My new plan for the garden is to take it further down the low input/ high output route. The inputs I am particularly looking to reduce at the moment are the time I spend doing things like potting on and planting out, and the amount of watering I have to do in summer. Those of you who are in the know will realise that I am talking about applying permaculture principles to my garden. I was already doing that, but permaculture is very much a cyclical process of observing what is going on, thinking about and researching possible solutions and then implementing the ones that you think will have the best and most sustainable effect.

There are lots of books about permaculture, and many have a slant on gardening, but one that I have found particularly useful recently is The Permaculture Garden, by Graham Bell.

The book begins by looking at what a garden is, and the uses to which one can be put. Then it moves through planning the best use of your space (and it is aimed at people in urban environments, who don’t have acres) and walks you through some projects that you could complete in a day if you want to get off to a flying start.

The longer term work involves looking at the resources you have available, permaculture gardening techniques to make the most of those resources and prevent waste and pollution and looking at some of the more unusual permaculture principles, including shaping your growing spaces to increase the amount of productive ‘edge’.

There’s a chapter on adding features like greenhouses and play spaces, one on water (including both ponds and grey water systems) and one on the basics of forest gardening. The final chapters look at community gardening and working with the soil and then there’s a good booklist giving lots of publications you can turn to for more detailed information on all of these subjects.

Throughout the book there are lovely line illustrations by Sarah Bunker and many lists of useful plants that aren’t confined to a boring appendix but are added into tables according to their uses or their favoured locations and dropped in throughout the text so that you’re never overwhelmed with information.

A lovely book book for anyone new to permaculture who wants to focus on the gardening aspects of it, and for those already familiar with the principles who want a reference book to refer to for information or inspiration every once in a while. The Permaculture Garden is published by Permanent Publications and available from the Green Shopping Catalogue.