbon sequestration, nutrient-dense food, increased biodiversity and enhanced water quality.

While regenerative farming is very similar to permaculture, the main goal of regenerative farming is to naturally restore soil health, increase biodiversity and sequestrate carbon to create long-term sustainable methods that benefit nature by working with it and not against it.

Permaculture

Permaculture is a gardening method founded by Australian biologist, Bill Mollison. This practice is very similar to regenerative gardening in the aspect that it works with nature and not against but while soil health is an important component of permaculture practices, restoring degraded soil and carbon sequestration is not the main goal.

Instead permaculture methods aim to create a more permanent, self-sustaining ecosystem that works in harmony with both humans and the landscape by mimicking natural ecosystems. Permaculture by definition, “integrates land, resources, people and the environment through mutually beneficial synergies – imitating the no waste, closed loop systems seen in diverse natural systems.” Simply put, it is a self-sustaining ecosystem designed to not only provide food, shelter, water and other materials for humans but to create an ecosystem that fosters all forms of life.

To sum it all up, the main goal of permaculture is to design a healthy, self-sustaining ecosystem that provides necessities such as food, water and building materials for humans while also benefiting all forms of life, thus creating healthy ecosystems that help fight environmental challenges like climate change and water pollution.

Similarities between Regenerative Farming and Permaculture

• Both practices work with nature and not against it to fight climate change, improve water quality and create long term, sustainable practices.

• They utilize eco-friendly practices such as no-till, cover-cropping and refraining the use of harmful chemicals.

• Both practices prioritize soil health and foster biodiversity.

• Both Regenerative Farming and Permaculture use sustainable practices to create food and water security while also fighting environmental challenges.

What is Carbon Sequestration

You’ve heard me mention carbon sequestration a few times in this post and you may be wondering what it means? To put it simply, Carbon sequestration is the “longterm storage of carbon in oceans, soils, vegetation (especially forests), and geologic formations.”

In the case with soil, plants take in CO2 during photosynthesis and it gets stored in their plant tissue. Once a plant dies the carbon is returned to the soil and where much of it stays stored. Carbon is stored in soil organic matter, which is why healthy soil that is high in organic matter and teeming with life (think microbes) can store large amounts of carbon taken out of the atmosphere by plants, thus playing a major role in managing climate change.

Benefits of Eco-Friendly Gardening Practices

Nutrient Dense Food

Soil microbes play an important role in the health of soils and plants by performing many beneficial functions including breaking down organic matter in the soil, thus releasing the nutrients that plants use. Healthy soil that is teeming with microbial life will contain more nutrients for plants to use, making your fruits and vegetables more nutrient dense.

Restores Soil

Many eco-friendly gardening practices work to restore and regenerate depleted soils. As mentioned previously, healthy soil is full of microbial life and microbes perform many functions in the soil. Soil microbes improve soil structure and fertility by breaking down organic matter in the soil.

Sequesters Carbon

As I we recently discussed, plants have the ability to to remove large amounts of CO2 from our atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis, where it is then stored in their leaves, stems and roots. Once the plant dies, CO2 is then released into the soil where is used and converted by many types of soil microbes. By utilizing various regenerative gardening methods, we can help sequester more carbon in the soil.

Fights Climate Change

Carbon Dioxide is one of many greenhouse gasses that contribute to global warming so it is important that we limit the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere in order to combat climate change. By practicing various eco-friendly gardening methods such as cover cropping, mulching and practicing no-till methods, we can help sequester large quantities of CO2 in our plants and soils thus reducing the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere and fighting climate change.

Supports Biodiversity

Biodiversity diversity for those who are unfamiliar with the term, is essentially the collective term for all life on earth from soil microbes to plants and animals. Biodiversity is critical to all life on earth including humans. By practicing eco-friendly gardening practices such as planting native plants and reducing the use of harmful chemicals in our gardens we can foster a large variety of local insects, birds and other animals right in our own landscapes.

Balanced, Self-Sustaining Ecosystems

Balanced, self-sustaining ecosystems are essential to healthy, thriving gardens and landscapes. They require lower maintenance and have many ecological benefits including reduced pest and disease pressure, water conservation and the reduced use of fertilizers. The Permaculture method utilizes many eco-friendly gardening practices that mimics nature to create balanced, self-sustaining ecosystems that fosters both humans and biodiversity.

