The forest garden concept
Forest gardening is a system of growing food that is modelled on natural woodlands. It was pioneered in the UK by Robert Hart and is based on traditional forest gardens in humid climates. The approach uses predominantly perennial plants in combination that mimic a natural ecosystem to provide a sustainable method of food production. It is designed to require only a small amount of effort from the gardener to maintain. A forest garden can fit into a small garden and should provide a family with a significant amount of food for much of the year in a temperate climate.
One of the key features is the use of vertical space. Robert Hart identified seven different layers in a forest garden:
1. canopy (large fruit and nut trees)
2. low tree layer (dwarf fruit trees)
3. shrub layer (currants and berries)
4. herbaceous (comfreys, beets, herbs)
5. rhizosphere (root vegetables)
6. soil surface (ground cover, e.g. strawberry etc)
7. vertical layer (climbers, vines)
(taken from the Wikipedia entry on Forest Gardening)
A full description of the forest gardening idea is laid out in Robert Hart's book and later books by other authors. Details of these books and a number of websites with more information are on the resources page.
One particular book to recommend is Creating a Forest Garden: Working with nature to grow edible crops by Martin Crawford. I wish this book had been out when I was planning my garden. It is a great book on why forest gardening makes so much sense and how to go about it, based on an enormous amount of experience from the director of the Agroforestry Research Trust. It includes lots of information on suitable plants too.
One of the key features is the use of vertical space. Robert Hart identified seven different layers in a forest garden:
1. canopy (large fruit and nut trees)
2. low tree layer (dwarf fruit trees)
3. shrub layer (currants and berries)
4. herbaceous (comfreys, beets, herbs)
5. rhizosphere (root vegetables)
6. soil surface (ground cover, e.g. strawberry etc)
7. vertical layer (climbers, vines)
(taken from the Wikipedia entry on Forest Gardening)
A full description of the forest gardening idea is laid out in Robert Hart's book and later books by other authors. Details of these books and a number of websites with more information are on the resources page.
One particular book to recommend is Creating a Forest Garden: Working with nature to grow edible crops by Martin Crawford. I wish this book had been out when I was planning my garden. It is a great book on why forest gardening makes so much sense and how to go about it, based on an enormous amount of experience from the director of the Agroforestry Research Trust. It includes lots of information on suitable plants too.
Benefits
The forest gardening concept has a huge amount of potential to change the way we use urban space and gardens and to reduce our impact on the environment. There are lots of benefits and these are some of the most obvious ones:
Food security - growing a wide variety of food plants in your backgarden means that you have a steady supply of fresh food that is independent of price fluctuations, fuel availability, failed harvests etc. Because the food is produced close to the point of use there are no transport costs and there are no energy costs associated with industrialised farming.
Productivity - because a forest garden makes use of vertical as well as horizontal space it can produce a great deal of food in a small space. The different layers of plants make use of different light levels above ground and exist at different depths below ground
Low labour requirements - once established the plants need little maintenance because they are perennial. Because it is close at hand, you can observe it carefully and make small interventions when needed. It is something that can be managed in a few hours a week. This means anyone can maintain a forest garden in their spare time.
Water - deep rooted trees can access water from far below ground so there is little need for watering once established. The network of roots at different levels absorb water quickly and prevent rapid runoff, reducing the chance of flooding.
Biodiversity - the large number of plants coexist as part of an ecosystem and can act symbiotically. The system as a whole is more resilient to changing conditions which may favour some plants, but not others. In comparison, changing conditions could be catastrophic for a monoculture. The range of plants at different levels also provides habitats for a wide range of creatures.
Soil - the soil is improved because the structure can develop in the absence of digging. Deep rooted plants extract nutrients from depth and make them available to shallow rooted plants. Symbiotic fungi can become established next to the root systems and assist plants to access nutrients. Leaves from the canopy provides organic matter.
Food security - growing a wide variety of food plants in your backgarden means that you have a steady supply of fresh food that is independent of price fluctuations, fuel availability, failed harvests etc. Because the food is produced close to the point of use there are no transport costs and there are no energy costs associated with industrialised farming.
Productivity - because a forest garden makes use of vertical as well as horizontal space it can produce a great deal of food in a small space. The different layers of plants make use of different light levels above ground and exist at different depths below ground
Low labour requirements - once established the plants need little maintenance because they are perennial. Because it is close at hand, you can observe it carefully and make small interventions when needed. It is something that can be managed in a few hours a week. This means anyone can maintain a forest garden in their spare time.
Water - deep rooted trees can access water from far below ground so there is little need for watering once established. The network of roots at different levels absorb water quickly and prevent rapid runoff, reducing the chance of flooding.
Biodiversity - the large number of plants coexist as part of an ecosystem and can act symbiotically. The system as a whole is more resilient to changing conditions which may favour some plants, but not others. In comparison, changing conditions could be catastrophic for a monoculture. The range of plants at different levels also provides habitats for a wide range of creatures.
Soil - the soil is improved because the structure can develop in the absence of digging. Deep rooted plants extract nutrients from depth and make them available to shallow rooted plants. Symbiotic fungi can become established next to the root systems and assist plants to access nutrients. Leaves from the canopy provides organic matter.
Other names
Forest gardening was the title of Robert Hart's book and the name has stuck to a certain extent. It can be considered as a specific type of agroforestry. However, although the word forest suggests a garden on a very large scale the principles can be followed on a smaller scale. Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier made it more explicit that the main purpose was food production by using the title Edible Forest Gardening for their two volume book. Other terms are also in frequent use which can add to the difficulty in finding information on the subject. Some of the most common ones are woodland gardening, three-dimensional gardening, edible landscaping and food forests.