Planning A Sustainable Garden (for dummies) Hear, hear Lao Tzu! Up until a few months ago I had been blankly staring at my backyard with my feet firmly planted... stubbornly refusing to take that first step. I would then retire into my lounge, read a bit more about permaculture, then return to the garden to stare at it a bit longer. This had been going on for 3 years! But at 5 months pregnant I got a serious bee in my bonnet and decided that enough was enough -- I needed to just jump in. But wouldn't you be stumped too? Look at the space I had to contend with!... My dad once described it as a "desolate and despairing garden". He was then integral in getting it started on its way to productive, zen zone. Now that I have slapped that first splodge of colour onto the canvas all the other strokes are just flowing which is why I decided to write this post. It is for all those out there, like me, who have been rendered useless by the endless possibilities of your patch of paradise. Here is my completely amateur advice on how to avoid getting bogged down and get started on planning your sustainable garden! Step 1 -- Be informed but don't go overboard! This is where I fell down. Determined to be a prodigious green thumb I set about reading every single book I could get my hands on about sustainable gardening. I studied up