Zones: Planting with People & Animals in Mind
Design your garden by dividing it into growing zones according
to how frequently you visit the different areas.
Zone 0 = self and home
Zone* Plants
Garden
Water Animals Human Uses
techniques sources
Zone 1
Most
visited;
intensive
use and
care
Zone 2:
Semiintensively
cultivated
Herbs,
greens,
flowers,
dwarf trees,
low shrubs,
lawn
Staple and
canning
crops, small
orchards,
fire
retardant
plants
Feed
storage,
field
shelters
Intensive weeding
and mulching,
dense planting,
espaliering
Rain barrels,
small ponds,
greywater,
household tap
Spot mulch, cover
crops, seasonal
pruning
Well, pond,
greywater,
irrigation,
swales
Cover crops, little
pruning
Large ponds,
swales,
storage in soil
Zone 4:
Minimal
care
Firewood,
timber,
native plants
Pasturing,
selective forestry
Ponds, swales
Zone 5:
Wild;
unmanaged
Native
plants
Unmanaged
Lakes, creeks
Zone 3:
farm zone
Wild birds,
rabbits, guinea
pigs, soil
organisms, and
beneficial
insects
Rabbits, fish,
poultry, soil
organisms, and
beneficial
insects
Daily food and
flowers, social space
Cows, horses,
pigs, sheep,
goats, other
large animals,
soil organisms,
and beneficial
insects
Large animals,
soil organisms,
and beneficial
insects
Native
animals, soil
organisms, and
beneficial
insects
Cash crops, firewood
and lumber, pasture
Home food
production, some
market crops, plant
propagation, wildlife
habitat
Hunting, gathering,
grazing
Inspiration, foraging,
meditation
* from Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway; published by Chelsea Green