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The Corroboree

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http://priyan.me/keyholes-raised-beds-and-maximising-gardening-space-3-hyper-efficient-garden-layouts/

This is a very nice design, they used varied paths etc so its not really fair to compare at the moment. Ill try and adapt it to my model and see if I cant get better then straight lines!

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Ok so his design wasnt very efficient. The middle one beats my initial straight lines but has less of the apparently important "edge" at only 56m. The one on the right approx even with 4 straight lines. The one on the left is the best so far and is repeatable too! It has an efficiency of 0.12 which is nearly double his designs.

post-560-0-98611100-1415447115_thumb.jpg

Mandala2.jpg

Mandala2.jpg

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IMO, if you understand it, the edge concept is very meaningful on the scale of a forest or large field/garden. when you get down to the scale of a small vege patch though it might still comes into play but to a much lesser degree..

On that small scale, it would seem to me to be pointlessly obsessing on 'permaculture concepts' to focus on 'edge effect' & a waste of time & would be much more efficient to minimize the the amount of paths to the least you can to provide good double reach access to all areas & maximize the growing space.

On a small scale like this, as far as the 'edge effect' goes, the entire garden is an 'edge.' Once you get over a certain size & depending on the overall garden design & species being grown then edge may become more worthwhile to consider.

so imo the 3 straight path design of yous on the left is the most efficient & anything else would probably be pointless.

I assume all these designs are for a flat site.. If the site is sloped then almost certainly the most efficient design would be double reach beds on contour..

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The correct answer should be that choice of cruvy, zigzag or straight plantings depends entirely on the property under design.

yep, the same is true of almost everything in 'permaculture'

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Exactly but banana circles, mandala gardens and herb spirals kinda become permaculture pin ups and people make them without thinking. I guess as always there are people in this world that can think for themselves and those who cannot.

I totally agree Paradox!

Its just always driven me mental that they claimed that you could fit more plants in by planting in curves etc, I finally had some spare time to model it.

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have no opinion on the little vegie patches and stuff

but wouldn't it generally depend on all kinds of crap? i guess that goes without saying.

far as planting in curves, i'm reminded of the illustrations of "sun traps" or whatever.

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totally thunder, it's one of those annoying things about the way a lot of people interpret 'permaculture.' The subtle ecological/biological/phenomenological variances that come into play from site to site that dictate design on every level are effectively infinite.

it's possible, on a basic level with more curves etc you may be able to achieve more species diversity as there will be a greater array of potential micro-climate. More curves means a greater variation of micro-spaces that are exposed to different sun angles etc & therefore differing conditions. i'm yet to see whether on a small vege patch scale whether this use of edge is really worth the hoo ha for a couple of extra tomato's..

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Exactly but banana circles, mandala gardens and herb spirals kinda become permaculture pin ups and people make them without thinking.

yeah, it always seemed to me that the herb spiral was just an example of creative use of some pc concepts mollison intended to encourage ingenious design, rather than something everyone & their dog should do without a good reason.. Same goes for the mandala gardens.. kind of just like design exercises to get people to begin to consider the concepts.

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Great points paradox! Mollison wanted people to think, yet they follow blindly.....

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