In this case study of a permaculture garden in Massachusetts, climate presents significant challenges to plant growth due to cold winters. However, the gardeners have implemented various strategies to overcome this, such as using a plastic house to grow tropical plants and selecting plants that thrive in the available sunlight. The small land area of 400 square meters has been designed to maximize water retention and plant diversity while maintaining landscape resilience. Various structures like the shed, house, and fences have been utilized and adapted to enhance functions like water flow, privacy, and plant support. Maintaining a private garden space was a key motivation for the gardeners' purchase of this duplex property.

1. Discussion 5: Scale of
Permanence in Case
Study 1
Courtney Johnson

2. Climate
 In Case Study 1, Climate is something that is very difficult to
overcome. Climate is not something that can be changed, and
basically provides an outline to what is feasible. It is the most
permanent and most difficult to change in Yeomans’ Scale of
Permanence. Having this permaculture garden in
Massachusetts, the climate is generally cold. This is
challenging because there are very few edibles that can thrive
in the winter months in MA. It also presents the opportunity to
overcome this challenge by incorporating things such as the
plastic house they have in the design to grow tropical and
subtropical plants. They also mentioned planting things
around the house according to the level of sunlight needed so
everything could thrive accordingly. Some plants are not used
for their intended purpose because of the climate, such as the
bananas, but instead they provide biomass and are of use to
the neighbors.

3. Landform and Water
 At the site in case study 1, Eric and Jonathan have a
relatively small space at about 400 square meters. For
one, they have used water to their advantage to grow
tropical and subtropical plants. The water in the tanks in
the plastic house not only provide nutrition to the plants,
but they also act as radiators in the winter though heat
exchange with the air in the plastic house to allow the
plants to continue to thrive. They originally had wanted
to plant 300 species on the land, but realized the
landscape worked best at around 200 so they did that
instead to make the landscape more resilient. Besides the
snow and spring mud, there are not many problems with
natural disasters and such to worry about. The spring
mud must also be mitigated from the amount of roots in
the soil, making it much more stable of a landscape.

4. Access and Circulation
 The first thing that comes to mind about this case study
for access to me is the fact that Eric and Jonathan bought
this duplex house just so they both could access the
garden whenever they wanted to. There are numerous
pathways throughout the backyard to allow Eric and
Jonathan to get around easily in a way that doesn’t
disrupt the landscape. The shed and the shrubs block
neighbors views to keep the garden a bit more private. In
the front, the tropical plants seem to be close to the road
and right next to driveway areas, and there is also auto
access to the side of the backyard closest to the house
that runs along the side of the house.

5. Trees and Structures
 It appears that gutters were added to a garage to
increase the flow of water into the design. The shed
became a blockade from the neighbors yard. The
house itself became the place Eric and Jonathan
would live as neighbors, but still be able to use the
garden collectively with anytime access. Things like
raspberries, grapes, and Asian pears were grown
against the neighbors fence for stability and privacy.
These are just a few examples of how the yard was
completely transformed into a perennial garden
with over 200 edible species.

6. Soil
 There is a specific section next to the shed that has
soil improving plants that are used to richen the
soil. Plants like the bananas also provide leaves that
are very nutrient rich for the soil. Erik and Jonathan
take plants out of their garden that do not work
with their design and allow others to take them to
recycle, which allows them to also freshen the soil.
They have a compost area that is allowing organic
matter to decompose and give back to the soil.

7. Other: Privacy
 Eric and Jonathan’s whole reason for purchasing this
duplex was to maintain their private space. They
realized that through renting property they were not able
to do what they wanted to the land because they did not
know how permanent it would be for them to live there.
They bought this duplex so they would be able to create
the space they wanted to without anyone else having any
effect on it. They also maintained their privacy by buying
a duplex instead of a normal house in the first place. This
means they can both live their separate lives, but also
both benefit equally from this permaculture design. They
enforced the idea of privacy by using things like the shed
and hedges as privacy from the neighbors as well.