Designing Your First Food Forest: A Beginner's Guide
This beginner's guide to designing a food forest explains how to create a resilient, low-maintenance edible ecosystem modeled on a natural forest. It details the seven essential layers of a food forest, from the tall canopy trees to ground cover and climbing plants, showing how to maximize space and build a self-sustaining garden.
A food forest, or forest garden, is a diverse planting of edible plants that mimics the structure and function of a natural forest. It is one of the most resilient and low-maintenance systems in permaculture. The key is to design in layers, just like a real forest.
The seven layers typically include: the canopy layer (large fruit and nut trees), the low tree layer (dwarf fruit trees), the shrub layer (berries and currants), the herbaceous layer (comfreys, herbs), the rhizosphere (root vegetables), the soil surface (ground cover crops like strawberry), and the vertical layer (climbing plants and vines). By stacking plants in this way, you maximize space and create a self-sustaining ecosystem.
Join the Discussion
Sarah
about 2 years ago
The 7 layers concept is mind-blowing. I'm starting to plan my backyard food forest right now!