Hillside's builds resilience of natural ecosystems with permaculture principles

This June, the site underwent the first round of plantings for its ultimate permaculture design layout. Permaculture is a set of design principles centered around perennial edible landscaping. It is meant to simulate and utilize the resilience of natural ecosystems. As you might imagine, Hillside's design is primarily inspired by this concept. We are designing every element of Hillside with permaculture principles in mind as a way to diversify crops, increase soil health, and have an edible landscape while reducing the amount of labor needed in the long term. 

The first few areas to be planted are the Stone Terrace that lines Hillside Avenue and the front yards of the Cottage Court units. Some of the plants that are included in these garden plots are as follows:

“Permaculture is a design science. It’s a system that supplies all the needs of humanity – all the basic needs and all the intricate needs – in a way that also benefits the environment” – Geoff Lawton

The permaculture landscape design for Hillside has been done by Whole Systems Designs LLC, a very cool company based out of Vermont. If you want to learn more about them and see what they're about, watch this video.