Plant an Edible Forest Garden
(Page 2 of 6)
August/September 2007
By Harvey Ussery
Finally, there are the ground plants that cover the forest floor, and like the shrubs, these plants have learned how to live in the canopy’s shade. In a natural forest, these perennials eventually take over the annuals’ duty of keeping the ground covered, but they’re a good deal more conservative in their lifestyle. They have a slower growth rate than the annuals and different strategies for reproducing. For example, they may store energy in their roots to avoid having to start anew from seed in the spring.
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Many natural forests fit this pattern, and with judicious selection, we can design gardens that provide the same thing: a compatible, mutually supportive community of food-bearing plants in all three layers. That is the forest garden.
PLANTS THAT WORK TOGETHER
Some plants in a forest garden produce food in the form of nuts and fruits, while the herbaceous plants often have edible stems, leaves or shoots. Many of these plants also provide food and shelter to insects, amphibians and birds. This balance of predator and prey species imitates a natural forest community. However, not all the plants in our forest garden are intended to produce food for us, or even for wildlife. Some might be chosen for their ability to boost soil fertility.
Among the fertility boosting plants are dynamic accumulators — plants such as comfrey with roots that grow deep into the subsoil, “mining” minerals that otherwise would never be tapped, and making them available to shallow-rooted plants.
Other fertility boosting plants are nitrogen fixers. The roots of these plants associate with rhizobial bacteria — a partnership that benefits both the bacteria and the host plant, and that provides a nitrogen boost for other plants in the community as well.
Plants in all three layers of the forest garden can serve as dynamic accumulators or nitrogen fixers. For example, a few excellent dynamic accumulators include black locust trees, flowering dogwoods at the shrub level, and comfrey and dandelions at ground level. Nitrogen fixers include alder and black locust trees; in the shrub layer, bayberry and acacias; and in the herbaceous layer, vetches and perennial clovers.
CHOOSE A STRATEGY
An established forest garden can be very low-maintenance, but it requires a lot of planning before you get started. The best approach to begin a forest garden depends on your individual preferences and circumstances. It’s possible to “start from scratch” — say with a plot of grass sod — and assemble the forest garden as an interlocking set of plantings in all three layers. This option offers the greatest flexibility, and the widest choices of species, design and strategies.
At the other extreme, you might start with an existing plot of woodland, and clear strategic areas to make way for new plantings. This must be approached with care and respect, since cutting down a tree is a serious matter that can’t be undone.
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