The Secret Garden | Permaculture Association

My grandsons were an integral part of designing the Secret Garden, seen here creating a fort with cut branches of a Box Elder tree.

Annette Argabright - Secret Garden - Design 2

When a property boundary fence was moved to its proper place in this corner of our property, a "room" was created. Because its purpose did not reveal itself, it was named the Secret Garden. The Children in Permaculture training guided me through the design of this space to be a family gathering/play space. The design process included my two grandsons, Oliver and Gavin, as they lived with us and needed a creative play space close to the house.

Secret Garden Framework: SADIMET

Tools used: Ethics, Principles, Zones, Sectors, Microclimates, Input/Output, Random Assembly, Clay Modeling Design

With this design I discovered the magic of using window designing to see patterns. By placing elements. written or drawn on paper, onto large windows, I can easily move them around until a pattern emerges. In this case we placed desired elements on post it notes and were able to attach them to the window that looked out on the garden space. It showed us how each element would work in that space and could be moved if necessary.

The elements that created the largest connection with the space was to remove one balustrade in the railing to create a secret entrance, and to hang a swing from the Box Elder tree.