There was no chance of getting a full design for my friend's new house completed in time (before I left Australia).  Therefore, what I provided were some suggestions but warned them they would need to note the existing plants on the property and monitor the sun, wind, moisture, slope and movements to determine if these suggestions would indeed work. Also, I was aware that they wanted the first third of the backyard as a ‘show’ garden with the ‘hippy’ permaculture one hidden behind it.  I explained that this went against the basic principles of permaculture, particularly in regard to zones and sectors, and therefore makes it difficult to do a complete design.  Instead, I hoped they would enjoy some of these suggestions and apply them as they desired and learnt.

Following are the suggestions I sent them and attached are some very quick drawings of the base plan and concept plan... I've substituted their real names for <husband> and <wife>   :)

Canal side (North) and the large area at the back of the house are in full sunlight in most of the aerial views, making them good growing areas for intensive vegetable production planted seasonally and paying attention to crop rotation.  This means planting in this order: leafy vegetables followed by fruiting followed by root vegetables followed by legumes. Leafy vegetables require more nitrogen and nutrients and the legumes fix nitrogen in the soil. These should be companion planted with appropriate herbs. I think you can pick these plants yourself - more traditional food crops... 

I have a more specific suggestion for you for Canal Side though... what about planting tropical vegetables? Creating a tropical vegetable garden/food forest means you have a perfect solution to the dilemma of our hot summers when most traditional vegies don't really survive... but also... they love the summer heat! They are water wise and water tolerant! They are EASY to grow! They are perennial, meaning deeper roots, less maintenance and nutritionally superior!  I also think they look far 'neater' and ornamental.  Take Tahitian Spinach (aka Xanthosoma Brasiliense) as an example: http://makingsenseofthings.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/foodplantsinternational-com.jpg  They have the most beautiful leaves. We ate them in a quiche whilst staying with Elisabeth Fekonia.. you just need to boil them in water for 30mins first to remove the oxalates which cause the mouth and throat to sting (with this plant, this does not reduce the nutritional content).  It does mean you have to get creative with your cooking but it's a challenge I think <husband> will enjoy and your guests will be delighted and surprised by! You need to make sure you have support plants - groundcovers, shrubs and trees for mulch and weed barriers and use it as a way to reduce the grass you have to mow.

Some planting suggestions: Cassava (Manihot esculenta), Taro (colocasia esculenta, xanthosoma saggitifolium and xanthosoma brasillience (tahitian spinach)), Amaranth (annual, self seeds, easy to harvest, attractive, very young leaves can be added to salad, seeds to cook like quinoa, can stir fry leaves, very healthy!), Brazilian Spinach (Althernanthera triandra, use in salads or cook as spinach, easy to propagate with cuttings, easy to grow, drought hardy, produces well through summer when too hot for lettuce etc.), warrigal greens (NZ Spinach, also easy to look after and good for summer greens), yacon (polymnia sonchifolia)....

Your living ground covers could be sweet potato, pinto peanut, mukunu wenna, dogbane, nasturtiums, pepino (solanum muricatum - like to ramble as a ground cover but you can grow it on a trellis too) and pumpkin. Your shrubs could be pigeon pea (make dahl from it too!), crotolaria, popcorn cassia and cassia elata. You can add clumping grasses such as lemon grass, vetiver grass and Job's tears. Some support tree suggestions could be leucaena, wattle, icecream bean and caleandra.

 Your herbaceous layer of plants for chop and dropping (mulching) could include comfrey and arrowroot.

I would also suggest bananas! Ladyfingers for <wife> of course but there are lots of different types around (and you shouldn't cook ladyfingers as they taste bad that way so other types will give you different eating options too). The cooking varieties are called plantains.  Bananas need heat, full sun and should be planted in a warm sheltered spot facing a north to easterly aspect, protected by the westerly and southerly winds... so near the canal would be perfect!  Make a banana circle by digging a large pit (2-3m wide and 1m deep), mounding the dirt on the edge of the pit and planting the bananas in the mounds (they hate wet feet).  Use the pit to throw garden waste, organic matter and chop and drop (saving you trips to the dump and feeding the bananas at the same time!). Be aware of the disease potentials of bananas - they should not stay in the one spot for 4 years!  You should learn to control and harvest their suckers.  You will probably need to bag the fruit to protect them.  The government expects to be advised every time a banana tree is planted or moved... you can work out what you want to do about that!  You could plant arrowroot, ginger and galangal (Alpinia officinarum) or sweet potato around the outer base of your circle. Or turmeric does well in semi shaded positions too! You could start making your own spices :)

A more concentrated herb garden or spiral should be located close to the back of the house for easy/quick access from the kitchen and en route to the intensive vegetable gardens and chickens.

The area going toward the trees (probably on the left side looking out from the house?) would be best for the chicken run so they have a bit of shade and from a placement perspective would:

·   Be en route for harvesting vegetables/herbs/greens on the way to/from collecting eggs and feeding

·   Be convenient to use the chicken straw/poo on the garden beds as fertiliser

·   Be convenient to use the chickens as a chicken tractor on a garden bed (instead of the legume crop, the chickens will clean up any bugs, prepare the soil and add nitrogen from their poo)

·   Clean up any mess from falling fruit from the trees.

A small orchard would include your citrus trees and any other fruit trees you would like. This would likely to be on the right hand side looking out from the house (?) and extending to the existing mango and macadamia trees. This would mean your intensive vege gardens would not be too shaded, it could be gradual merging/extension from the native area to the existing trees and also be close enough to the house for regular maintenance and picking of fruit.  I have a suggestion you could try within your citrus orchard actually! Try planting what we call a 'trap crop': this will attract pests away from the crop of value and toward what the pests sees as a more favourable habitat... within your citrus trees, grow several crotolaria shrubs (during the same season as the food crop being produced) which act as a decoy for the leaf miner (they will easily recover again from the infestation).

Do you like paw paw/papaya?? I'd add these in too!

Native planting would be perfect for the front garden and down the small side area of the house.  This would be your Zone 5 in Permaculture - your 'wild' regenerative area, normally much further away from the house but in this case, these are the areas much less likely to be frequented and with less productive space due to light. Plant natives and life attracting plants for birds and insects.

More plant suggestions if you would like a water area! Chinese Water Chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis), Kangkong (Ipomoea aquatica, or water spinach) and Lebanese Cress (aethionema cordifolum). Here are some other edible aquatic plants I found in my research too:

·   Arrowhead Sagittaria sagitifolia 

·   Azolla Azolla spp. 

·   Brahmi Bacopa monniera 

·   Celery Stem Taro Xanthosoma brasiliense 

·   Duckweed Lemna 

·   Lotus Nelumbo nucifera 

·   Nardoo Marsilea drummondii

·   Taro Colocasia esculenta 

·   Water Celery Oenanthe javanica 

·   Watercress Nasturtium officinale 

·   Waterlilies Nymphaea spp. 

To fulfil your love of berries, <wife>.... Try this blueberry variety: Viccinium virgatum spp/Sharpeblue. They are fine in this climate, relatively resistant to pests and diseases, may begin to fruit in the first year of growth, don't need much space, can grow in containers and are of course, YUMMY!  This variety likes acidic, moist, well drained soil that's rich in organic matter.  And don't forget  about gooseberries, strawberries and native raspberries!

ok... hopefully I've given you enough to think about... can't wait to see what it will look like when we next visit :) Good luck!