The area near your dwelling – Zone 1

This garden can include herb spirals, a vegetable garden and a Guild.

A guild is companion planting where plants benefit one another. For example planting a single fruit tree like an orange tree and surrounding the tree with companion plants to feed and protect the tree we could plant things as lavender, chives, broccoli, carrots for example. This would provide the surrounding area under the tree with a living mulch / ground cover.

Zone 1 could also have no dig garden and/or mandala garden.

Everything grown in a natural way to provide food. Plants and trees provide natural habitats for native insects, frogs, geckos and blue tongue lizards which in turn provide pest control.  Insect repelling plants like tansy and wormwood could be planted also.

Further into the garden – the area becomes Zone 2

Here outhouses like tool sheds or garages can have climbers and vines planted around them to screen a wall and at the same time produce fruit and vegetables e.g. climbing beans, peas, grapes or passionfruit.

Fruit trees and broad garden beds

In zone 2, and areas further away from the house we would plant larger trees.

For example; Fruit trees, Ice cream bean, Olive, Lemon myrtle which would create an upper canopy.

Beneath one could plant out under storey trees which prefer shaded areas like banana trees and coffee trees.

These tree layers create what we call a food forest which could be grown at the end or down the back of a yard.

Zone 3 would be the boundary fences and in these areas screen trees and shrubs could be planted.

 Irrigation and Watering systems can be installed throughout the garden, to allow for automatic watering.