Come learn how to grow a food forest, also called a Forest Garden, and grow more food in the space you have available to you. Save this article to Pinterest so you can always refer back to it!
Recently, I spoke at the West Michigan Home and Garden Show and one of my topics was Growing a Food Forest in any size yard. Creating a food forest, or a Forest Garden as these kinds of gardens are also often called, is a permaculture idea and it is a wonderful way to grow more food in your garden in a way that is more balanced with nature. This is something we have been trying to do on the farm since we moved in and little by little each year it is coming to life. Since we had a completely blank space on our farm to start with, this is taking us a little longer, but it is finally starting to come to life here.
A permaculture concept
A food forest or a food garden is a permaculture practice. Permaculture is basically the design or idea of gardening and agricultural systems created in a way to be more self-sufficient and beneficial to the ecosystem. It draws inspiration from nature to develop garden designs that promote bio diversity, resilience, productivity and sustainability. The three core main ideas pof Permaculture are: Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share, which are really about viewing gardening and agriculture through a lens that benefits the Earth, benefits the people and taking what you need while excess can be re-distributed. You can learn more about Permaculture {HERE}.
What is a Food Forest or Forest Garden?
A food forest is a permaculture gardening system that creates an ecosystem and seeks to mimic the way plants grow in a forest. It is a sustainable way of growing, relies heavily on perennial plants and needs less maintenance.
The benefits of growing food as a Food Forest include:
- Creating an ecosystem that can help to take care of itself
- Making a space that needs less maintenance and less weeding
- It provides food throughout the seasons due to natural lifecycles of the plants
- And ideally it reduces need for traditional fertilizers and pesticides
So let’s talk about how to make a forest garden work while also talking about how you can work in annual plants and vegetables to benefit the system too. After all, while perennial fruits and nuts are lovely, it can be just as easy to work your tomatoes and other favorite vegetables into a food forest too.
Layers of a food forest
A traditional food forest or forest garden has 7 layers, although some people are now adding in an additional two layers to give a total of 9. We will go through each so you have a good understanding of them and what is in each of them.
The Overstory or Canopy Layer
This is a tall tree layer and where the largest trees should be planted. Think about large fruit trees, nut trees or even non-food trees you may already have planted. Use what you have.
The Understory
This layer is about mid-sized fruit trees or even dwarf fruit trees. Think apples, pears, plums, nectarines, etc. Include dwarf nut trees or trees for pollinators like flowering Dogwood.
Shrub layer
In this layer consider the fruit shrubs that do well in your area. Blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are common. Some people love elderberries too that can create more of a hedge. You can also work in annual shrubs like tomatoes. Even peppers and eggplants are technically shrubs.
Herb layer
When it comes to herbs, think sage bushes, rosemary, oregano, thyme, parsley and lavender. They can all be perennials. But also consider working in some annuals like basil plants too.
Forest Floor
A forest floor might have a variety of plants. In this case, mix in edible plants like strawberries and fungi and creeping herbs with plants like clover for pollinators. Some people consider mushrooms in this level too and others pull them out on their own in an 8th layer that I’ll explain below.
Roots
The root layer begins to use more annual plants. Things like carrots, onions, beets, radishes, garlic and potatoes are all perfect examples for a root layer.
Vines
For the vine layer, grapes are a great option. But also consider annuals like vining tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, squash and melon. All of those can be part of the vine layer. Some people will show charts or diagrams where the vine layer is growing up the overstory layer. However, I am not a fan of that because the vines can actually impact the health of a tree if they get a little too wild. Instead, consider using fences, arches and cattle panels as arches like in my photo above.
Optional additional layers
As I mentioned above, some people believe there are 9 layers to a food forest and I wanted to add them in here so you could see and understand them for yourself.
Fungi Layer
Some people consider fungi to be part of the forest floor. However, mushrooms can grow on the forest floor and they might also grow on the trunck of a tree, or a rotting log. Due to the vast variety of fungi, some people like to consider them their own layer.
