London Permablitz: Urban Permaculture Action (Part 4)
By Permaculture Magazine
TL;DR: Permablitzes rapidly transform urban spaces into productive, wildlife-friendly permaculture gardens through intensive, community-led one-day events.
- Urban permaculture transforms neglected spaces.
- Permablitzes use rapid, intensive garden builds.
- Focus on edible plants and biodiversity.
- Techniques include mulching and water harvesting.
- Community involvement fosters resilience.
Why it matters: With increasing urbanization, permablitzes offer a practical and engaging way to green cities, enhance local food security, and build stronger communities.
Do this next: Organize a small-scale "blitz" in your own garden or a local community space by recruiting volunteers and preparing materials in advance.
Recommended for: Urban dwellers, community organizers, and permaculture enthusiasts looking for actionable strategies to create green spaces quickly and foster community resilience.
This video documents the London Permablitz initiative, a global permaculture movement focused on transforming urban spaces into productive, wildlife-friendly environments through one-day intensive garden builds known as Permablitzes. With over 50% of the world's population in urban areas, the London team targets community spaces and individual gardens, implementing permaculture designs that integrate edible plants, biodiversity enhancement, and aesthetic appeal. Key techniques showcased include rapid site assessments, group mobilization for planting polycultures, soil improvement with mulch and compost, and installation of water harvesting features like swales or rain barrels adapted to concrete-heavy urban settings. The film highlights a specific Permablitz at Cecil Sharp House in Camden, London, where volunteers converted neglected areas into layered gardens featuring perennials, shrubs, and climbers for year-round yields. Practical details cover tool-sharing protocols, plant selection for shade tolerance and pest resistance (e.g., comfrey for chop-and-drop mulch, berries for vertical space), and post-blitz maintenance plans to ensure longevity. Narrated by environmental expert Jonathon Porritt, it emphasizes measurable outcomes like increased pollinator activity, reduced food miles for participants, and community bonding that builds resilience against supply chain disruptions. Produced by Permaculture People for the Permaculture Association, the video provides actionable insights for urban dwellers: start with a site survey identifying sun paths and water flows, recruit 10-20 volunteers via social media, prepare materials like 500kg of mulch and 100 seedlings in advance, and follow up with seasonal workshops. Challenges addressed include working around urban bylaws, soil contamination remediation using raised beds, and scaling from backyards to streetside planters. This approach draws from Toby Hemenway's principles of stacked functions, where each element (e.g., a fruit tree) provides food, shade, habitat, and soil building. Viewers learn concrete steps for replication, such as guild planting (nitrogen-fixers like clover under apples) yielding estimated 1-2kg/m² annually in small plots, fostering self-sufficiency in dense cities amid climate volatility like UK heatwaves. The content equips practitioners with blueprints for permaculture diffusion, promoting regenerative living through hands-on, community-driven retrofits.