Zone planning

Zone planning stems from a Permaculture philosophy; the following is a summary, as it applies to urban and guerrilla gardening.

To implement this for the urban gardener, some of these zones have been redefined slightly, as by definition urban gardeners do not have their own private gardens. As such, typical and regular 'urban gardens' frequented by the gardener should be integrated into the primary zones (0-2) with easy and relatively regular access for maintenance, such as routes to work or school, shopping routes, and nearby public green spaces.

The zones

• Zone 0 is the centre of activity, your home or apartment.
• Zone 1 is the most controlled and intensely used part: typically the space right outside your front door, garden space you will walk by several times a day. This zone occasionally has to be away from the homestead, urban living does not always include a yard.
• Zone 2 is still intensely managed, but typically planted with crops and flowers that do not require daily maintenance: a blueberry patch or a few dwarf fruit trees, typically still located on the home lot.
• Zone 3 is typically unmulched, un-pruned, with water only available for some plants.
• Zone 4 is semi-managed, semi-wild land: typically non-existent, depends on the amount of blight in your city.
• Zone 5 is an unmanaged, wild system used for observation as opposed to cultivation: may have to travel to this zone.