You walked your yard last spring and realized the same things keep going wrong. The tomatoes get scorched in afternoon sun. The kale stalls every winter when the cold wind funnels between your house and the neighbor's fence. Deer keep eating your beans. Rainwater pools in one corner and never reaches the back of the garden.
None of this is bad luck. These are external energies flowing through your site every day, sun arcs, prevailing winds, water runoff, wildlife corridors, and they are predictable. Permaculture designers call them sectors, and mapping them is the most useful 90 minutes of design work you can do before you spend another dollar on plants.
This guide walks you through what each sector is, how to map it on your own property, and how to use the map to place plants, structures, and water-catchment features so the landscape works with natural forces instead of fighting them.
What Are Permaculture Sectors (and How Are They Different from Zones)?
Sectors are the wedge-shaped paths that external energies take as they enter and cross your property. NC State Extension describes sector analysis as the systematic identification of "wild" energies, sun, wind, water, fire, wildlife, noise, that originate beyond the property line and need to be either harnessed or buffered.
Zones are different. Zones are concentric circles around your home that organize human activity by how often you visit each spot. Zone 1 holds the kitchen herbs you cut every day, Zone 5 is the wild buffer you barely touch. Deep Green Permaculture puts the distinction simply: zones organize your energy, sectors organize nature's energy. You need both maps, and they work together.
Bill Mollison introduced the sector concept in the Permaculture Design Course handbook in the late 1970s, and David Holmgren expanded on it in Permaculture Principles and Pathways. The core insight: a well-observed site reveals the cheapest design moves, because you are no longer fighting energies that were always going to pass through.
The Sun Sector: Where Light Lives and Where It Hides
The sun sector tracks the arc of the sun across the sky at every season. At 40 degrees north latitude (Denver, Philadelphia, central Indiana), the noon sun reaches about 73 degrees above the horizon at the summer solstice and drops to about 26 degrees at the winter solstice, according to data from the NOAA Solar Position Calculator. That 47 degree swing changes everything about where heat lands.
The classic design move: plant a deciduous shade tree (maple, oak, hickory) about 15 to 20 feet south or southwest of your house. In summer the full canopy blocks the high sun and reduces cooling loads, and Cornell Cooperative Extension reports that this single placement can lower air-conditioning costs by 20 to 40 percent. In winter the leaves drop, the low sun slides under the bare branches, and your south-facing windows soak up free heat.
Source: Rockland CCE, Energy Saving Landscaping (2024)
To map your sun sector, stand at the central spot you want to plan around (often the back of the house). Note the sunrise and sunset directions on the longest day, the shortest day, and the equinoxes. A free tool like SunEarthTools draws the arcs over a satellite image of your property. Mark the summer sun wedge in yellow and the winter sun wedge in pale gold. Anything that throws a shadow into the winter wedge (a fence, a shed, an evergreen) is robbing you of heat and growing season.
The Wind Sector: Cold Wind Out, Summer Breeze In
Most sites have at least two wind sectors. A cold winter wind that you want to slow down, and a cooling summer breeze that you want to keep flowing. Bill Mollison flagged the dangerous mistake of blocking both with a single dense wall.
USDA NRCS Conservation Practice Standard 380 (2021) sets the technical numbers: a properly designed windbreak reduces downwind wind speeds for a distance of 10 to 15 times the windbreak's height, with peak reduction of 60 to 80 percent at about 4 to 6 times the height downwind. A 20-foot row of pines, in other words, calms the air for 200 to 300 feet behind it.
Source: USDA NRCS, Conservation Practice Standard 380, Windbreak/Shelterbelt Establishment (July 2021)
You can pull regional wind data from the DOE Wind Toolkit or check the Global Wind Atlas for free hourly wind roses by zip code. In most of the eastern US, cold winter winds come out of the northwest and summer breezes come from the south or southwest. In coastal California it flips. Get the actual data for your address, do not guess.
| Windbreak Density | Speed Reduction (4H downwind) | Protected Zone |
| 40 to 50 percent (single row, deciduous) | 30 to 50 percent | 15 to 20 times height |
| 60 to 80 percent (multi-row, mixed) | 60 to 80 percent | 10 to 15 times height |
| Solid wall or fence | Strong turbulence behind | 4 to 6 times height only |
Source: USDA NRCS CPS 380 (2021) and DOE Wind Toolkit (2024)
The Water Sector: Where Rain Goes When It Lands
The water sector includes both rainfall arriving from the sky and runoff arriving (or leaving) along the ground. The NOAA US Climate Normals dataset gives 30-year averages for your nearest station, the right number to design around, not last year's rainfall. Phoenix sits near 8 inches per year, Seattle near 38, the Gulf Coast above 60.
