• Create a Site Map: Create a basic map of the garden space as it stands now. This will be crucial for the later design phase. Leave some room for making notes as you go through the steps of this guide.

Step 2: Sustainable Design with the Power of Nature

You’ll consider how to incorporate nature-based solutions to support the health of your garden.

• Interplanting: Nature never creates a monoculture (CSANR). As you plan out the crops that you’d like to grow, make sure that you mix them up a bit. Interplant basil with your tomatoes, or onions with broccoli to enhance biodiversity in your garden.
• Beneficial Blooms: If you’re like me, your main reason for growing a garden is delicious food. But don’t forget about boosting beneficial insect populations with flowers and herbs! These plants will attract natural pest control while also adding beauty to your space.
• Prioritize Native Species: One sure-fire way to plan out low-effort success in your garden is with native plant species. These plants have adapted to your climate, altitude, and other nuanced conditions over time, and usually need little input to thrive (Cary Institute).
• Stock up on Mulch: Nature is always mulching - whether with pine needles and organic debris in the woods, or fallen leaves. Mulch is one of the easiest things you can do to make massive improvements to your garden. Keep the soil covered, and you’ll need to water less, prevent soil erosion, regulate soil temperature, and feed beneficial microbes essential to soil health (NIH).

Research to Support your Quest:

• Research local plants and find some that match your garden goals.
• Add in your plant picks to your garden site map, keeping interplanting and biodiversity in mind.

A selection of diverse plants helps you take a significant step towards sustainability and resilience. Each plant can fill a role in your garden’s ecosystem.

Step 3: Plan to Build Healthy Soil

No-till, compost, and cover crops are all methods that regenerative gardeners use to build soil health. All these aspects will influence the choices you make in your garden layout.

Minimize Soil Disturbance with No-Till Methods

No-till gardening maintains the soil's structure and avoids damaging the soil microbiome. This practice minimizes soil erosion, preserves water, and keeps carbon locked within the soil (regeneration international).

Look for ways to establish your new garden beds without disturbing the soil. If possible, build raised beds or use a broadfork to loosen up soil for in-ground gardening.

Ways to Implement No-Till Gardening:

• Option 1: Plant in raised beds
  • Work with methods like hugelkultur to reduce soil costs for raised beds
• Option 2: Plant in-ground, and use a broadfork to loosen soil
  • Plant cover crops during the off season to continue to improve soil tithe
• In either instance: Layer on organic matter whenever possible

Plan for Cover Crops

Cover crops keep the soil planted in the off season. This means the cover crop supports carbon sequestration and protects the garden soil throughout the winter months (farmers.gov). Chop back the cover crop in the early spring to add organic matter to the soil.

Cover Crop Tips:

• Have clay soil? Plant daikon radish in autumn to help loosen soil structure
• Hairy vetch, when planted in autumn or early spring, offers nitrogen to the soil when cut back before sowing main crops
• Winter rye or Austrian Peas are other good choices

Go Organic

Organic fertilizers and non-synthetic solutions for pests and herbs will keep your garden growing strong without damaging the surrounding ecosystem (NCU).

Organic inputs in the garden:

• Got weeds? Use chemical free methods, like mowing, consistent hoeing, or covering with a tarp
• Got pests? Pick them off daily to prevent excess damage, or attract in natural predators for a more balanced garden environment
• Stock up on a balanced organic fertilizer to support your plants

Make Compost

When you’re first starting out in your garden, you might need to bring in compost from other sources in order to get planting. However, any amount of compost you can make yourself to nourish your garden will be a huge help down the line. Compost kitchen scraps to reduce your landfill contribution, and make the most of organic materials that are typically seen as “waste” but are really garden gold.

