A Permaculture Design Course Handbook

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 5: Climatic Factors

Chapter 2: Design Principles

Chapter 6: Trees and their Energy Transactions

Chapter 9: Earth Working and Earth Resources

Chapter 12: Humid Cool to Cold Climates
Fermentation

Chapter 3: Design Process

Chapter 7: Water

Chapter 10: The Humid Tropics

Chapter 13: Aquaculture

Chapter 4: Pattern Understanding

Chapter 8: Soils

Chapter 11: Dryland Strategies

Chapter 14: The Strategies of an Alternative Global Nation

Natural Building

Animal Systems

Banana Circle
One of the most potent and exemplary design of tropical permaculture is the banana circle.
It has multiple functions that include the following but are not limited to them just as Bill
Mollison once said: (the yield is theoretically unlimited, it is only our imagination and
information that does)
Compost pile (anti-burning of organic material)
Food production
Biomass production
Greywater- from a sink or an outdoor shower right on top
Habitat for wildlife
Integration into mandala gardens
Community interaction (as we experienced in Malaysia with harvesting material from
one neighbours burn pile)

Banana Circle serving as a greywater system as part

of an overall design with aquaculture, swale,
hedgerows, and gardens, on contour

The banana circle is a relatively easy design feature to construct and quickly planted out
with cuttings and root division. When constructed correctly it serves mainly as a spot to
cycle the constant flow of organic matter that is dropping from the jungle and coming out of
the homes there.

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Culturally, people like to keep their grounds clean (fear of snakes and such but also
tradition of northern Europeans to scrape off all the organic matter and burn it) which
necessitates a place to recycle the abundant organic material. Burning the material solves
nothing but a banana circle results in food and biomass at the very least. Bananas are very
hungry plants and will thrive off the abundant cycling of organic material as well as the
moisture inherent in its design.

Step one is to lay out the circle in relative location so that it can perform many functions. It
again may connect to the house via a sink or waste stream so site it appropriately.
They are usually dug on relatively flat ground but a slight slope should not affect it at all.
From there you will peg out the inner and outer circle with dimensions roughly but not
always from the below drawing. They can get bigger or smaller but for access we have
found this to be roughly the best dimensions. The 2 meter wide depression allows for
ample water storage and composting area but not big enough where the constant flow of
materials will not keep the depression without material. The material should be kept in a
convex shape within the concave shape to keep the mosquitos at bay if there happens to
be standing water.

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The earth that is dug is drug outwardly with hoes and shovel to form a mound more or less
2 feet wide.
This gives plenty of planting space for the
bananas themselves and the subsequent
guilds. The mound will support seven
bananas equidistantly planted around the
edge on top of the mound.
From there a myriad of plants can be
inserted but the main ones used in this guild
still are providing physical shelter, nutrients,
assist in pest control, and reduce root
competition. This guild will also produce
food and the other elements are in relative location to making it a synergistic little
cultivated ecology.
The simplest version is to simply add cassava or manioc to the outside of the mound as
they can tolerate drier conditions. They are
fast growing and can give some shelter while
eventually providing a root crop yield while
the systems is still young (plant and time
stacking). This can be propagated by
cuttings from other plants or sections of
roots can be placed in the ground.
From there any of the tropical grasses
(lemongrass, citronella, or vetiver) are
inserted on top of the mound in between the
banana plants. These plants are then chopped and dropped to make mulch for the
emerging system. This cycles energy through the circle absorbing what could be entropy
from the emerging planting scheme. The strong scented grasses can also be part of the pest
control and provide some low growing initial windbreak. These plants are easily
propagated through root division by digging up a clump elsewhere and simply ripping the
root mass apart, cutting the foliage back, and then replanting.