The EPA estimates that a typical residential lot sheds roughly 55 percent of rainfall as runoff once driveways, roofs, and compacted soil are factored in. That is water your garden never sees. Mapping the water sector means walking the property in a heavy rain (or right after one) and tracing where water actually flows. Roof downspouts, driveway edges, low spots, the slope toward the street, every one of these is a vector.
Once mapped, the design moves are mostly free. Swales (shallow trenches dug on contour with a low berm on the downhill side) catch runoff and soak it into the soil where fruit trees can drink it. Santa Cruz Permaculture notes that a single well-placed swale on a quarter-acre lot can capture thousands of gallons per storm event.
The Wildlife Sector: Inviting the Good, Buffering the Hungry
Wildlife is two stories. Pollinators, beneficial predators, and songbirds belong on the welcome side. White-tailed deer, woodchucks, and (in many regions) wild turkeys belong on the buffered side. University of Maryland research shows that deer densities above 20 per square mile begin to noticeably damage tree regeneration and garden plants. Suburban densities across the eastern US routinely exceed that threshold.
To map your wildlife sector, look for hoof prints in muddy borders, browse lines on shrubs, scat, and the gaps in fencing where animals enter. The Xerces Society Hedgerow Habitat Guide (2021) gives detailed plant lists for hedgerows that simultaneously invite pollinators and confuse deer.
Practical design moves: place tender vegetables on the house side of the buffer, plant fragrant herbs (lavender, rosemary, sage) along deer paths, and consider a 7 foot deer fence only on the heavy-pressure side, not the whole perimeter.
Why This Works
Sector analysis is the practical expression of David Holmgren's first permaculture principle, "Observe and Interact." Instead of forcing a design onto the land, you read what the land is already doing and place your interventions at the leverage points. A windbreak on the cold-wind sector saves energy every winter for the next 40 years. A swale on the water sector reduces irrigation forever. A deciduous tree on the south sun sector cools your house in summer and warms it in winter, all for the cost of one sapling. These are not garden hacks. They are design decisions that pay compound interest because they work with energies that are already showing up for free.
The Fire, Noise, and View Sectors
Three more sectors round out a complete analysis. The fire sector matters most in the western US, where USDA Forest Service data shows millions of homes in the wildland-urban interface. The Ready for Wildfire program defines three defensible-space zones: Zone 0 (0 to 5 feet from the house, no flammable plants), Zone 1 (5 to 30 feet, lean and clean), Zone 2 (30 to 100 feet, reduced fuel). Plant placement here is a life-safety issue, not just a design preference.
The noise and pollution sector usually points at a road. A 30-foot evergreen buffer reduces road noise by 6 to 10 decibels, perceived as roughly cutting the noise in half. The view sector has two halves: pleasant views you want to frame (keep open), and unpleasant views (the neighbor's RV, the utility pole) you want to screen.
How to Actually Map Your Sectors: A 90-Minute Process
Step 1: Print a satellite image of your property
Use Google Maps satellite view, print it at the largest paper size you can manage. Mark north with a compass. This is your base map.
Step 2: Draw the sun arcs
Open SunEarthTools, enter your address, pull the summer and winter solstice arcs. Sketch them on the map in yellow and pale gold.
Step 3: Add wind directions
From the Global Wind Atlas or your local airport's weather data, add a blue arrow for the prevailing winter wind direction and a lighter arrow for summer breezes.
Step 4: Trace the water flow
Walk the property in a heavy rain or right after. Mark downspouts, runoff paths, low spots. Add contour lines if you have them.
