A few VEG designs

Note (Nov 2023): We’re only able to take on a faction of the design requests that we receive, so we apologise in advance if we’re not able to help! However, if you’re interested in our landscaping services, or have proximity to our Brunswick office, or are a community project – these are all things that make us more likely to be able to take on your design. If you’re after wicking beds and chook system installs we can most likely help without a full design process.

What to expect?

A permaculture inspired design can save you time, money and resources, while producing a bounty of organic food.  The design process is as much about you and your household, as it is the land.  We work with your skills, time, taste and budget.  We then consider the soil type, weather exposure, slopes, plants, water and buildings to produce elegantly functional designs, which won’t just feed you with minimal effort, they’ll save you money and improve the quality of your home by cooling your house in summer and letting light through in winter.

Our designs are for both folks that want to implement it themselves, or those that want to get our edible landscaping team involved.

Permaculture design venn diagram

We’ve done literally hundreds of designs. Check out some of our permaculture design testimonials.

We have three levels of design consultancy so you can choose whichever best meets your needs.  You can also start with one, then upgrade during the process if you so desire:

Option One: Concept Design Consultancy

Concept Permaculture Design example
An example concept design sketch

Option One is our Concept Design consultancy, where you contact us to arrange a suitable time for a consultancy visit.  One of us will usually visit, and we’ll:

  1. Sit down with you, and ideally everyone who lives at the site, to get to know you a little and consider your time, energy and financial budgets, what you would like out of the site and work on your wishlist; which may or may not include might include things like :
    • Herb gardens
    • Veggie beds
    • Fruit trees
    • Compost
    • Poultry systems
    • A ‘food forest’
    • Water systems, inc. tanks and greywater
    • Flowers, including companion plants
    • Ponds for growing water plants and attracting helpful creatures and birds into your garden
    • Native bird habitat
    • A trampoline
    • A mini-golf course
    • Whatever!
  2. Walk around your property without you, and together observe the unique characteristics of the site (e.g., sun and shade, wind exposure, slope, soil, existing vegetation, feel)
  3. Come up with a concept design and rough pencil sketch based on our site analysis and the design brief
  4. Re-walk the site with you, sharing our preliminary concept design and inviting your feedback and any prior design ideas you’ve had
  5. Make a basic computer-rendered concept design sketch
  6. Send a brief follow-up report by email summarising our site analysis, as well as all our relevant fact sheet appendixes from organic pest control, to pruning, to water-wise gardening

Although the Concept Design doesn’t look like much, the juiciest and main ideas are delivered at this level of design, and nursery staff and others can often help you with the details.

Our fee for this consultancy, which allows one of us to spend up to four person-hours on site and one hour off site, is $990 during weekdays or $1090 during weekends. To save time, we ask that prior to our arriving you consider and complete a list of the things you would like to include in your design, and the time you have each week to maintain the system. For unusually large or complex sites we might suggest you pay us for an extra hour or two, but it’s up to you.

Option Two: Standard Design Consultancy

Moving from concept to detailed design

Option Two is our Standard Design Consultancy. We build on the process of the Concept Design as outlined above. But here we have more time to consider both your context, and the design — we can slow down and think. In this option we also:

  • generate an accurate, to-scale base map
  • deliver both a concept design, and when you’ve had time to think about it, a more detailed design, which might include particular kinds of plants and greater specifics on sizings and placements of things generally
  • calculate your expected water use, and provide recommendations on tank sizing.
  • a  longer report, one that includes not just site analysis and our fact sheet appendixes, but a summary of our recommendations

If you want help from our edible landscaping team on anything more complex than some veggie beds, or a simple chook system install, this is the minimum you’ll need.

Our fee for this consultancy is $1650 during weekdays, or $1750 during weekends. With a $150 discount if you use us for landscaping afterwards.

These consultancies are our most popular. You can see some early examples of our Standard Design diagrams here.

Option Three: Adaptive Design Consultancy

Now that we’ve done so many designs, we’re quite proud of just how quickly we can assess landscapes, and your situation, and turn that into a sweet, functional design; one that avoids common pitfalls, and sees the potential of a beautiful, productive garden suited to people and place.

You might think that our next level involves another layer of detail and masterplanning. But masterplanning — indeed, any overly-detailed on-paper design — tends to go wrong one of two ways:

  • It’s not implemented according to plan
  • It is implemented according to plan

What?  Well on our journey, what we’ve discovered is that the best design is done iteratively, always one step ahead, but alongside implementation.  The adaptive process allows us to grow the design in appropriate stages.

The Adaptive Design Consultancy option allows us to make more than one visit to your site, and work with you to layout the design on the ground.  We’re talking ropes and stakes, not just pens and pixels.

Ground truthing the Permaculture Design
Ground truthing a community garden design with stakes and rope

This process suits home owners who want the best outcome, community gardens (it can involve a group design consultancy session), schools etc.

Deliverables vary according to what is relevant, but it can include:

  • a separate detailed water and irrigation plan, and assistance with it
  • a design report as a manual tailored specifically to the transformation and maintenance of your property.

But most importantly it involves ongoing communication and steering the process throughout the implementation.

Our fee for this service is $2950.

Contact us to arrange a time for a visit.

VEG Edible Landscaping

We not only design, we implement! Whether raised wicking beds, chook systems, or full-blown edible landscaping, we’d love to help transform your yard into an edible oasis.

What level of design do you need?

  • From a Concept Design, VEG can design and quote raised beds and chook systems.
  • If you’re interested in any other landscaping a minimum of a Standard Design is required.

Contact us today and let’s get the ball rolling!