Meaning & use
permaculture
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
A way of designing farms and gardens to copy natural systems so they stay productive for many years with little outside input.
Grammar: No article is needed: they practice permaculture.
Patterns
- practice permaculture
- a permaculture garden
They turned their back garden into a permaculture plot with fruit trees and herbs.
Permaculture aims to reuse water, soil and waste instead of wasting them.
She took a course in permaculture before starting her small farm.
Common combinations
- practice permaculture
- Many small farmers practice permaculture to protect the soil.
- permaculture garden
- Their permaculture garden needs very little watering.
- permaculture design
- Permaculture design starts with observing the land.
- permaculture principles
- The school teaches permaculture principles to children.
- permaculture course
- He signed up for a weekend permaculture course.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sustainable farming
- Sustainable farming is a general idea, while permaculture is a specific design approach with set principles.
- organic farming
- Organic farming focuses on avoiding chemicals, while permaculture also plans how every part of the system works together.
- regenerative agriculture
- Regenerative agriculture focuses on restoring soil health, which overlaps with permaculture but is not the same design method.
Opposites
Word family
- permaculturist noun
- a person who practices or teaches permaculture
- permanent adjective
- lasting a long time, the first root of the word
- agriculture noun
- farming, the second root of the word
Commonly confused: permaculture or monoculture?
permaculture vs monoculture
Monoculture is growing a single crop over a large area, almost the opposite of permaculture's mixed planting.
Practice
Which activity is the best example of permaculture?
Choose one answer.
Permaculture designs lasting systems that copy natural cycles. Single-crop chemical farming is the opposite approach.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “permaculture”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.