🌾 Regenerative Gardening vs. Permaculture — What’s the Difference?

Written and edited by Tammy 11h October 2025

It can be hard sometimes keeping up with all the latest fads, fashions and concepts, they seem to come and go quicker that Christmas. It's easy to feel left behind, scratching your head in bewilderment. (That's why I try to stick to gardening!🤪)

Do you know what Permaculture or Regenerative Gardening are? No? Neither did I, I honestly thought they were the same thing, but after digging a little deeper, (pardon the pun) turns out they're not. So, let's break them down, and see what all the noise is about.

Regenerative Gardening

Regenerative gardening is all about healing and rebuilding. It focuses on improving soil health, restoring ecosystems, and creating long-term sustainability, not just for our gardens, but for the planet too.

It’s a process-based approach, which means it’s about what you do season after season: feeding your soil, boosting biodiversity, and encouraging natural resilience. Every time you compost, mulch, or leave those fallen leaves to break down naturally, you’re feeding life back into the system.

Think of it as gardening that gives back more than it takes. Instead of working against nature, you’re working with it, rebuilding the soil’s web of microorganisms, trapping carbon, and supporting pollinators and beneficial insects along the way.

Core focus: soil biology, carbon capture, organic matter, and ecosystem repair.

Typical practices include:

🌱 No-dig gardening — letting the soil structure and microbes stay undisturbed.

🍂 Composting and worm farms — turning waste into nutrient gold.

🌾 Cover crops and green manures — adding organic matter and preventing erosion.

🌼 Living mulches and groundcovers — keeping soil cool and protected.

💧 Natural fertilisers and water-wise practices — feeding and hydrating gently, without synthetic inputs.

Over time, a regenerative garden becomes richer, healthier, and more alive, a self-sustaining mini ecosystem where every bug, root, and handful of soil plays a part in the bigger picture.

Permaculture

If regenerative gardening is about healing, permaculture is about designing, creating a space that mimics how nature already works, so everything supports everything else. It’s a holistic way of thinking about your garden (and even your lifestyle), where each element, from plants and water to animals and people, plays a role in helping the whole system thrive.

At its heart, permaculture is guided by three core ethics: Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share. Those principles remind us to look after the land, nurture our communities, and only take what we truly need, giving the surplus back to nature and others.

While regenerative gardening focuses on soil and seasonal practices, permaculture zooms out a little wider, it’s about designing the whole layout of your garden or property for long-term harmony and efficiency.

Core focus: landscape design, natural systems, resource efficiency, and human connection to the environment.

Typical practices include:

🌳 Zoning and layout design — grouping plants and features based on how often you use or visit them (like putting your herbs close to the kitchen).

💧 Rainwater harvesting and greywater use — catching, storing, and reusing water where possible.

🐔 Integrating animals — using chickens for pest control and fertiliser, or bees for pollination.

🌿 Polyculture planting — mixing species that help each other rather than relying on monocultures.

🍅 Perennial food systems — growing long-lived plants that keep producing year after year.

A permaculture garden becomes a living system that practically runs itself, productive, low-waste, and resilient. It’s the perfect blend of creativity and common sense, where thoughtful design makes hard work easier and sustainability second nature.

Still scratching your head? here’s a little comparison table to make it all crystal clear 👇

🌻In Short-Regenerative Gardening vs. Permaculture

Aspect	Regenerative Gardening	Permaculture
Focus's on	Healing and rebuilding the soil	Designing whole systems that work with nature
What is all about	Soil and garden health	Lifestyle and landscape design
Ethics	Naturally focussed on caring for Earth	Guided by three clear principles: Earth Care, People Care & Fair Share
Example	Building soil with compost & cover crops	Designing a veggie garden with water catchment zones

So, Which One Should You Start With?

If you’re already composting, mulching, and focusing on soil life, congratulations, you’re practicing regenerative gardening!

If you’re ready to look at how every part of your garden (and life) fits together as a self-sustaining system, that’s when you step into permaculture.

They’re not rivals; they’re different layers of the same philosophy.

You can start regeneratively and naturally evolve toward permaculture thinking as your garden (and your mindset) grows.

At the end of the day, gardening isn’t about ticking boxes or following trends, it’s about connection. The more we nurture the soil beneath us, the stronger our bond becomes with the world around us. Start small, stay curious, and let nature do the teaching.

Happy gardening 😘🌸💚