Forest Gardens

Dear readers, there's just so so much to tell you all!

First of all, I shall get on with the last few days at Orcheton Quay. On Thursday, I was given the job of preparing the signs for the trees that will be going into the Forest Garden. John gave me the guideline of:

Name: - English

Latin

Type: Canopy/ Shrub layer/ Perennials/ Ground cover

Size: high and width

Sun preference (scale of 1-4)

Shade tolerance (scale of 1-4)

Ease of Management (1-4)

Fruiting: years until fruiting and annual yield

Uses

Secondary Uses

Any other information, (such as nitrogen fixers, used for dyeing, canes, coppicing etc)

I typed up about 70 of these perhaps, but it was just so interesting, (using Crawford's Forest Garden as a reference).

As it was preselected, all the trees and shrubs were varied and all had their own uses, some obvious, such as apples, walnuts, and others such as New Zealand Flax, (leaves used for ties) and coppiced Limes, (leaves for salad). These signs will be laminated, (they are about a B6) and they will be placed on wooden signposts in front of each tree as a guide.

The Forest Garden project is really interesting. I have mentioned it previously, and John has planned his following Crawford's book. I've been trying to explain the concept of a 'forest garden' to a few people, and the first chapter of 'Creating a Forest Garden: Working with Nature to Grow Edible Crops' sums it up perfectly:

"A forest garden is a garden modelled on the structure of young natural woodland, utilising plants of direct and indirect benefit to people- often edible plants. it may contain large trees, small trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, herbs, annuals, root crops and climbers, all planted in such a way as to maximise positive interactions and minimise negative interactions, with fertility maintained largely or wholly by the plants themselves.

The plants in a forest garden are mainly perennial, which gives the system its long-term nature, many of the plants used are multipurpose; they may have a main function or crop but will very often also have a number of other uses. Plants are also mixed to a large degree, so there are few large blocks or areas of a single species, and each species is grown close to many others in ways that are mutually beneficial.

A forest garden is in fact a carefully designed and maintained ecosystem of useful plants (and perhaps animals too). The self-fertilising nature comes from the use of nitrogen-fixing plants and other plants that are particularly good at raising nutrients from the subsoil, and from the very efficient nutrient cycling that develops in a forest-like system. the coil is maintained in peak condition by being covered by plants at most times, and garden health is boosted by the use of plants that attract predators of likely pests, and plants that reduce disease problems. Diversity is important too; high diversity almost always increases ecosystem health.

The term 'forest garden' may imply something large and extensive, which is not necessarily the case- forest gardens can be cultivated on any scale, from a small back garden to a field, or several fields. 'Woodland gardens' can be sometimes the same thing. Unfortunately, in our culture, 'forest' or 'woodland' implies a denser, darker collection of trees, which is not the case in a forest garden, as you'll see.

Although the history of forest gardens in the UK and North America is short- forest gardening in the UK has developed only in the last 25 years- there is a much longer history of two-storey systems of food productions: for example, plum orchards with rows of soft fruit between; hazelnut orchards with alleys of vegetables between; and undergrazed orchards using large fruit trees.

In many parts of the world, forest gardens are called home gardens, for they adjoin or surround people's homes. Scientists call these gardens 'multistrata systems'. there are thousands of square miles of such gardens, particularly in tropical Asia and Africa, Central America and temperate and subtropical China.

In Chinese forest gardens, high timber trees such as poplar and elm are usually intergrated with other crops- something that is less likely to be seen in the UK and North America, where the growing of timber has been 'professionalised' by foresters. Chickens and ducks are also often included in forest gardens in China, where these gardens have been found to have significant economic, social and ecological benefits."

M. Crawford,, (2010), Creating a Forest Garden: Working with Nature to Grow Edible Crops, Green Books, Devon, (Bulter, Tanner and Dennis)

ISBN: 97819000322621

(p.17-22)

Hope that helps?

Crawford then goes on to summarise the benefits of a Forest Garden: 

• "Working with the Land instead of against it: the further your agricultural or horticultural system is from woodland, the more energy it takes to maintain and the more disturbed and distant the system is from a long-term sustainable biological state. So arable fields or annually cultivated ground take the most energy; pasture less; orchard systems still less. Natural woodland takes no human energy to maintain- it looks after itself. Forest gardens lie between orchard systems and natural woodland, and form some of the lowest-energy-input systems from producing useful products.
• Low Maintenance and High Efficiency: The biological efficiency of any agricultural system is defined as the ratio of energy outputs over energy inputs; it is not the same as output or yield. Because forest gardens are low-input systems this makes them highly efficient. In terms of outputs, they range from low to high, depending on the design. Tree-based systems can certainly yield as much as arable fields- just look at an apple orchard.
• Wide Range of Products: e.g. "fruits, buts, seeds, vegetables, salad crops, herbs, spices, firewood, mushrooms grown on logs, poles and canes, tying materials, basketry materials, medicinal herbs, dye plants, soap plants, honey from bees, sap products, etc."
• High Nutritional Value: The more extensive and perennial nature of the root system of perennial plants must account for much of the benefit, for these plants can exploit the soil space more efficiently than annual plants and thus accumulate higher quantities of minerals.
• Resistance to Climate Extremes: ...The structure and diversity of a forest garden ensures good resilience, for example to the impacts of climate change- some of which will be more extreme weather conditions.
• Biologically Sustainable: The sustainability of forest gardens comes from their diversity and complex web of below- and above-ground interactions between species.
• Aesthetically Beautiful:...When you are in a forest garden it does not feel like a 'normal' cultivated garden- it feels somehow wilder, more jungle-like in places, less managed, less interfered with. In an age where so many people do not perceive themselves as living close to nature, forest gardens can reconnect them to an abundant nature in a way that visits to nature reserves cannot- for we are all participants in nature and consumers of the food and other materials that nature provides. 
• Environmentally Beneficial: ....They sequester carbon dioxide in the soil and in the woody biomass of the trees and shrubs. greenhouse gases are negligible. by keeping the soil covered and the soil structure in good condition, forest gardens are excellent at storing water after heavy rains and preventing flooding and erosion. They can shelter buildings, reducing energy use for heating. They are also excellent for wildlife...; the complex three dimensional structure and the diversity of plants, (whether native or non-native) provides many niches for insects and small animals.
• Commercial Potential: Most forest gardens in the world have a commercial element to them, even if it is just one or two crops from fruit trees."

Looking at this information, it does make sense if you have a back garden going spare, to try this approach. Less energy is required, and I think that simply makes sense when you work as closely to Nature as possible. Nature has an inexplicable urge to survive and continue despite what humans manage to do to it. If we want to grow things for ourselves from Nature, surely creating a setting that is as close to natural woodland is sensible and logical? 

Crawford goes on to point out some obvious things, such as this: 

The higher the diversity, the more resilient and productive the forest garden system usually is. The is because different species rarely share the same pests and diseases, and different species utilise different ecological niches, (e.g.g root and aerial space) to maximise the effective use of available resources.(p.27)

Now, as soon as you read that you think, well, duh! But it's one of those things that you realise you know but only after you've read it. Diversity, again, just makes sense!

Well, there you are: an introduction to Forest Gardens! Please follow this link to learn more about Robert Hart, the original UK forest gardener, now sadly passed away.

(Special thanks to Martin Crawford for permission to reproduce material from his book here)