Organic Gardening vs Permaculture: Difference and Comparison

Gardening is a technique of planting plants of various types and taking care of them regularly. This practice comes under the horticulture part, not in the agriculture part.

And it also includes decorations of plants or trees which means these are designed in various shapes to look attractive.

Organic Gardening and Permaculture are categories of gardening. Both these gardening methods save energy and use organic things like organic pesticides, organic insecticides, etc.

These methods are adopted to get a good environment and a healthy ecosystem.

Key Takeaways

1. Organic gardening focuses on growing plants without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, while permaculture emphasizes designing sustainable ecosystems based on natural patterns.
2. Permaculture principles extend beyond gardening and agriculture, incorporating aspects of energy, water, and waste management, whereas organic gardening is primarily concerned with growing methods.
3. Permaculture aims to create self-sufficient, resilient systems, whereas organic gardening focuses on producing healthy, chemical-free plants and soil.

Organic Gardening vs Permaculture

Organic gardening refers to gardening where plants are grown without synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Permacultural gardening is a holistic agricultural approach that seeks to establish a self-sustaining ecosystem by designing a diverse and resilient farming system.

Organic gardening is an old method of planting trees and is very effective. The whole process, from sowing seeds to pest management is done organically.

These farming and gardening techniques were invented in the older days when no sophisticated gardening equipment was available or made.

Permaculture manages and nourishes the land to make it fertile for every farming or gardening activity. This activity contains the whole land or village area and focuses on saving land.

Once the land gets cultivated, it is again refurbished with natural resources like earthworms, black soil, etc.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Organic Gardening	Permaculture
Crops types	This farming technique involves perennial crop cultivation therefore it does not need much maintenance.	In this technique, many crops are grown together, and because of this, the soil gets revitalized easily.
Techniques	In this technique, a single crop is focused and is cultivated to feed people.	In this method, a proper irrigation system like sprinklers, surface irrigation, etc.
Irrigation system	In this method, a rainwater harvesting system to water the crops.	This gardening or farming system does not use any chemical, instead, it depends on the insects to control pests’ population.
Pest control	This gardening or farming culture does pest control with the help of organic pesticides, herbicides, etc.	The soil does not require a regeneration process as it gets rejuvenated.
Soil types	The soil needs to be refurbished in this method every year.	The soil does not require a regeneration process as it gets rejuvenated on its own.

What is Organic Gardening?

Organic Gardening does not involve using chemically furnished insecticides or pesticides like usual farming methods involve.

And this is not a modern farming method and does not involve anything that harms mother earth. This method is preferred in areas where natural resource availability is higher.

This farming method does not allow the extinction of natural resources. Instead, it tries to replenish them by adding more and more healthy things to them.

The fertilizers in this technique are made up of natural organic things like manure, compost, slurry, and plant-based fertilizers.

These fertilizers are made up of using animal waste like cow dung, goat dung, and also with the help of insects or worms decomposition, also known as vermicompost.

What is Permaculture?

The permaculture technique focuses on those plants or crops a farmer wants to grow instead of plants’ suitability.

This technique is adopted to meet the need for a plant or food, which does not depend on the season or type of weather. In this method, plants are grown in the local environment like society, garden, etc.

All the things like surroundings, people, weather, and resources are involved in the growth of plants in Permaculture.

This method is a pure form of organic farming as it involves rainwater harvesting systems for irrigation purposes, hydrology, animal system, waste management system for making fertilizers, etc.

The soil in which Permaculture gardening is done is rich in minerals and resources as their nutrient level is maintained from time to time using methods like crop rotation, mixed cropping organic materials, etc.

Main Differences Between Organic Gardening and Permaculture

1. An Organic Gardening method is like the standard farming system in which crops are grown yearly, and staple crops like legumes, rice, etc., are cultivated. On the other hand, the Permaculture technique involves permanent crops or long-lasting cultivation; therefore, it does not need much maintenance.
2. In the Permaculture technique, many plants are grown together, and because of this, the soil gets replenished easily. In the Organic gardening technique, an exclusive crop is focused and grown.
3. Permaculture gardening or farming system depends on small insects to control pests’ population in their crops. While in Organic gardening or farming culture, pest control is done with the help of organic pesticides, herbicides, etc.
4. In Permaculture, the soil does not require a regeneration process as it gets rejuvenated. Whereas in Organic gardening, the soil needs to be refurbished every year.
5. In the Organic gardening method, a proper irrigation system is used, like sprinklers, surface irrigation, etc., which does not help the ecosystem. While in Permaculture, a rainwater harvesting system is used to water the crops, saving water.

References

1. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=SAAsf4H8BocC&oi=fnd&pg=PA6&dq=organic+gardening&ots=Fj0rEEwjIW&sig=7K4pGe8A6lnI9SOA8EGUEKy_JGg

Last Updated : 07 July, 2023