In the pathway: Designing your site
Designing with zones and sectors
Organising your place intelligently according to frequency of use and outside influences.
Introduction
The zones-and-sectors method is permaculture's founding design tool. It organises space by two logics: how often you visit each place (zones 0 to 5) and the outside influences that pass through it (sectors: sun, winds, water, views).
Background
Devised by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, this method avoids the trap of a garden that is 'pretty on paper but exhausting to maintain'. It places human energy in the right spot: what is used every day should be 30 seconds away, not 5 minutes.
Who this guide is for
Anyone designing or reorganising a place (garden, plot, farm, balcony). Ideal when moving in or during a redesign.
Why it matters
Clearly reduces maintenance time (the most-used elements are placed closest). Avoids forgetting: what you use every day stays within easy reach. Places each element where it is most efficient.
What to understand before starting
- A scale plan of the place (a rough survey is enough).
- A period of observation (ideally 1 seasonal cycle, at least 2 weeks).
- Coloured pencils, tracing paper, or a simple digital tool.
Detailed steps
- Step 1
Map what exists
Draw the plot to scale: house, access, trees, water points, slopes, buildings.
- Step 2
Place zone 0
This is the dwelling: house, workshop. The centre of the system, the starting point of all distances.
- Step 3
Define zone 1
Visited every day, often several times: kitchen aromatics, sheltered seedlings, kitchen compost, salads to pick, common medicinal herbs. As close to the door as possible.
- Step 4
Define zone 2
Visited often: the main vegetable garden, small fruit, productive hedges. Greenhouse and henhouse go where your real frequency of care puts them.
- Step 5
Define zone 3
Visited about weekly: orchard, field crops (cereals, squash), extensive plantings.
- Step 6
Define zone 4
Visited once a month: firewood, extensive pasture, cultivated wild resources (mushrooms, medicinal plants).
- Step 7
Define zone 5
Almost never visited, wild: a biodiversity refuge, observation zone, fallow. Always present, even if reduced to 1 m².
- Step 8
Draw the sectors
On tracing paper: sun arrows (summer/winter), prevailing winds, water runoff, views to keep/hide, noise, outside gaze.
- Step 9
Place the elements
Adapt windbreak hedges, greenhouses, basins and ponds to the sectors. Combine zones (use priority) and sectors (the place's energies).
Concrete examples
- A town house (200 m²): zone 0 the house, zone 1 a planter at the door (basil, chives, parsley), zone 2 a vegetable garden at the back, zone 5 a wild nettle corner at the foot of the north wall.
- A small rural plot (2000 m²): zones 0-3 concentrated around the house, zone 4 at the back of the plot for wood and field crops, zone 5 along the edge.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Making a plan without observation: you miss runoff, winds, draughts.
- Putting the aromatics at the far end of the garden: you forget them.
- Wanting to 'cultivate' everything: without a zone 5, the system loses its resilience.
- Confusing zones (use) and sectors (influences): they are two different overlays.
Tips & best practices
- Test before fixing: mark the paths with straw for 1 season.
- Make the plan in pencil: it will change often.
- Photograph the plot at different times and seasons: invaluable for design.
Frequently asked questions
- What if I only have a balcony?
- The zones still exist: zone 1 = kitchen windowsill, zone 2 = the main balcony, zone 5 = a pot of nettles in a corner.
- Does the plan change?
- Yes, constantly. Permaculture design is iterative: observe → adjust → observe.
- Do I need a professional?
- No, to get started. A design you make yourself is more relevant than a 'perfect' design that is never lived in.
Key takeaways
- 6 use zones (0 to 5) + sectors of outside influences.
- Observe 1 seasonal cycle before fixing anything.
- Always keep a wild zone 5, even a tiny one.
Sources
- Mollison, B. (1988). Permaculture: A Designers' Manual. Tyalgum : Tagari Publications.
- Holmgren, D. (2002). Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability. Hepburn : Holmgren Design Services.
- Whitefield, P. (2004). The Earth Care Manual: A Permaculture Handbook for Britain and Other Temperate Climates. East Meon : Permanent Publications.