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The following step involves planting a

groundcover to help with reducing root
competition as tropical grasses and weeds
will invade any newly disturbed space. Thus
we like to use something fast growing like
sweet potato slips. Alternatively or in
combination could be peanut grass which an
aggressive nitrogen fixer with beautiful
yellow flowers. Both are propagated through
cuttings or layering. Sweet potato slips can
be purchased from markets as there are
some varieties grown for the leaf and are
extremely fast growing and are sold for their
steamed green edibility. This will help
mitigate the weed issue and also create more
stable soil temps creating conducive
conditions for growth.
The final element is the planting out of the
inner rim which could house a number of
different plant elements. The location lends
itself to plants who like the wetter
conditions. For this we usually use wetlands
plants such as taro or cana lily. They are
both good biomass plants and can be used
for food when the right cultivars are
selected. They are planted densely around
the inner terrace absorbing lots of nutrients
and having access to the moisture pocket.
They are not pretty initially after the install

but quickly take off from there. The inner circle should be mulched heavily and again the
heap of organic material should form a convex shape. We often use large logs on the bottom
for initial bulk and to provide a good fungal base and some aeration. Anything can be
recycled and Mollison even suggests throwing in much of ones trash since that service is
often limited in the tropics and can even be a resource in iron deficient soils. The mound
itself should be mulched heavily in between the new plants to reduce weeds and retain
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moisture.
The mound will evolve quickly and excess banana plants (should only be grandmother,
mother, and daugheter from each original plant) can be used as material to fill the
depression. The circle design can also be used for Papaya or Coconut Palm. I have seen
them bring together people of different cultures, house bats on their undersides, and
delight children with their fruit. So i ask that you please incorporate these into your
tropical Permaculture design so that the destructive paradigm of burning organic matter
can be shifted and abundance can follow.

Papaya Circle from a farm install in Dominican Republic from Dec 2012, same design just put Papaya in instead

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27 Responses to Banana Circle

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Rose says:
March 26, 2013 at 12:50 pm

I think we are going to give those a go in the near future! Thanks for sharing.
Peace.
Rose & Smith
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Reply

Roberto R. Braga says:

April 13, 2013 at 10:32 pm

Excellent idea! This banana circle design. And I agree I can do the same for
papaya. For coconuts, using the same circle recommended dimensions as that for
bananas, wouldnt that be to close assuming we plant the same number of trees
(seven seedlings)? But I like the idea. Although I would need some convincing. In
fact I might consider this in my planned coconut farm. Instead of planting the
coconuts (regular tall variety, not the hybrid or dwarf) at 10 meters by 10 meters,
I might consider the coconut circle in each corner of the square planting pattern
instead of a single tree in the corners. But I need suggestions:
1. What would be the recommended diameter of the coconut circle?
2. How many coconut seedlings should I plant along the circumference? In the
relation to that, what would be the MINIMUM spacing between two (2)
consecutive seedlings measured along the circumference?
3. Measured center to center, what would be the closest distance between two (2)
coconut circles? Given that the trees will grow outward in a slant from the base.
Can you recommend a range of planting distance between the circles?
By the way, I live in the Philippines in Western Mindanao. Would appreciate your
inputs. Thank very much. And the coconut farm I will develop will be integrated
with free ranged chickens, naturally farmed pigs, bananas, robusta coffee, cacao,
some fruit trees (breadfruit for human and livestock feeds). Maybe a hectare or
two of dwarf coconuts for sap sugar production. Plus others plants I can
economically grow in the farm.
Reply

lp johnson says:
April 20, 2013 at 3:48 pm

I just watched a training video of Bill Mollison from 1995. He dida ring of
coconuts around the outside of the banana circle.
http://www.networkearth.org/videos/Pattern_Application.html
Reply

Karen says:
June 19, 2013 at 9:15 am

Hi Roberto, where in Western Mindanao are you? We are starting a permaculture

farm in Siargao
Reply

Roberto says:
June 19, 2013 at 11:05 pm

Karen, my farm is in the area of Zamboanga City, about 75 kms from the city
proper, about one and a half hours by regular bus. I am now working with a higher
education institution in Ozamiz City. The farm will be developed with coconuts as
the major crop, banana, jackfruit, breadfruit and other fruit trees/plants. Livestock
and poultry will be integrated.
Reply

