As anyone who has looked at any of my case studies will already know, forest gardens, food forests or agroforestry schemes often play important roles in my designs.
Forest gardening also lies at the heart of my own gardening at home. I have a walled orchard which I have gradually worked to evolve into a fully functioning forest garden type ecosystem over the past ten years.
Today, before I head out to harvest some red currants from my own forest garden, I thought I would share some forest garden design tips based on my experience on my own property, and the properties I have worked with over the years.
Work With Your Specific Location
First things first, it may seem basic but it does bear repeating – what works well in one location will not necessarily be the right solution in another.
It is always absolutely crucial not to follow too much generic advice when it comes to forest gardening or to permaculture design in general. Look for advice specific to the particular environment in which you live.
You can learn most from other gardeners who are forest gardening and doing design work in your bioregion, or in bioregions similar to your own, or from those who understand how to design for your location. Much of the advice online is tailored to warmer temperate climates than my own.
Here in my location in Scotland, for example, though we are the equivalent of USDA zone 8 in winter, we have much cooler and often wetter summers which means that some advice for zone 8 growers does not necessarily apply.
I have a lot of experience, of course, in forest gardening in a cool temperate climate, an oceanic climate to be more precise. But through my design and consultancy work, I have also developed an understanding of what works and what does not when it comes to forest gardens in a wide range of different climate zones and bioregions.
The dense forest gardens of the tropics need to be somewhat more open canopied – more like a woodland than a forest – in cooler temperate climates like my own. And while water here is rarely scarce, I understand different strategies for planting, layout and water management, which can be crucial in arid, dryland environments very different from my own.
‘Forest Gardens’ Don’t Need to Look Like Forests
The concepts of forest gardening are less about recreating a forest environment and more about producing food and other resources in systems that are layered, complex, and which work as functioning ecosystems.
The term is really misleading, since what we tend to call forest gardens or food forests in permaculture circles do not really need to look like forests at all. Thinking that they do need to look like forests can lead many astray when they are looking at how to implement this idea on their own properties.
First of all, in temperate climates, forest gardens are almost invariably more akin to a more open woodland than to a true forest. But it is also worth remembering that creating functioning ecosystems using the concept of food forests does not necessarily have to mean mimicking a forest ecosystem.
We can mimic a range of different natural, functioning ecosystems to grow food in a sustainable way. The key thing to remember is that we need biodiversity, and as many beneficial interactions as possible.
By thinking about how the different species in forests or woodland interact, we can build our own food-producing environments. But even where tree planting is not possible, looking at other types of ecosystem to create thriving polycultures of plants that produce yields we need can help us move in the right direction.
In smaller gardens, we might not have enough space for a full food forest, but we can still incorporate areas of mostly perennial planting with layers, combining plants in the right ways to enable them all to work together as a whole.
Work With What You Have and What Nature Brings
Many who are new to the concepts of forest gardening make the mistake of thinking that they need to begin by clearing a site and planting trees and shrubs. Often, however, at the design and creation stages, we should look carefully at what we already have.
In creating forest gardens or other similar perennial food-producing schemes, we should always remember that one key goal is to speed up the natural process of ecological succession to functioning and stable ecosystem.
Rather than taking the area for transformation back to bare soil, therefore, we should first consider how we can make use of any plants already on the site before we get rid of them.
We should retain any useful plants – those that produce food or other resources, of course, but also plants that might serve to guard new trees, for example, or provide good groundcover while the system is established.
At the very least, we should make use of existing vegetation on a site as biomass for mulches etc…
As a forest garden is created and as it evolves over time, it is also important to look at what new plants, wildlife and opportunities are brought into the system.
To give an example – in my own forest garden, as biodiversity has increased, I have welcomed wild raspberries (along with a number of other wild plants) that have grown abundantly within the system – providing multiple yields without having been sowed or planted by me.
Other gardeners are at work in a healthy garden – including birds dispersing seeds – and it can be helpful to remember that we should think of ourselves as only one of the team and accept nature’s work on the system as well as imposing our own will.
Feed Soil, Wildlife and People with Food Forest Garden Designs
A lot of the focus when it comes to forest garden design seems to be on the food and other yields for humans that such systems can provide. These are indeed abundant systems, producing a lot for human use.
But not every plant in a food forest or forest garden need contribute directly to meeting human need. Some are there to support other plants, or the system as a whole, and add only indirectly to yield.
I always like to remember that food forests and forest gardens, along with other eco-friendly food producing systems, should not only be designed to feed people. They should also be designed, holistically, to feed and maintain a healthy soil, teeming with life, and also provide plenty of food for wildlife in the area.
We humans should remember that we are just one of many creatures who can benefit from this type of sustainable food producing system. And we should merely facilitate functioning ecosystems to emerge, of which we ourselves are only one small part.
If you need any help with your own forest garden or agroforestry plans, please do get in touch.
EWSP Consultancy 