The Aquaponics or Pond Layer
This is the 9th layer in food forest and I do believe it should be included as a layer in your system if you have the space. Ponds, wetland, rivers and creeks are a huge element in a forest and in your garden they can provide a system of benefits. They can be breading grounds for frogs and toads, which can eat your bugs. Additionally, they create a more natural ecosystem for the birds, pollinators and small animals.
Aquaponics specifically is a farming system in which fish area raised to provide a natural fertilizer for the plants. In turn, the plants help to purify the water for the fish. This can be done in tanks or in small ponds.
Growing a forest garden in the backyard
Now let’s talk about how to make this work in your space. You don’t need to have a forest space or a farm or even a bunch of land to make the ideas of a forest garden work for you.
Use the trees you have
First, use the trees you have as part of the overstory. Do you have a large maple or oak? Maybe you already have a walnut tree? Start with what you have and make it work for your forest garden.
Start at the understory
If you don’t have any tall trees – like I don’t – start at the understory layer. The understory layer trees are smaller and can be easily grown in a standard-sized back year (About 1/4 acre suburban lot or even half of that in a city lot).
Use the margins
Use the space you have and use the margins. In permaculture, the idea of using the margins is big. But what does this mean? It means essentially use your boarders. My father-in-law plants his garden in the landscape beds that surround the house. Instead of flowers, he grows his tomatoes, peppers, bush beans and more there. He grows peas in a little space that peaks out from under his deck and lets them vine up the deck. In the summer, cucumbers take the place of the peas and use the deck as its trellis. He has even put in two blueberry bushes and taken about 3 feet along the back of his fence to use for more garden forest planting space.
Grow in moveable beds or large containers
Use just one or two beds if you can squeeze them in. Maybe you can’t use the margins because you are renting. But maybe you can build a bed or two and use those instead. Or, buy a metal tub or two like these {HERE} and work from the shrub layer down. We easily grew onions, lettuces and a few other things in some large tubs we had used as chick brooders.
Put it into action
Now that you know what a food forest is, let’s talk about how you can actually get started with planning and growing.
observe
- The first thing you want to do is observe the space you have. Figure out what is happening in that space.
- How many hours of sun does it get? Does it get enough for sun loving plants? Do you have a large tree in the space that will shade out where you are growing.
- Can you get water there easily or does the space get too much water? Since my farm property has a high water table and wetlands on one side, we had to use raised beds for our annuals because if we didn’t, the roots would become waterlogged and rotted.
- Do you have any pest issues you need to deal with and how will you deal with them? For example, are their a lot of squirrels in the yard or rabbits? In my case, we don’t have issues because we have barn cats and dogs, but we do have deer. We have a fence around the main garden space, but they were eating the heads of my sunflowers in my cut flower space. We put t-posts in the ground and ran a string around the posts, leaving a few feet between each string.
- What is your soil like? Is it clay? Is it sand? Will you be building it with the no till system (Learn more about that {HERE})? Or do you plan to till it?
Design
Once you have figured out all of these elements, design your space around them or with them in mind. Based on the sun, pick the best place for the sun loving plants. Pick plants that can tolerate the water levels or grow in raised beds. Then plan out your levels of the food forest with all of that in mind.
Garden Forest Backyard Example
We used to live in a far western suburb of Chicago before we moved to the farm. The yard layout below is an example of what a food forest could have looked like in that yard had I known what I know now. Our lot size was about 1/4 acre. That is a pretty standard size for a lot of yards in suburban neighborhoods. Maybe some are a little smaller. The closer you get to the city, the smaller the lots become too. However, I wanted to show you an example of how you could use the food forest system should you just have a regular backyard.
We had two large maple trees in either corner of that yard. We had put into two more trees. They were not the dwarf cherry and apple but let’s pretend they were. Based on the yard size, just using the edges and margins of the backyard space, we would have been able to have at least two blueberry bushes and 3-4 raised garden beds or garden plots along the side of the fence. Along the back, I’ve added in onions, chives and lettuce on the left. On the right I’ve added in rosemary, sage and lavender. All of this would have easily fit, not to mention, containers that we would have had on the patio.