10 Ways to Implement Eco-Friendly Garden Practices

1. No-till Gardening

Tilling the soil is a traditional method of gardening that turns the soil over when amending and prepping beds. Soil is teeming with life from soil microbes to fungi which all play important roles in the health of plants. Unfortunately when we till the soil we disturb the delicate soil structure and living organisms in the soil which results in less nutrients, increased soil compaction, reduced water retention and erosion. Tilling methods also bring dormant weed seeds to the surface resulting in increased weed pressure.

No-till gardening minimizes soil disturbance and has many benefits to the garden including improved soil health and structure, less weed pressure, healthier plants as well as reduced water and fertilizer usage, thus saving you time and money in the long run.

2. Cover the soil

Covering the soil whether it be with mulch or cover-crops is a method of no-till gardening that aims to decrease soil disturbance and increase soil health.

Planting cover crops and mulching the soil with anything like woodchips, dried leaves and grass, straw, compost and manure has many benefits including:

• Reduce Erosion

  Covering the soil reduces erosion from wind and water and also reduces crusting of the soil.

• Moisture Retention

  Soil that is covered by mulch or planted with cover crops helps to retain more moisture in the soil by limiting evaporation of water from the soil. This helps with water conservation by reducing the amount of water needed in the garden.

• Weed Suppression

  Mulching and cover cropping suppresses weed pressure by blocking sunlight and preventing weed seeds from germinating. Weeds also germinate much easier on bare ground so by covering with mulch you will prevent many seeds from germinating and taking root.

• Improved Soil Structure

  Using cover crops and mulch will help improve soil structure in various ways. As mulch breaks down it adds organic matter to the soil and some cover crops help improve soil structure by breaking up compacted soil and clay with their long tap roots. Once the plant dies, the roots and plant matter break down, feeding soil microbes while also adding organic matter to the soil. As a result, this improves the soil structure, allowing for better water and air movement in the soil.

• Adds Nutrients

  Many cover crops add more nutrients to the soil naturally, limiting the amount of fertilizer that is needed. Each cover crop has a different benefit, for example, Legumes, plants in the bean family, naturally pull nitrogen from the atmosphere and store them in little nodules on their roots. Once the plant is terminated the nitrogen is then released back into the soil where it is used by other plants. Buckwheat is good at making phosphorus available for other plants to use and sunflowers have extensive root systems that help break up soil and mine for nutrients deep in the ground.

  Mulch breaks down over time and adding organic matter and nutrients to the soil in the process. By covering your soil you can naturally add nutrients back to the soil and save yourself money on expensive fertilizers.

• Temperature Control

  Finally, covering your soil helps to moderate your soil from extreme temperature fluctuations. It will keep your soil cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

3. Plant Native

Planting native has many environmental benefits to both the edible garden and the landscape including:

• Higher Carbon Sequestration

• Fosters a Larger Variety of Local Insects and Animals

• Benefits Native Pollinators

• Uses Little to No Fertilizer

• Conserves Water

I go into more detail about the environmental benefits of planting native plants in this blog post if you’re interested in learning more.

4. Intensive Planting

The method of intensive planting means spacing your plants close together and planting a diverse variety of different plants. It also acts in the same way as cover cropping and mulching while also mimicking nature, resulting in many advantages including:

• Conserves water

  Similar to mulching and cover cropping, planting intensively covers the soil, leaving no bare space, thus reducing evaporation and the need to water frequently.

• Retains Nutrients

  Planting intensively retains more nutrients by preventing nutrient run-off and leaching from the beds due to frequent watering.

• Fosters Biodiversity

  A diverse variety of plants fosters more biodiversity in the garden and landscape.

• Higher Crop Yields

  By planting a more diverse variety of crops and adding more plants to a bed with closer spacing you can increase crop yields.

• Less Disease and Pest Pressure

  As previously mentioned, planting intensively fosters more biodiversity allowing for a balanced ecosystem containing both “good” bugs and “bad” bugs. This leads to less pest pressure in the garden. Intensive planting also fosters healthier soils which result in healthy plants that have less disease pressure.