Composting Quick Guide:

• Get a compost bin: Purchase a pre-made bin, or construct your own with scrap lumber, untreated palletes, or chicken wire.
• Collect Materials: Alternate green (nitrogen-rich) and brown (carbon-rich) materials.
• In the kitchen: Collect kitchen scraps in counter-top container.
• In the yard: Weed-free grass clippings and autumn leaves are a huge asset for compost bulk.
• In the neighborhood: Ask neighbors for their leaves and lawn clippings to boost your pile.
• In the community: Make friends with any farmers who keep livestock to access their manure and spent bedding.
• Keep chickens? Your in luck, because their bedding makes an excellent compost.
• Maintenance: Turn your pile every week to aerate it, which will help decomposition.

Now that you've learned how to rejuvenate your soil with compost a nd mulch, you're on your way to create a robust foundation for your regenerative garden.

Step 4: Water Management and Conservation

You’ll integrate rain water catchment systems and drip irrigation into your garden design, so that water is used and managed sustainably.

Optimize water use in the overall garden design

Plan for drip irrigation - even if it’s just in one area of the garden for your most thirsty plants, this will help to save a lot of water in the garden.

Mulching around plants, especially with organic straw in the summer, will help prevent water evaporation, so you’ll need to water our garden less.

Rainwater catchment systems for efficient water use.

Rainwater catchment systems can be a lifesaver in the garden, especially if your town instates a water ban or you’re on well water during a drought.

Cover your storage tanks, and set up an overflow system for best results.

Drought-resistant plants

Look for cultivars of vegetables, herbs, and flowers that need less water to thrive. For example, the Dark Star Zucchini is far more drought tolerant than your standard summer squashes.

Water saving techniques helps you to maintain your garden in a sustainable way, and reduces your water bill and resource usage too.

Step 5: Attract and Support Wildlife for Eco-Friendly Habitats

Plan for wildlife-friendly features, which add another layer of detail to your blueprint.

Habitat Features to Consider:

• Bird Feeders + Bird Baths
• Bee Watering Stations
• Insect Hotels
• Beetle Bumps
• Old logs in an overgrown area
• Flowers and Herbs

The steps you take to invite beneficial creates into your garden will yield better plant health and productivity.

Step 6: Ongoing Observation and Adaptation

As you begin to implement your design, you’ll observe and keep notes, which may lead to further refinements of the plan.

• Garden journaling can offer insight and great value as you track changes and make notes of what is working and what needs modification.
• Adapt the design to meet the evolving needs of the garden.
• Note any wildlife activity.
• Learn from the garden's responses to interventions.

For the Future: Crop Rotation

Rotate crops annually to prevent soil depletion. For example, don't plant tomatoes in the same spot each year.

The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University found that longer rotations of 3+ years gave the soil a boost in organic matter, beneficial microbes, and nutrient availability.

A 4 year rotation had 40% less soil erosion, higher crop yields, and far less disease.

Bonus: Crop rotation increases the carbon sequestration rate of the land.

For the Future: Cover Crops

Don’t forget to plan out your cover crops for the off season. Plant them as soon as you harvest out your garden in autumn before your first frost. In that way, your garden will continue to capture carbon during the winter months, and your soil will be healthier because of it.

Step 7: Solidify Your Regenerative Garden Layout + Design

Now is where all the information and plans are compiled into one comprehensive design.

Get the Design Planner

It will open as a PDF in a new tab;
download it to your computer + print or fill out digitally

click + download

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Follow this regenerative garden planning guide, and you're on your way to creating a flourishing, eco-friendly outdoor space.

• Nourish the soil to nourish the ecosystem
• Plant diversity for strength and resilience
• Welcome wildlife as natural pest control in the garden

Your regenerative garden is not just a source of beauty and nutrition, but also a symbol of your commitment to environmental stewardship.

You might also like these posts...

Easy Calendula Seed Harvesting & Saving Tips

Dry Farming Techniques for Drought Resilience

Get More Chives: Propagate by Division (Easy Step-by-Step Guide)

What to Plant After Tomatoes: Sustainable Strategies for a Thriving Garden