Step 5: Note wildlife corridors
Look for hoof prints, scat, and broken fencing. Mark entry points and the paths animals take across the property.
Step 6: Add fire, noise, and view vectors
If you are in a fire-prone area, draw the prevailing fire-wind direction. Add arrows for road noise and pleasant or unpleasant views.
Step 7: Observe for a year before major changes
Update the map through every season. A spring puddle reveals frost pockets. A January wind reveals which fences whistle.
Common Sector Mapping Mistakes
- Mapping only the season you started in. A summer-only sun map misses the winter shadow problem. Always observe through all four seasons before placing anything permanent.
- Trusting a magnetic compass on a phone. Magnetic declination across the US ranges from 15 degrees east in Maine to 15 degrees west in Washington State. Use the NOAA declination tool to correct it.
- Designing for last year's rainfall. Use the NOAA 30-year normal, not a memory.
- Forgetting microclimate variation. A 6-foot fence on the west side creates a frost pocket on the east in late spring. Measure, do not assume.
Ready to design your own permaculture garden?
Start with our free 7-Layer Backyard Guide, then work through the foundations one sector at a time. Read the Free Guide
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between zones and sectors in permaculture?
Zones are concentric rings around your home that organize human activity by visit frequency, Zone 1 is the daily-use kitchen garden, Zone 5 is the wild edge. Sectors are wedge-shaped paths of external energy (sun, wind, water, wildlife, fire) entering the property. Zones organize your energy, sectors organize nature's. You design with both at the same time, the result is element placement that wastes neither.
How long does it take to do a proper sector analysis?
The first pass takes about 90 minutes with a printed satellite map, a free sun tool, and a wind rose. The full picture only emerges after observing through all four seasons, which is why permaculture designers recommend at least one calendar year of observation before any major earthworks or tree planting.
What are the main sectors in permaculture design?
The standard set is sun (summer and winter arcs), wind (cold winter wind and summer breeze), water (rainfall and runoff), wildlife (beneficial and pest), fire (in fire-prone areas), noise and pollution (usually from roads), and view (pleasant and unpleasant). Some designers add light pollution, neighbor sightlines, or seasonal flooding as additional sectors depending on the site.
Can I do sector analysis on a small urban lot?
Yes, and arguably it matters more. Small lots have tighter constraints, so each sector decision (which side gets the tomatoes, where the rain barrel sits, which fence-corner can host a vertical trellis) carries more weight. The process is identical, just at a smaller scale.
What tools do I need to map my sectors?
A printed satellite image, a real compass (or NOAA-corrected phone compass), the free SunEarthTools sun path tool, a wind rose from the Global Wind Atlas or local airport, NOAA 30-year climate normals, and an observation journal. Total cost: about 0 if you already own a printer.
How does sector analysis fit with the 12 permaculture principles?
Sector analysis is the practical method behind David Holmgren's first principle, "Observe and Interact." Once the sector map is drawn, every other design decision (relative location, catching and storing energy, using small and slow solutions) becomes faster and more accurate because you are no longer guessing at the energies flowing through the site.
The Takeaway
Permaculture sectors are the predictable flows of sun, wind, water, wildlife, and fire that move through your land every day. Map them with a printed satellite image, a free sun tool, a wind atlas, and one walk in the rain, and the placement of every plant, structure, and water-catchment feature on your property becomes obvious. The 90 minutes of sector work pays back every winter, every summer, and every storm for as long as you own the place.
Continue your permaculture foundation: read our pillar guide on Permaculture Foundations next.
Resources
- USDA NRCS, Conservation Practice Standard 380, Windbreak/Shelterbelt Establishment (2021)
- NC State Extension, Appendix G: Permaculture Design
- NOAA Solar Position Calculator
- SunEarthTools Sun Position Tool
- US Department of Energy Wind Toolkit
- Global Wind Atlas
- NOAA US Climate Normals (30-year)
- US EPA, Urbanization and Stormwater Runoff
- Xerces Society, Hedgerow Habitat Installation Guide (2021)
- CalFire, Defensible Space Zones
- Cornell Cooperative Extension, Energy Saving Landscaping
- Santa Cruz Permaculture, Berms and Swales