5. Increase biodiversity

By practicing most of the eco-friendly gardening methods in this post, you can increase the amount of local biodiversity in your gardens and landscapes which will not only benefit the environment and our gardens but us humans as well. The larger variety of plants that you can provide in your garden, the larger amount of birds, insects and other living organisms you will provide for thus creating a balanced, thriving ecosystem.

6. Freedom Lawns and reducing lawn space

Lawns take so much but provide little to no benefits for our environment. They require harmful herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers that leach into our waterways, wreaking havoc, and costing high amounts of money to maintain. Not only do they require harmful chemicals but they are a monoculture crop that doesn’t provide any benefits to our local biodiversity and often are invasive species.

Freedom lawns on the other hand are lawns with a diverse amount of mostly native plant species that benefit our pollinators and wildlife. They require no chemicals and little to no water or fertilizer all while looking just as green as traditional lawns. There are many native ground covers and grasses that make beautiful lawn substitutions while also providing ecosystem services.

Reducing the amount of lawn space in the landscape is another option that has the same benefits as freedom lawns. By creating more garden space and reducing lawn space, you can grow more food and other beneficial plants.

7. Grow Organic

Growing organic means avoiding harmful chemicals and using natural options for pest and disease control. Not only is this better for the environment but healthier options for us as well. Unfortunately chemical herbicides and pesticides can have unwanted side effects for our health and can leach into our environment and waterways. Pesticides, organic or not can also be harmful to many pollinators and other “good bugs” so it is important to use caution even when using organic options.

8. Composting

There are many benefits to composting including:

• Reducing waste in the landfills

• Reduces Greenhouse Gasses

• Free Compost for Your Gardens

Composting is a great way to get free compost for your garden while also using all of your foodscraps, animal manure and yard waste. This reduces the amount of waste going to the landfill thus reducing the amount of greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere. When waste decomposes in landfills it releases harmful methane gas because of the anaerobic decomposition that happens in landfills.

Composting also doesn’t have to take up a large amount of space. There are many clever ways to compost depending on how much space you have to work with. For example, vermicomposting (worm composting) is great for small spaces because with the right set-up, you can easily start vermicomposting in anything such as a large bin, trash can or bucket.

While most food and other organic matter can be composted, there are some things that you want to avoid like meat, bones, dairy, pet waste, citrus peels and diseased plants.

Worms from the vermicomposting bin

9. Farm Animals

Some farm animals can offer many eco-friendly benefits to your gardens including pest management, soil regeneration, and natural fertilizer.

Ruminants like sheep and goats make good grazers and can help to naturally terminate cover crops and mow down grass all while assisting with soil regeneration and providing valuable manure for your plants. Chickens, ducks and guineas make for great pest control in the garden and also help to limit waste that goes into the landfill. I often clean my fridge out, giving the leftovers and table scraps to the chickens which they then turn in to manure.

Rabbit manure is also great for the garden because it is full of nutrients and doesn’t have to be composted first like many other manures. I myself have three bunnies that provide more than enough manure for my garden.

10. Conserve Water

There are many eco-friendly gardening methods that we can utilize that will help to conserve water in our landscapes such as planting native plants and keeping the soil covered with mulches and cover crops.

Not only do many native plants naturally have deeper root systems that allow them to access water deeper in the ground but they are also more acclimated to the local climate and can tolerate longer periods without water.

By constantly keeping the ground covered with mulch and cover-crops, the soil will retain more water thus reducing the need to water often.

Finally, you can also conserve more water by installing a rain barrel and directing storm runoff to desired areas of the landscape.

Happy Planting!

Well, there you have it, A list of 10 eco-friendly gardening practices! I hope you are encouraged to implement some of these practices in your own gardens and that this post helped to clarify any confusion you may have had with the terms regenerative and permaculture gardening. While we as individuals can’t stop climate change and habitat loss, there is so much we can do in our own backyards to help our local ecosystems! Its up to each of us as individuals to help heal our planet and it starts right in our own gardens and communities!

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