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Karen says:
June 20, 2013 at 6:35 am

that is so cool
Reply

Roberto says:
June 20, 2013 at 7:47 am

Thanks, Karen. Can you describe briefly what project you are initiating in
Siargao? We might be able to pick up some ideas. Thanks
Reply

Karen says:
June 20, 2013 at 11:33 am

right now we have a 5-ha area to be farmed using permaculture methods with Bert
Peeters (i thinkhe started the movement in the Philippines) as our consultant.
Reply

Brent Verrill says:

July 16, 2013 at 6:57 pm

Does anyone know of any examples, links or references of this technique with
species appropriate to temperate climates? I am in the Southeast of the USA.
Reply

cdoug_e says:
July 16, 2013 at 7:07 pm

Hey Brent, in my PDC in Oregon some years ago the circle design was
fulfilled with basket Willow as part of the shower grey water circle. It
could be hardy bananas for producing biomass with greywater as well.
It could also be any water and nutrient hungry fruit. I could see paw
paws (Asimina triloba) with elderberry (Sambucus sp.) and chokeberry
(Aronia melancarpa) working. Guess it depends on how far south you
are but maybe some species like salmonberry from out west might be
possible but that is purely a guess. I know my paw paws and
chokeberry do very well on my swale mound just downhill of a seepage
spring. All in all the circle design is great for cycling nutrients and water,
can be tied to greywater, and can be a place to add food scrapes or
excess manure and cardboard.
Reply

Brent Verrill says:

July 16, 2013 at 7:38 pm

Thanks! I had considered willow, but I didnt think of paw paw.

Excellent suggestion.

Ernesto Pantua Jr. says:

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August 15, 2013 at 3:10 am

Thanks for sharing we definitely want to try this. More power!

Reply

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Guillermo says:
November 12, 2013 at 10:05 pm

I posted a pdf file with picts and comments of the one i built at
http://www.permies.com/t/29640/hugelkultur/Banana-Circle-constructionsubtropical-region
Reply

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Nicole says:
April 7, 2014 at 8:53 pm

I am looking for a solution for filtering grey water from the kitchen, I heard of
creating a pool and using certain plants , could a banana circle be good alternative
for filtering the water?
Reply

cdoug_e says:
April 23, 2014 at 4:09 pm

banana circle is a great option, fill it with lots of organic material in the
material, making it convex with OM in the concave shape of the
earthwork. Plant the seven bananas and on the inside rim of the
earthwork plant heavily with cana lily, ginger, and taro. Whatever water
loving plants that you can easily propagate do. lead the pipe in at a 2%
fall and let the system filter. carbon is what filters.
Reply

Pier says:
July 1, 2014 at 2:13 am

I think I would like to try this with my papaya farm and since I have coconuts
around Ill make an outer circle with them. Between the papaya Ill try either
peppers or eggplant with a ground cover of sweet potato.
Reply

cdoug_e says:
July 3, 2014 at 12:55 am

Sounds like a good plan pier. Stack in space and time for sure with your
annuals. It helps the overall system and dont forget some herbs and

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flowers and other biomass plants to cycle energy further. Let us know
how it goes.
Reply

chian says:
July 24, 2014 at 1:37 pm

Anybody from Tagaytay or nearby who can guide me to start?

Reply

Judith Sumalpong says:

August 17, 2014 at 6:18 am

This is an excellent idea that I cannot wait to apply in Siquijor Island, Philippines.
This can help restore the once delta fields around our island, and providing a new
avenue of ecological fauna in our backyard. This system can instill self reliance and
self sufficiency in food production. a better way to go organic and preserve life to
the fullest extend of longevity. I am very appreciative of having shared all your
expertise, ideas, comments, and recommendations.
Thanks,
JudithS
Reply

cdoug_e says:
August 18, 2014 at 1:10 pm

Glad you found it useful, please share and promote the design and page
and let us know of your feedback on implementation.
Reply

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