Forest gardening is a food production and land management systems based on the layered planting style of woodland eco systems. It is a useful reminder of the importance of companion planting and many of its principals can be adopted to make our garden designs more sustainable and eco-friendly.
In essence, forest gardens are based on the principal of planting combinations that give mutual benefit. This is already a key principal for most garden designers planting designs but is taken to its natural conclusion in forest gardening with the use of not one or two but seven layers!
Edible forest gardening is not necessarily gardening in the forest – but it follows similar rules of structure and function – such as high diverse yields and a high level of self-maintenance. You can grow fruits, nuts, vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, other useful plants, and animals in a way that mimics natural ecosystems and shade is not a prerequisite.
For example, although you can create a forest garden on a shady site, you will get the highest yields if the garden receives plenty of sunshine. (This can be tricky in some parts of the UK!)
Forest Gardens are closely linked to permaculture.
Although, I am not convinced that following the principals of forest gardening is the only way to design gardens sustainably, it is good to be forced to think about what garden designers can learn from natural ecosystems and how they can start to implement eco garden design ideas.
