Holzer Permaculture

The Holzer Permaculture is a branch of permaculture developed independently from the mainstream permaculture in Austria by Sepp Holzer. It is particularly noteworthy because it grew out of practical application and was relatively detached from the scientific community.

Sepp Holzer started reorganising his father's property according to ecological patterns in the early 1960s after he took over the farm. As an adolescent he conducted layman experiments with plants native to the area and learned from his own observations.

Since having taken over his father's property, he has expanded it from 24 to 45 hectares. according to his methods together with his wife.

His expanded farm now spans over 45 hectares of forest gardens, including 70 ponds, and is said to be the most consistent example of permaculture worldwide. In the past he has experimented with many different animals. As a result of these experiments, there is a huge role for animals in the Holzer Permaculture.

He has created some of the world's best examples of using ponds as reflectors to increase solar gain for passive solar heating of structures, and of using the microclimate created by rock outcrops to effectively change the hardiness zone for nearby plants. He has also done original work in the use of Hügelkultur and natural branch development instead of pruning (see Fruit tree pruning) to allow fruit trees to survive high altitudes and harsh winters.

It is difficult to make out differences between the methods and practices of Sepp Holzer in contrast to the more scientific and theoretical permacultural mainstream. Nevertheless, here are some major points to consider:

Situated in Ramingstein on the slopes of Mount Schwarzenberg his farm (Krameterhof) lies at varying elevations ranging from 1100 to 1500 metres above sea level.

The exceptionally harsh climatic conditions in the area are generally considered inappropriate for farming. Nevertheless, he has managed to cultivate a variety of crops and even exotic plants like Kiwis and Sweet Chestnut.

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