Raised Bed Examples
Below are some examples of how you can plant a raised bed for tomatoes and eggplants while adhering to some food forest rule sand applying the concepts of companion planting, which is important for permaculture. In the beds, I’ve fit tomatoes plants, eggplant, root vegetables, herbs, spinach, marigolds, Chives (lower bed) and borage. These mimic my 8×4 raised garden beds and I’ve planted my beds similarly in the past.
Fruit Guild
Another concept that is often used in forest gardens is a Fruit Guild. Basically, this is a series of plants grown under a fruit tree that are beneficial to the tree and to one another. The guilds consist of plants that perform specific duties. They are:
- Suppressors – These are plants that will help suppress weeds and other plants you do not want growing in the space.
- Attractors – These will attract beneficial insects and pollinators.
- Repellers – These will help to repel insects that you do not want to have near your trees.
- Accumulators – These plants accumulate micronutrients and help to rejuvenate the soil by pulling those nutrients in.
- Mulchers – These help hold water and and their leaves create a good source of natural mulch for the plant.
- Nitrogen Fixers – These plants provide a steady stream of nitrogen to the tree and other plants in the guild.
For a full article on fruit guilds, click {HERE}. I’ve designed a good example of an apple tree guild below.
Looking for more garden and permaculture information?
If you love gardening and want to learn more about permaculture concepts and gardening in general, visit these articles:
- What is permaculture? {HERE}
- No Tilling to build soil and kill weeds {HERE}
- How to plan a garden {HERE}
- Companion planting herbs and flowers to repel bugs {HERE}
- Tips for growing Tomatoes {HERE}
- Growing a Native Wildflower field {HERE}
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Thank you so much for visiting today, friends! I hope that you love learning about food forests and forest gardens. I look forward to seeing you again. Happy growing!
June Cook says
Hi Rachael,
Love your website/blog. I am sorry I missed you at GR Home Show.
I live in Norton shores, Michigan and am an avid gardener. I belong to the Tri-Cities Garden Club and have learned a lot over the years. I would love to share some of my experience with you and maybe someday meet you in person.
Below are just some of my thoughts that have come to mind while reading your website:
June Cook says
Food Forest sounds good but trees block light. I find most plants like sun and lots of it. We have one maple tree on our property where I placed a bench for sitting to rest and enjoy the lake view. Other than that one tree we have a tree barrier between our property and the neighbor, the rest of our property is full sun. We have three perennial gardens and two areas for vegetable gardening. Our biggest challenge is the deer. We plant mostly deer resistant plants and shrubs but our herd of deer have not the book on deer resistant plants they are not supposed to eat! Our vegetable gardens are fenced and the deer still poke their heads in to the best of their ability. My vegetable garden is an 8’ x 12’ raised garden bed. I grow mostly tomatoes, sugar peas, radishes and bush beans. My lettuce I grow on edges of our deck in containers that can be used on deck railings but I think they are too heavy. I love being able to walk out to deck and pick lettuce for nightly salads! My husband had the larger in-ground garden and does things I have no room for like zucchini, yellow squash and potatoes.
Another thing I have learned is to give plants space. It is always my thought that more plants in the same space produce more. Not true. This year I plan to plant seven tomato plants rather than nine in my 8’ x12’ raised bed. It will give my plants more breathing space and eliminate mildew later in the summer.
My husband and I love gardening together but we are always learning new things. In 2020 my husband lost his job of 25 years and was off seven weeks. During that time we put in an English Cottage perennial garden. Great stress reliever.
June Cook says
Want to mention that many of your recipes look delicious. I hope to use some of them for my Easter table! We are traveling south this week and I am planning my Easter table-setting and dinner as we drive! Your carrot cake is on my menu!