Notes from a small urban garden: taking and not taking action based on observations

While I do not usually go out of my way to adopt permaculture principals, I find that my preferences and concerns tend to overlap with them. For instance, going with local drought-resistant plants tends to require far less maintenance than fussing over more exotic high-maintenance varieties. I find that permaculture principles can be interpreted widely. For instance, a yield obtained can also be aesthetic, whether having structural interest in winter or having a pleasant scent, or it can have more practical results such as attracting pollinators (which also ticks off the permaculture ideal of having biodiversity). In any case, one principle I’d like to touch upon today is the permaculture guideline of observing and interacting. This can also involve refraining from action.

Two observations made had to do with one of my footpaths and where lavenders were thriving. There are narrow footpaths, essentially stepping stones made with local andesite stone, going around the backs of my larger flower borders. One of these footpaths only went halfway around and stopped in a tangle of various plantings. Watching the movements of our garden cat over the winter along with those of visiting strays and neighbors’ cats, I couldn’t help but notice that they’d use this stepping stone path that stopped halfway and then continue straight on through the plantings. This resulted in much wear and tear on the plants, even if dormant, and it restricted the natural routes of the felines. This drove me to clear a way so that the path can go entirely around the border. I was able transplant some of the perennials and collect more slabs of andesite stone. This was a win-win situation as both cat and perennials benefitted, and I could now reach harder-to-reach corners of the border.

Conversely, I have also not interacted based on observation. I had planned to plug the spaces between the grass clumps with hand-picked pieces of local stone. However, I instantly jettisoned this plan when noticing that the cats would use the grasses as a perch, which offered them both a screen from which to pounce upon passing winged insects, as well as a snug enclosed place to hang out. So in this case, not interacting was how I decided to interact. I also stopped planting lavender in that particular border after their stunted, torturous growth became apparent due to limited sunlight compared to those thriving in another border that gets far more sun. The only action I took in this case was potting the stunted lavenders.

So there you have it. Observe, observe, observe...and then go and take action, or not.